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
Nevertheless, the _Tom Thumb_ by this and later trips in the same year
proved that steam locomotives were practicable, and caused the railroad
officials to announce on January 4, 1831, a proposed contest (to be
somewhat similar to the famous Rainhill Trials held in October 1829 in
England) in which the best locomotive demonstrated would be purchased by
the Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road Co. for the sum of $4,000.
The winner of this contest, the _York_, a vertical-boiler locomotive
built in early 1831 by Phineas Davis, a former watchmaker of York, Pa.,
is in the same category as the _Tom Thumb_, not only in that no original
parts survive, but also in that a full sized operable replica of it
(figure 17) has been constructed. This was built by the Baltimore and
Ohio in 1927 for use in the Fair of the Iron Horse. It also appeared at
the Chicago World’s Fair in 1933 and 1934, after which it was presented
to the Museum of Science and Industry at Chicago, where it has since
remained.
The original _York_ was used successfully on the run between Baltimore
and Ellicott’s Mills, and subsequently on the much longer run of some 40
miles between Baltimore and the inclined planes at Parr’s Ridge, on the
way to Frederick Town and Point of Rocks, Md. (Horse power was used to
raise the cars at Parr’s Ridge in 1832.)
[Illustration: Figure 17.—Full sized operable replica of Davis’
_York_, built in 1927 by Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Co. (YORK 1831
BALTIMORE & OHIO)]
As the first practical and generally serviceable locomotive of the early
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the _York_ influenced considerably the
design of the company’s subsequent locomotives. Within a year Davis had
constructed several locomotives of a generally similar design, all with
vertical boilers (see p. 47).
The _York_ had wheels 30 inches in diameter, weighed about 3½ tons, and
had a top speed of 30 miles an hour. Not long after its construction, it
was drastically altered in design and appearance. The vertical cylinders
were removed from the opposite sides of the boiler, where they had
operated the four wheels by means of direct-acting rods and trussed side
bars, and inclined adjacent cylinders were located behind the boiler,
where they operated by means of gearing on the rear axle only.
The modern replica, however, represents the _York_ as it was originally
designed and constructed. It operates on a steam pressure of 115 pounds
per square inch. The original is said to have operated on 100 pounds per
square inch, and it burned anthracite coal, a very early use of that
fuel in locomotives.
The West Point Foundry Association
[Illustration: Figure 18.—Early drawing of _Best Friend of
Charleston_, built in 1830.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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