It is often difficult, as we have seen, to say
which of two or several things was first. It appears as though
the little Tom Thumb was the first engine built in America, which
actually pulled weight on a regular railway, while the much
larger Best Friend was the first to haul cars in regular daily
service.
The West Point Foundry followed its first success with the West
Point, which also went into service on the Charleston and Hamburg
Railroad, and then built for the newly finished Mohawk and Hudson
(the first link in the New York Central Lines) the historic De
Witt Clinton. This primitive locomotive and the cars it drew may
be seen today in the Grand Central Station in New York.
Meanwhile, the Stevens brothers, sons of John Stevens, were
engaged in the construction of the Camden and Amboy Railroad. The
first locomotive to operate on this road was built in England by
George Stephenson. This was the John Bull, which arrived in the
summer of 1831 and at once went to work. The John Bull was a
complete success and had a distinguished career. Sixty-two years
old, in 1893, it went to Chicago, to the Columbian Exposition,
under its own steam. The John Bull occupies a place today in the
National Museum at Washington.
With the locomotive definitely accepted, men began to turn their
minds towards its improvement and development, and locomotive
building soon became a leading industry in America.
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