File:Stephenson 0-4-0 locomotive “Samson”, Liverpool & Manchester Railway, 1831. American Engineer, LXVIII-3, March 1894, New York, p. 130 – With caption, black and white.jpg

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Anonymous: “LOCOMOTIVE FOR THE MANCHESTER & LIVERPOOL RAILWAY. Built in 1831 by R. Stephenson & Co., Newcastle-on-Tyne.” Illustration in American Engineer and Railroad Journal, vol. LXVIII, no. 3, March 1894, New York, p. 130.

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130   THE AMERICAN ENGINEER   [March, 1894.
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LOCOMOTIVE FOR THE MANCHESTER & LIVERPOOL RAILWAY. Built in 1831 by R. Stephenson & Co., Newcastle-on-Tyne.
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Vol. LXVIII, No. 3.]   AND RAILROAD JOURNAL.    131
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LOCOMOTIVE “SAMSON.”
     WE are indebted to Mr. Clement E. Stretton for a blueprint, from which the accompanying engraving was made. This engine was built for the Liverpool & Manchester Railway in 1831 by Robert Stephenson & Co., of Newcastle, and, as Mr. Stretton says, “was just like many sent to America in 1831.” Its resemblance to some of the historic locomotives in this country will be recognized. Its cylinders were 14 × 16 in., and the wheels 4 ft. 6 in. diameter.
     It is not generally known how many locomotives were imported to this country from England. The following table has, therefore, been compiled from a Report made to the House of Representatives by the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States in 1838. In this report it is said :
     “Of the whole number of locomotives in the United States propelled by steam, being about 350, the most which have been ascertained in any State is 96, in the State of Pennsylvania. Those in each State, respectively, can be seen in the table annexed (V 4).
     “None of them were introduced here till A.D. 1831, though they now run on nearly 1,500 miles of railroad. The first one, it is believed, was in the State of Delaware, on the Newcastle Railroad ; the second, in Maryland, on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad; and the third, between New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain, in the State of Louisiana. They had been tried in this country by Oliver Evans as early as 1804, and in England as early as 1805, but not reduced to useful practice in the latter till 1811 for freight, and in A.D 1830 for passengers and speed. One succeeded on a common road, from London to Bath, in 1829. Of the whole number of other steam machines in the United States (being about 1,860), the State of Pennsylvania has the most ascertained, being 383. The number in some States is not accurately ascertained; but near 300 more are ascertained and computed to exist in Louisiana alone. The introduction of them here, and especially with the high-pressure machinery, was much promoted by Oliver Evans about A.D. 1787, in the State of New Jersey, for raising water and earth from mines. The next was about 1791 in a cotton factory at Kensington, near Philadelphia; and soon after in saw-mills and iron slitting and rolling mills at Pittsburgh.”
     This report shows how unreliable most history is. Tin Secretary of the Treasury of the United states is called upon by Congress to make a report, and with all the resources of his

132   THE AMERICAN ENGINEER   [March, 1894.
department records that “it is believed” that the first locomotive was introduced here in 1831, in the State of Delaware, on the Newcastle Railroad, whereas there is undoubted testimony that the first locomotive was “introduced,” although it was not successful, on the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company’s line in 1829.
     The following is a copy of Table V 4, referred to in the report of the Secretary:
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