steam locomotive

On this day in 1830, the first successful American steam locomotive, the “Tom Thumb,” built by Peter Cooper, carried the B&O directors in a passenger car to Ellicott’s Mills, 13 miles away. The passengers were amazed at the locomotive’s speed, said to be between 10-18 miles per hour. The B&O used horses to pull rail cars at that time but Cooper built a coal-powered steam engine to move materials from […]