www.rgusrail.com - Smithsonian Institute

There are four historic steam locomotives on static display at the Museum of American History (part of the Smithsonian Institute) in Washington, DC. I visited the museum in March 2009 and photographed three of them

Except for the “John Bull”, the locomotives are rather badly lit and cramped, as well as having lots of extraneous material around them (mannequins, ramps, plaques, etc.) that make it difficult to get good photographs. However, it’s a fascinating museum and there is an incredible amount to see and do there. You really need to spend at least half a day to get the most out of it. But arrive early if you want to get good photographs - it gets very crowded as the day goes on!

The “John Bull” is the oldest operable steam locomotive in the world. It was shipped in parts to Philadelphia in 1831 from the United Kingdom, where it was built by Robert Stephenson & Co., in Newcastle. The parts were shipped from Philadelphia to Bordentown, New Jersey, where Isaac Dripps assembled them for the engineer Robert Stevens, who was then building one of the first railroads in the US. The railroad from Camden to Perth Amboy was not completed until 1833, and the “John Bull” helped construct the final section. It remained in service until 1866, ending up as a pump engine.

The locomotive rests on a section of the first bridge built entirely of iron in the US. Designed by Richard B. Osborne, it was constructed by the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad in 1845 to carry coal trains over a creek emptying into the Schuylkill River near West Manayunk in Pennsylvania.

Opposition to early railways in the US took many forms. Disgruntled operators on the Schuylkill Canal saw the P&R as competition, and took to burning the railroad’s wooden bridges. An iron bridge was one way of solving this problem. A double line ran across the 34 foot long bridge, which remained in service until 1901. It was decommissioned the following year and a section was eventually relocated to the Smithsonian. An historical marker at the south-east corner of High St and York St in Pottstown, PA, commemorates the nearby workshop location where the bridge was built.

The “John Bull” weighs 10 tons. Originally an 0-4-0 type locomotive, a leading truck was added to assist road holding along with the characteristically long, low cow catcher. As a result, the driver connecting rods had to be disconnected, leaving the rear axle as the sole driving wheel. The “John Bull” then became, in effect, a 2-2-2-0.

After retiring, the locomotive began a long career appearing at fairs. It moved to the Smithsonian in 1884 and travelled outside on a number of occasions, most notably to the Columbian Exposition in 1893, travelling under its own steam all the way to Chicago. It also appeared at the Fair of the Iron Horse in 1927 (you can see other locomotives displayed at that fair on the B&O Museum Roundhouse page of this website).

The “John Bull” last operated in 1981 when it was fired up and ran on the old B&O Georgetown Branch line alongside the C&O Canal. By all accounts, it was still a “peppy” steamer!

The Pennsylvania Railroad Juniata works in Altoona, PA, built a replica of the John Bull in 1939. It is now located at the Pennsylvania Railroad Museum in Strasburg, PA (you can see it on the Pennsylvania Railroad Museum page of this website).

In 1930, the PRR Altoona works rebuilt the tender, using parts the Smithsonian had retained after it was dismantled in 1910.

Soon after entering operation, a cab was added by the C&A to protect the crew from weather. It was removed when the locomotive was overhauled by the PRR (which eventually absorbed the C&A in 1871) for the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. At the same time, various other changes were made to make it look more “authentic”.

The Jupiter was built by Baldwin in 1876 for the narrow gauge Santa Cruz Railroad in California. It is a 4-4-0 or American-type locomotive, one of the commonest 19th century US locomotives. In fact, more American-type locomotives (25,000) were built than any other type in the US. The nearest rival was the Consolidation type (2-8-0), 21,000 of which were built, with 19,500 Mikados (2-8-2) in third place. Examples of all three types remained in service right up to the end of steam in the early 1960s.

The Jupiter was one of three locomotives operating on the 20 mile Santa Cruz Railroad. However, the line was absorbed into the Southern Pacific in 1881, shortly after which it was converted to standard gauge. Jupiter was then sold to the Ferrocarril Guatemala Central Railroad in 1885. The FGC became part of the Ferrocarriles Internacionales de Centroamerica in 1921, on which the Jupiter continued to run right up until 1960. The FIdeCA was purchased by the Washingtonian O. Roy Chalk in 1963. Chalk brought the Jupiter to DC in 1964, where it was on static display in the John F. Kennedy playground at 7th St and O St for over 10 years.

Chalk donated the locomotive to the Smithsonian in 1975, when restoration work began. It went on display the following year as part of the 1876 Exhibition at the Arts and Industry Building. On 30th January 1999, it was moved to the American History Museum, where it has been on display ever since.

Southern Railway Ps-4 class #1401 Pacific-type locomotive (4-6-2) was built by Alco in 1926. 64 Ps-4s were built in total, 5 by Baldwin. Derived from the USRA “heavy” Pacific type, but with smaller drivers (73” instead of 80”), they were amongst the biggest locomotives built for the Southern, only slightly smaller than the Railway’s 4-8-2 Mountain types. Total, engine and tender weight when working was 561,600 lbs / 281 tons. That includes 16 tons of coal and 14,000 gallons of water. The firebox grate area was 75 sq. ft. The circular fitting in font of the smoke stack is part of an Elesco feedwater heater system.

A Ps-4 was capable of hauling 12-15 steel passenger cars, about 700-1000 tons, at 80 mph on level track. The rolling profile of the Charlotte Division, however, kept average speeds to about 50-60 mph. The tender capacity (both coal and water) permitted runs of about 150 miles between stops - the full length of the Division - although one intermediate water stop was normally scheduled.

#1401 was one of the second batch of 23 Ps-4s (the first batch was built in 1923-24). It hauled passenger trains mainly on Southern’s Charlotte Division until the Railway dieselised in the 1950s, when it was relegated to locals and is perhaps most renowned for joining one of the eight double-headed Ps-4s (with #1385 between Greenville and Spencer, NC) that pulled President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s funeral train from Warm Springs, GA, to Washington, DC, in April 1945.

#1401 was last fully shopped in 1951 and retired in 1952 after completing its career on the Danville Division (Spencer, NC - Monroe, VA). It was donated to the Smithsonian in 1953, when it was hauled north to the Henry Street Yard in Alexandria, VA. It lay on a siding until 1958, suffering some weather damage, but was then moved under cover. In 1961, it was cosmetically restored at Shelton Paint Shop on Henry Street. Southern paid for and supervised the restoration, as well as the cost of transporting the locomotive to the museum in November of that year.

#1401 was dedicated in June 1962, and went on display in 1964 when the new National Museum of History & Technology opened to the public. It is the heaviest exhibit in the museum’s collection.

On a trip to the UK in the mid 1920s, Southern’s President Fairfax Harrison had encountered the UK Southern Railway’s green liveried locomotives and decided this second batch should be painted Virginia Green, with gold trim and lettering, aluminium painted running board edges and tyres, chrome plated rods and valve gear, and a silver smoke-box.

The chromed rods and valve gear are clearly visible in these two photographs.

The cylinders are 27” x 28”, driving wheels are 73" in diameter and the steam pressure was 210 psi.