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| ID # 888 |
THE STOURBRIDGE LION
The Stourbriclge Lion, which had a lion's picture painted on her boiler front, was the first practical locomotive to run on American rails. Her four oaken wheels were fitted with iron tires. Horatio Allen of the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company ordered her for hauling coal trains. Foster, Rastrick & Company built her at Stourhridge. England, in 1829, even before Stephenson built his more famous pioneer locomotive, the Rocket. She was delivered by sailing ship, then river boat and finally canal boat to Honesdale. Pennsylvania. With Allen at the throttle, she made a trial run April 8, 1829, crossing a shaky wooden trestle over the Lackawaxen Creek at about ten miles per hour. But her seven-ton weight made her unsafe to operate on the light rails of those days, and she never ran again. Parts of her may be seen today at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C.
Smithsonian Institution
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