Existing comment:
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. |