Steam & Preservation

No one claimed the Lion was a rousing success.  The claim is that it was the first steam engine to run on rails in America.

The Wright Flyer was not a rousing success.  It only went 112 feet, the pilot had to lay on the wing and a bunch of guys had to push it down the hill.  But it's still in the Smithsonian.

Off topic:  I took a train to Asheville Sunday.  You live in very pretty country.

 Having missed the chance to support the Tornado, I do not want to miss this one.

How can we help???

Thanks,

Kevin Olsen

(Modelling the 1830 to 1850 period in HO scale) 

Regardless of the relative success or failure of the original Lion, it's encouraging to see efforts to replicate old steam.  The recent completion of the "Tornado" in Britain and "Leviathan" here bode well for the possibility that someone will undertake the building of other significant American locomotives, albeit using modern tools, techniques, and materials.

Who wouldn't want to see a Niagara or a "Mother Hubbard" or {insert favorite locomotive} under steam again?

 To parse whether the first American steam locomotive was a model of efficiency is something only a infinitesimally minuscule portion of the population ruminates over. Does the Jefferson memorial have an efficient roofing system? To bring living history to the young, as opposed to the perverse strategy Moe Larry and Curly have designed over in Green Bay that will squelch the 261,one of a handful of operable nationally historic locomotives, is an admirable quest, regardless if it hauled one potato rather than two.

As several people have pointed out, the original was just plain too heavy for the track - a common problem with early locomotives anywhere.

 There is, in the National Railway Museum, York in the UK, a complete sister of the 'Stourbridge Lion'. 'Agenoria' was built, like the 'Lion', by Foster & Raistrick in 1829. It shows the grasshopper beams and the simple boiler that really were rendered completely obsolete by 'Rocket' of the same year. By 1830, 'Planet' had been built for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, and all subsequent locos show the layout that Robert Stephenson produced with 'Planet'

 You can see 'Agenoria' at:http://www.steamlocomotive.info/vlocomotive.cfm?Display=4045

There are several working replicas of very early locomotives in the UK:

Locomotion, Puffing Billy, Steam Elephant, Rocket, Sans Pareil, the Penydarren loco, and some later ones including the 7 foot gauge 'Firefly' and 'Iron Duke'

By all means, go ahead and build the replica - generations of people have never seen these things in action. At best they have a static exhibit, or a few remaining parts, or at worst only photographs or drawings. To see one in action is the only way to appreciate it.

By the way, the same applies to other machines - paddle steamers, vintage aircraft and old cars.

The "Stourbridge Lion" was a failure, from the day it got off the boat from "Over There".  Stop pissing money down a rat hole!  Granted, the "Wright Flyer" only did 122', ten times as much as the "Lion" ever did.  The replica, in Honesdale, did its job.  Some things have to be laid to rest.  Giving money to the "261" project is meaningful and will be appreciated for years-to-come.

Having said that, I have a 1989 Ford Mustang "GT" with a blown 4.9 (a.k.a. the 5.0) V-8 motor.  All contributions acknowledged and apprecitate!  Please mark all checks "Donation" in the memo box.  Nothing over $11,000, please.  Thank you very much.

Its hard to beleive that in less than 10 years steam technology went from this in 1829:

to the 4-4-0 in 1836, the quintsential model engine for the next 50 years

V.S...

If this trend continues, we may be able to have a parade of living history in steam much like our friends in England enjoy. While perhaps not a near term possibility, at least we are approaching a reasonable feasibility.

I would be interested in what examples our fellow posters think should be added to this list of American motive power. I say American for practical reasons, but I would love to see the Red Devil included..the shame is that non articulated power houses like the Q2 are only found in old photographs.  Failures are fascinating and have a certain mystique attached to them like Jawn Henry or the T1..we could debate endlessly what constitutes success..but all are developmental steps whether they were or are dead ends..whatever happened to the diesel the DOE outfitted to run on pulverized coal..? Of course it's not reciprocating steam but I use it as an example of an apparent dead end, but is interesting...

wallyworld:

I would be interested in what examples our fellow posters think should be added to this list of American motive power.

It would be nice to have a cross section of motive power from across the country - from the workaday to the wondrous.  Everybody has a favorite (I'm lucky - there are several editions of my favorite still around), and each of us can certainly make a case that ours should be the first example built.

Just as (if not more) important is trackage on which to run such power, which is getting rarer by the day.  Not just so they can run, but to provide a source of income with which to continue building other locomotives.