Mr. Dripps informs me that, after many attempts, he succeeded in
putting the parts of the engine together, and when it was placed in
position upon the track he notified Robert Stevens of the fact. Mr.
Stevens came at once to Bordentown, as his anxiety to see it in
operation was very great. Upon his arrival the boiler was pumped full
of water, by hand, from the hogshead in which it was brought. Benjamin
Higgins made the fire with pine wood, and when the scale[5] showed
thirty pounds steam pressure, Isaac Dripps opened the throttle, Robert
Stevens standing by his side, and the first locomotive on this great
highway _moved_. It would be difficult to describe the feeling of
these three men as they stood upon the moving engine--the first human
freight drawn by steam on what was afterward destined to be the great
highway connecting the two most populous cities of the American
continent; a most important link in the chain of intercommunication
between the North and South and West. What possibilities must have
dawned upon them if they cared to lift the veil of the future!
[Footnote 5: The dial gauge was not in use at that time.]
During the next few days after this preliminary trial the engine was
again taken apart, and as a few of the parts needed modification some
time intervened before it was again in running order. It will be
remembered that young Dripps had never seen a locomotive before and
there were no "old engineers" to consult in regard to the construction
or management of the engine.