At one of the trials a bar of iron 3/4 × 4 inches was spiked down across one of the rails diagonally of the track, … and the employees of the company took the precaution to fill in around the track to facilitate getting the engine back again, supposing she must jump off; however on passing over slowly she still kept the track and the speed was increased until she passed over said bar … while under a considerable speed.

Messrs. Moore and Milligan heartily endorsed the truck as a complete success. Milligan predicted that[8] “the time is not far distant when locomotives will be considered incomplete and comparatively unsafe without this improvement particularly on roads which have many curves.”

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Figure 6.—The New Jersey Railroad and Transportation Company No. 12, built in 1868, was equipped with the radius bar truck, a modification by William S. Hudson of the original Bissell truck. The General Darcy and several other engines built at the Jersey City shops of the road, under the direction of John Headden, were fitted with the Hudson truck. Note that the radius bar is connected to the truck frame just behind the rear leading wheels. (Smithsonian photo 46806-l)

U.S. Patent Commissioner Charles Mason was so impressed by the evidence of the New Jersey trials, reinforced by the arguments of Bissell’s attorneys, that he agreed to grant a United States patent.[9] It was issued as no. 17913 on August 4, 1857, and reissued October 18, 1864 as no. 1794. British patent 1273 had been issued earlier (May 5, 1857), and patents were also secured in France, Belgium, Austria, and Russia.

The Rogers Locomotive Works in 1858 was one of the earliest builders to apply the improved truck. By 1860 they had fitted many of their engines with it and were endorsing the device to prospective customers.

In the same year the American Railway Review noted that the truck was in extensive use, stating:[10]

… the advantages of the arrangement are so obvious and its results so well established by practice in this country and Europe that a treatise on its principles will hardly be needed.

It is no longer an experiment; and the earlier it is applied to all engines, the better the running and repair accounts will look.