John Bull
by Mike Flynn
Title
John Bull
Artist
Mike Flynn
Medium
Photograph - Photo Art
Description
The John Bull (live run Sept. 15, 1981 Georgetown, Washington, DC)
After being on static display for 42 years, the Smithsonian commemorated the John Bull's 150th birthday in 1981 by firing it up, making it the world's oldest surviving operable steam locomotive. I took this photo that day just west of Georgetown.
John Bull is a British-built railroad steam locomotive that operated in the United States. It was operated for the first time on September 15, 1831. Built by Robert Stephenson and Company, the John Bull was initially purchased by and operated for the Camden and Amboy Railroad, the first railroad in New Jersey. The C & A used the locomotive heavily from 1833 until 1866, when it was removed from active service and placed in storage.
After the C & A's assets were acquired by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1871, the PRR refurbished and operated the locomotive a few times for public displays: it was steamed up for the Centennial Exposition in 1876 and again for the National Railway Appliance Exhibition in 1883. In 1884 the locomotive was purchased by the Smithsonian Institution as the museum's first major industrial exhibit.
Today, the John Bull is on static display once more in the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.
Chance favors those already in motion.
Uploaded
September 28th, 2012
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