The John Bull locomotive is one of the most significant early steam engines in American railroad history.
Robert Stephenson and Company, a British company, built the John Bull locomotive in 1831 for the Camden & Amboy. The railroad numbered the locomotive number one.
It arrived in Bordentown, New Jersey, on September 4, 1831, and operated for the first time on September 15, 1831. It was also initially named Stevens in honor of the railroad’s president, Robert L. Stevens.
Engineer Isaac Dripps, who had never seen a locomotive before, assembled and first operated the John Bull.
John Bull was a 4-2-0 steam locomotive featuring a leading axle and two large driving wheels. Later, a cowcatcher, headlamp and a cab were added to make it better suited for American railway conditions.
The railroad used the locomotive for more than three decades until it was retired in 1866.
In 1884, it became part of the Smithsonian Institution’s collection, making it the world’s oldest operable steam locomotive when it was fired up for public display in 1981.
The Smithsonian wanted to maintain the original locomotive in a controlled environment. In 1939, employees of the Pennsylvania Railroad’s workshops in Altoona, Pennsylvania, built an operable replica of the locomotive for exhibition.
