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

by Smith Hempstone Oliver

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.

A small nonoperable model of the Tom Thumb, about 2 feet long ([figure 16]), made in the National Museum in 1890 (USNM 204581), is exhibited in the collection of the Museum. Other small models of it appear in the B & O Museum. One of these, a ¼-inch-scale model recently made under the direction of Lawrence W. Sagle of the B & O Museum, differs somewhat from the usually accepted idea of the Tom Thumb.

Notably, the smokestack is not straight, but has an elbow at its upper end, and the belt-driven blower is located there rather than on the floor of the machine as in the replica and the other models. Peter Cooper, the New York engineer and inventor who constructed the original Tom Thumb as an experiment in the winter of 1829-1830, mentioned this upper location of the blower in a speech delivered many years later, in 1875, and quoted in Bulletin 73 of the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society (1948, pp. 50-52).

The little locomotive, with its vertical boiler made of rifle barrels, looked rather like the larger locomotive of John Stevens of only several years earlier but had considerably smaller wheels, these being only 30 inches in diameter.

Although a 3¼-inch bore for its vertical 1-cylinder engine is given by most writers, Jonathan Knight, chief engineer of the Baltimore and Ohio, in the fourth annual report of the company (for 1830, p. 35) gives the figure as 3½. Unfortunately, he does not mention the stroke, which is usually given elsewhere as either 14¼ or 14½ inches. The bore and stroke of the replica were made 5 and 27 inches so as to give it sufficient power to operate satisfactorily. For that matter, in the interest of sturdiness and suitable operation the replica is somewhat larger in all respects and considerably heavier than the original. It operates on a steam pressure of 90 pounds per square inch, and it is reported that the original did likewise.

Figure 15.—Full sized operable replica of Cooper’s Tom Thumb, built in 1926 by Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Co.

Figure 16.—Model of Tom Thumb, in National Museum.

The Tom Thumb was engaged in its famous race with the horse-drawn railroad car in the summer of 1830 on a parallel section of the new 13-mile stretch of track between Baltimore and Ellicott’s Mills. It covered the 13 miles between the Mount Clare station and Ellicott’s Mills in a little over an hour, and the return trip in 57 minutes. The race with the horse-drawn car took place during the return trip. The Tom Thumb appeared to be a certain winner until temporary slipping of the belt driving the blower caused the steam pressure to drop and allowed the horse to become the victor.

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.)

Figure 17.—Full sized operable replica of Davis’ York, built in 1927 by Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Co.

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.