Best Friend of Charleston
The Best Friend of Charleston was a steam locomotive in the United States. It is considered the first fully -built steam locomotive in the U.S. and first in the United States destroyed by a boiler explosion steam locomotive.
History
The locomotive was built in 1830 for the South Carolina Canal and Railroad Company of the West Point Foundry in Cold Spring (New York). For the transport to their prospective location, she was again dismantled and shipped by boat to Charleston (South Carolina ), where they arrived in October 1830. It was reassembled unofficially named Best Friend of Charleston. After the opening drive at Christmas 1830, the locomotive from 15 January 1831 used for passenger traffic on the six-mile route pattern of future railway Charleston -Hamburg. The locomotive reached a speed of 25 km / h to 40 km / h - speeds that could be reached only by an experienced rider with a trained horse at that time.
The South Carolina Canal and Railroad Company had to build the object, a 219 km long route for the transportation of cotton from Charleston to Hamburg (South Carolina). The Chief Engineer of the company was Horatio Allen, who already wanted to introduce steam operation on the railroad at the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company. The tracks of this train were not designed for the weight of locomotives, so that the Stourbridge Lion and her sister machines were used only for a few test rides and parked it. In contrast to this line was provided at the South Carolina Canal and Railroad Company from the beginning of steam operation and designed the tracks accordingly.
At the opening of continuous operation in 1833 there was the Best Friend of Charleston already no longer. It was destroyed on June 17, 1831 at a boiler explosion, because the heater, a slave who had laid down the lever of the manual operation of the safety valves of the boiler in a closed position while the train driver arranged the wood on the tender. The fireman lost his life in this accident, the locomotive engineer was scalded on the back and some other people were injured. The accident is considered first recorded boiler explosion of a steam locomotive in America, although there are suspicions that America was destroyed by a boiler explosion at the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company on July 26, 1829.
After the incident, safety valves were introduced which could not be determined in closed position. The train also took on in the rules that the engineer always has to stay while on duty at the locomotive. Schaffner been set, who took care of the car and the passengers and the points presented, so that this work is no longer needed to be carried out by the train drivers.
The still usable parts of the destroyed Best Friend of Charleston used in the construction of the locomotive Phoenix, which was until the American Civil War in use.
Technology
The Best Friend of Charleston was designed by EL Miller from Charleston. She weighed about 4.5 tons and had a standing wood-fired fire tube boiler with chimney, which was placed in the rear of the locomotive, and was designed for an operating pressure of 3.4 bar. The water supply was carried in a box under the front end of the frame. The two front slightly obliquely arranged next to the train driver had cylinder 15 cm in diameter and a stroke of 41 cm. The driving wheels having a diameter of 137 cm. The engine had an output of 12 horsepower, reaching 32 km / h with a train of five cars which were occupied by 50 travelers.
Replicas
1928 built the Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) to celebrate the centenary of the track a functioning replica of the train from the early years. Also two matching coaches were built to Best Friend of Charleston. The NS is the current successor of the South Carolina Canal and Railroad Company, which operated the route. The modeled after the original plans train was shown and demonstrated in the following years at events throughout the United States. In 1993, the train was handed over to the city of Charleston and on display in a former engine shed, the Best Friend of Charleston Engine House at 32 Ann Street 32.789371-79.937739. The museum was run by the local branch of the Charleston National Railway Historical Society. It closed in 2000.
In August 2007 the Best Friend train for six years was loaned to the NS. He was worked in the workshops of NS in Chattanooga (Tennessee), before he was taken to New York where it was issued on December 12, 2005 before the New York Stock Exchange to celebrate the 175 year anniversary of the NS. On the way back the locomotive made on 15 and 16 December halt in front of the headquarters of NS in Norfolk, Virginia and then the NS was at the headquarters exhibited at the 1200 Peachtree Street 33.787908-84.383975 in downtown Atlanta. 2013 returned the replica back to Charleston, where he is displayed in a new museum at the John St 32.788807-79.936999. The museum will open in early 2014.
Another replica is on display at the South Carolina State Museum in Columbia 33.998611-81.048056.