Figure 65.—Model of Davis and Gartner Arabian, 1834.
Rogers, Ketchum & Grosvenor Locomotive Sandusky, 1837
The Sandusky, first locomotive built by the firm of Rogers, Ketchum & Grosvenor of Paterson, N. J., is represented in the Museum’s collection by a 2-foot-long nonoperable model ([figure 66]) of the locomotive and its tender. The model (USNM 180245) was built for the Museum in 1888 by D. Ballauf.
Notice of the firm’s intention to produce locomotives was given in the “American Railroad Journal” for December 24, 1836, and the original Sandusky was constructed during the following year. Intended for the New Jersey Railroad and Transportation Co., it was built to the gauge of that road—58 inches. However, after a trial trip on October 6 between Paterson and New Brunswick, it was purchased for the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad by that road’s president, J. H. James of Urbana, Ohio.
Figure 66.—Model of Rogers, Ketchum & Grosvenor Sandusky, 1837.
It was delivered to Sandusky, Ohio, on November 17, at which time not a foot of track had been laid. The engine was used in the construction of the road, which in consequence was built to the gauge of the engine. This fact has been given as the reason why the legislature of Ohio at one time passed an act requiring all railroads built in Ohio to be of 58-inch gauge. On April 11, 1838, regular trips for the conveyance of passengers commenced between Bellevue and Sandusky, a distance of 16 miles, and the locomotive Sandusky was used.
The Sandusky resembled the early Stephenson engines in some respects, but differed principally in having a 4-wheeled leading truck, the wheels of which were 30 inches in diameter. The two driving wheels, made of cast iron and with hollow spokes and rims, were 54 inches in diameter. The crankshaft throws were counterbalanced by a method of balancing devised by Thomas Rogers, who had filed a patent application on it dated July 12, 1837. This consisted of having the part of the wheel rim opposite the crank throw cast solid, while the rest of the rim was hollow.
The driving wheels and the inclined 11- by 16-inch cylinders were inside the frame, whereas the eccentric rods, working off the outer ends of the driving axle, were outside. The bonnet-type smokestack had a deflecting cone in its center and a wire mesh on the top to prevent the escape of sparks.