''Atlantic'' was the name of a very early

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

built by inventor and foundry owner

Phineas Davis Phineas Davis (January 27, 1792 – September 27, 1835) was a well-known clockmaker and inventor who designed and built the first practical American coal-burning railroad locomotive. Early life and career Davis was born in Warner, New Hampshi ...

for the

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...

(B&O) in 1832. It is in fact the first commercially successful and practical American built locomotive and class prototype, and Davis' second constructed for the B&O, his first having won a design competition contest announced by the B&O in 1830.

Design and construction

Built at a cost of $4,500 (equal to $ today), the ''Atlantic'' weighed and had two vertical cylinders. It was commissioned after Davis' entry had won the competition for a steam locomotive design, but the contract was awarded to the inventor of the

Tom Thumb Tom Thumb is a character of English folklore. ''The History of Tom Thumb'' was published in 1621 and was the first fairy tale printed in English. Tom is no bigger than his father's thumb, and his adventures include being swallowed by a cow, tan ...

; when the five locomotives commissioned failed the contracted delivery, B&O bought out the patents. A few of these were incorporated in the Atlantic by Davis, whether by specification or because Davis wanted them is unclear. The locomotives he delivered before his death in 1835 were the first commercially feasible, sufficiently efficient coal burning steam locomotives produced domestically in the United States and placed into traction service. One of his engines, the ''John Quincy Adams'', built in 1835, is the oldest existing American built locomotive. It is located at Carillon Historical Park in Dayton, Ohio. Ox teams were used to convey the engine to

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, where it made a successful inaugural trip to Ellicott's Mills, Maryland, a distance of . Nicknamed the '

Grasshopper Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are among what is possibly the most ancient living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grasshopp ...

' for its distinctive horizontal

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

and long

connecting rod A connecting rod, also called a 'con rod', is the part of a piston engine which connects the piston to the crankshaft. Together with the crank, the connecting rod converts the reciprocating motion of the piston into the rotation of the cranksh ...

s, the locomotive carried of steam and burned of

anthracite Anthracite, also known as hard coal, and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a submetallic luster. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy density of all types of coal and is the hig ...

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

on a trip from Baltimore. Satisfied with this locomotive's operations, the B&O built 20 more locomotives of a similar design at its Mt. Clare shops in Baltimore. Despite this success, the ''Atlantic'' prototype engine was scrapped in 1835 after the death of Phineas Davis. The reason was unclear.

The ''Atlantic'' replica

In 1892, four surviving similar Grasshopper engines were reconditioned for display. These locomotives, first built in 1836, were second generation Grasshoppers that had survived as shop switchers at the B&O's Mt. Clare shops. Major J. G. Pangborn took the No. 7 ''Andrew Jackson'', built in 1836 by Ross Winans and George Gillingham, and rebuilt it to resemble the 1832 ''Atlantic'', as a heritage showpiece. The side rods and cab on No. 7 were removed, but the larger boiler and cylinders remain. The former ''Andrew Jackson'' was first exhibited at the 1893

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordi ...

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, operated for the B&O 1927 Centenary Pageant "

Fair of the Iron Horse Halethorpe is an unincorporated community in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The community is considered to be a sub-section of Arbutus by the United States Census Bureau. It is bordered by the main portion of Arbutus to the north, Balt ...

", and then exhibited again at the

1939 New York World's Fair The 1939–40 New York World's Fair was a world's fair held at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York, United States. It was the second-most expensive American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purchas ...

, and finally in 1948-49 at the

Chicago Railroad Fair The Chicago Railroad Fair was an event organized to celebrate and commemorate 100 years of railroad history west of Chicago, Illinois. It was held in Chicago in 1948 and 1949 along the shore of Lake Michigan and is often referred to as "the last ...

as part of the latter fair's "Wheels A-Rolling" pageant. It was later placed on display in the

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Museum The B&O Railroad Museum is a museum and historic railway station exhibiting historic railroad equipment in Baltimore, Maryland. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) company originally opened the museum on July 4, 1953, with the name of the Balt ...

, where it currently remains.

References

* * * {{refend 0-4-0 locomotives Individual locomotives of the United States Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Early steam locomotives Baltimore and Ohio locomotives Standard gauge locomotives of the United States Preserved steam locomotives of Maryland