On this day in 1830, the first locomotive built in America, the Tom Thumb, traveled from Baltimore to Ellicotts Mill in Maryland. It was designed and constructed by Peter Cooper in 1829 to convince owners of the newly formed Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (the first railroad in America) to use steam engines. It is especially remembered as a participant in a race with a horse-drawn car, which the horse won after Tom Thumb suffered a mechanical failure. However, the demonstration was successful, and the railroad committed to the use of steam locomotion and held trials in the following year for a working engine.
Testing was performed on the first section, built in 1829, of the company’s future main line to Wheeling, Virginia (now West Virginia). The first section linked Baltimore and Ellicott Mills (now Ellicott City, Maryland), along the upper branch of the Patapsco River Valley. Cars were pulled by horses. Two tracks had been constructed, which led the owners of Stockton and Company, a local stagecoach line providing passenger and freight service, to challenge the new locomotive to a race over the 8 miles (13 km) between the Relay House and Baltimore.
The challenge accepted, Tom Thumb was easily able to pull away from the horse until the belt slipped off the blower pulley. Without the blower, the boiler did not draw adequately and the locomotive lost power, allowing the horse to pass and win the race. Nonetheless, it was recognized that the locomotive offered superior performance. The B&O stopped using horses in 1831.
Tom Thumb replica alongside B&O EMC EA/EB #51, 1937. Both locomotives are on display at the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore.
Vegetarian…
Physics…
Another stupid executive order????
Men?
SIGNZEZ…
Today is the birthday, in 1965, of Shania Twain, Canadian singer, (Eilleen Regina Edwards). Her 1997 album ‘Come On Over’, became the best-selling album of all time by a female musician in any genre, and the best-selling country album of all time selling more than 40 million copies worldwide. Twain has won 5 Grammy Awards and 27 BMI Songwriter awards and is sometimes referred to as “The Queen of Country Pop”, she is one of the most commercially successful artists of all time, having sold over 80 million albums. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJL4UGSbeFg
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