DC -- Natl Museum of American History -- Exhibit: Landmark Object: John Bull Locomotive:
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SIAHJB_050817_03.JPG: West Manayunk Bridge (1845):
This green truss is a piece of the Pennsylvania & Reading Railroad's West Manayunk Bridge, the first iron railroad bridge built in America. Located outside of Philadelphia, it was built in 1945 under the direction of Englishman Richard Boyne Osborne, chief engineer of the P&R. He based the bridge on a timber truss design by American bridge builder William Howe.
The bridges, tunnels, and miles of track of the P&R were designed for hauling coal. At 20 miles per hour, the railroad could bring anthracite coal from the Schuylkill Valley to the Philadelphia market at a much faster pace than canal boats pulled by mules.
Boatmen saw the railroad as competition and protested by burning several wooden bridges. Osborne's diary records that the bridges had to be guarded "with armed watchmen and bulldogs."
Railroad officials saw iron bridges as a structural solution to their difficulties with angry boatmen.
Steam Locomotive John Bull (1831):
Knowing that the best locomotives were made in England, Robert Stevens ordered one from Robert Stephenson & Company of Newcastle. The John Bull -- named later for the mythical gentleman who symbolized England -- was the result. Isaac Dripps, a young steamboat mechanic, assembled the engine from the parts that arrived in New Jersey in September 1831.
The locomotive proved vulnerable to derailment. Dripps installed an extra pair of wheels, carried in a frame out front. Stevens called them "guide wheels"; they helped to steer the locomotive in curves and over uneven rails. The innovation worked so well that the Camden & Amboy bought 15 American-built copies of John Bull, with the added wheels.
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Description of Subject Matter: John Bull Locomotive, First Floor East
This landmark object -- the John Bull Locomotive -- identifies the transportation and technology wing of the museum.
On view is the steam locomotive John Bull and a section of the first iron railroad bridge in America.
The steam locomotive John Bull was built in 1831 and ran for 35 years, pulling trains of passengers and cargo between the two largest cities of the time, Philadelphia and New York. The locomotive propelled trains at 25 to 30 miles per hour. The John Bull, which was ordered from England by Robert Stevens for his railroad company, was named after the mythical gentleman who symbolized England. It was assembled by Isaac Dripps, a young steamboat mechanic who had never seen a locomotive before.
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Directly Related Pages: Other pages with content (DC -- Natl Museum of American History -- Exhibit: Landmark Object: John Bull Locomotive) directly related to this one:
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2016_DC_SIAH_John_Bull: DC -- Natl Museum of American History -- Exhibit: Landmark Object: John Bull Locomotive (10 photos from 2016)
2012_DC_SIAH_John_Bull: DC -- Natl Museum of American History -- Exhibit: Landmark Object: John Bull Locomotive (1 photo from 2012)
2005 photos: Equipment this year: I used four cameras -- two Fujifilm S7000 cameras (which were plagued by dust inside the lens), a new Fujifilm S5200 (nice but not great and I hated the proprietary xD memory chips), and a Canon PowerShot S1 IS (returned because it felt flimsy to me). I gave my Epson camera to my catsitter. Both of the S7000s were in for repairs over Christmas.
Trips this year: Florida (for Lotusphere), a driving trip down south (seeing sites in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, and Georgia), Williamsburg, and Chicago.
Number of photos taken this year: 147,000.
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