The First Quarter-Century of Steam Locomotives in North America: Remaining Relics and Operable Replicas with a Catalog of Locomotive Models in the U. S. National Museum. United States National Museum Bulletin 210Oliver, Smith Hempstone
History
The First Quarter-Century of Steam Locomotives in North America: Remaining Relics and Operable Replicas with a Catalog of Locomotive Models in the U. S. National Museum. United States National Museum Bulletin 210
Oliver, Smith Hempstone
Locomotives -- History
Other definite relics of the _Lion_ received from the Delaware and
Hudson Canal Co. in 1888, from Lindsay and Early in 1890, from G. T.
Slade in 1901, and from Mrs. Townsend Poore of Scranton, Pa., in 1913,
include the boiler, one of the two cylinders, the two 6-foot-long
walking beams (figure 10), and the 48-inch-diameter flanged metal tires
of the four driving wheels.[1] These parts, with the exception of the
walking beams, were many years ago reassembled at the National Museum
into a reconstructed version showing somewhat the original appearance of
the locomotive (figure 11).
[Illustration: Figure 12.—Model of _Stourbridge Lion_, in National
Museum.]
[Illustration: Figure 13.—Full sized operable replica of
_Stourbridge Lion_, built in 1932 by Delaware and Hudson Railroad
Corp.]
At that time, the three crank rings from the wheels of the _America_,
together with a fourth, duplicate ring made at the time of the
reassembly, were unwittingly incorporated in the reconstruction. It is
this version of the _Stourbridge Lion_ that is now on exhibition. The
gauge of the reassembly, furthermore, is 56½ inches, while that of the
original is recorded as 51 inches.
Also exhibited in the National Museum is a small nonoperable model (USNM
215649) of the _Stourbridge Lion_ with its tender, together about 2 feet
long (figure 12), made by C. R. Luscombe in 1901 and rebuilt by Paul E.
Garber in 1920.
[Illustration: Figure 14.—Replica of _Stourbridge Lion_ at New York
World’s Fair, May 20, 1939.]
A full sized operable replica (figure 13) was constructed in 1932 by the
Delaware and Hudson Railroad Corp. and lent by them to the Wayne County
Historical Society at Honesdale, Pa. The cylinder bore of the replica is
⁷/₁₆ inches, the stroke 36 inches. Since the outside dimensions of the
original cylinder are approximately those of the replica, its working
dimensions are probably also the same.
From time to time the replica has appeared in various railroad pageants,
including those at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1933 and 1934, the New
York World’s Fair in 1939 (figure 14) and 1940, and the Chicago Railroad
Fair in 1948. Otherwise, it can be seen on exhibition at Honesdale, the
scene of the trials of the original _Stourbridge Lion_.
Peter Cooper and Phineas Davis
No original parts remain of one of the best known early locomotives, the
_Tom Thumb_. A full sized operable replica (figure 15), however, was
made in 1926 by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Co. for use in their
exhibit that year at the Philadelphia Sesqui-Centennial International
Exposition. It has since appeared at the Fair of the Iron Horse, held at
Halethorpe, near Baltimore, in the fall of 1927, the Chicago World’s
Fair in 1933 and 1934, the New York World’s Fair in 1939 and 1940, and
the Chicago Railroad Fair in 1948 and 1949. Its permanent home is in
Baltimore, at the Baltimore and Ohio Transportation Museum.
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