"An elegant new locomotive of improved model has been running on the
Lexington and Ohio Rail Road for several days to Frankfort. The success
which has attended the experiment thus far equals the most sanguine
hopes of the projectors. Since the application of steam all doubts have
been vanished, and we confess a very great change has been wrought
in our own minds as to the utility and value of the undertaking. Its
advantages to the town are manifest now and if it should be completed
to Louisville it will be an immense advantage to the whole commonwealth
and reflect the highest credit on those who have planned and executed
it. Its superiority over every other kind of locomotion will carry
conviction to the minds of any who may doubt and convince the country
of the absolute necessity of completing it, to which purpose the
Legislature will no doubt contribute largely.
The trip from here to Frankfort will occupy about two hours when the
arrangements are complete."
* * * * *
This "new locomotive" may have been the "Nottaway" or "The Logan" or the
"Daniel Boone." The latter, which was inclined to run behind time, was
the butt of many jokes. One traveller is said to have asked "What is
the matter, will we never arrive?" and another replied "Let us ask the
engineer to feed 'Boone' another stick of cord wood, or we will never
get there." Capt. Alfred Pirtle, Secretary of the Filson Club, says "The
Baldwin Locomotive Works have a record that they built an engine named
'Daniel Boone' for the Lexington and Ohio Rail Road in 1842."
* * * * *
The Observer and Reporter January 24th, 1835, says:
"Several hundred of our citizens had the pleasure yesterday of
witnessing a successful experiment on the Rail Road with the new
Locomotive. Its performance justifies all our hopes. Two burthen cars
and the large passenger car filled with passengers were attached to the
engine. It moved off with great ease clearly indicating its ability to
perform all its requirements. Every one who witnessed the experiment
seemed to feel a high degree of patriotic enthusiasm that he lived in
a city which had originated and thus far successfully prosecuted this
magnificent and invaluable scheme. "We learn that the Locomotive made
the trip to the Villa, a distance of six miles, in a little over 20
minutes although badly provided with fuel."
* * * * *
The "success of the experiment" had an unfortunate set back, however,
for in the Observer and Reporter, January 24, 1835, is an account of
the _Accident_ which caused profound distress.
"We have carefully prepared from authentic information the following
account of the melancholy occurrences of yesterday. To allay public
excitement and prevent misrepresentation or misapprehension of facts
we consider it our duty to give as brief and accurate account as
possible of those unfortunate accidents today which caused the death
of two individuals and severe injuries to four others.
"The splendid Locomotive Engine recently imported was placed on the
road two or three days since and has made one or more pleasure trips
each day to the Villa (6 miles) and back with perfect safety and entire
success. This morning it performed the trip with one large Passenger
Coach containing some fifty or sixty passengers, and one burden Car
also loaded, attached to it, in 19 minutes going and about 22 minutes
returning without accident. This afternoon, as the Engineer was
proceeding from the car house a quarter of a mile below the depot in
the city a number of boys were continually trying to jump upon the
tender although repeatedly forbidden to do so, till finally while the
Locomotive was going at the rate of only about five or six miles per
hour, a negro boy, 11 or 12 years of age, the property of Mrs. Ross, on
attempting to jump on the fore part of the tender fell under it and was
crushed to death. No possible blame can attach to the Engineer as he
stopped the moment he saw the boy fall, but was too late.
He then came up slowly to the depot, both sides of the road being lined
by hundreds of anxious spectators, and attached the Locomotive to two
burden Cars and the large Passenger Coach, before mentioned, altogether
containing, we suppose, over 150 persons, in the following order:
1st--The Engine and tender. 2nd--A common Burden Car with temporary
benches to sit on but no side on front or rear railing to protect the
passengers from falling or being pushed off; fastened with common trace
chains by means of the centre beams to which the shafts are used fixed
to the Locomotive. 3rd--Another common Burthen Car attached to the
second as it was to the first giving 10 to 12 inches loose play forward
and back but with only a single bench running through the centre from
front to rear. No railing or other protection to the passengers, who
were obliged to stand up, except a few standards along the sides for the
purpose of hauling wood. 4th--The large Passenger Coach attached to the
third as it was to the second. Before starting, more than one gentleman
who noticed the manner of attaching the cars, and the consequent jars
which they would inevitably receive, made remarks as to the dangerous
situation of the individuals crowded on the burden cars, but we made the
trip down safely in 24 minutes.
After remaining to Wood and Water we started back with position
reversed, the large Passenger Coach in front, then the two burthen cars
following each other, and lastly the Locomotive, each pushing forward
the one in front of it, by pressing the end of the centre beams, some
six inches square against each other, loosely attached as before
described, by common trace chains. We had proceeded in this manner about
a mile at a moderate pace when in passing a curve, the beam of the front
burthen Car was seen to pass to the right of the rear beam of the
Passenger Car, which jerked the wheels off the track and caused a
considerable shock and great alarm. Some of the passengers on the two
burthen Cars attempted to jump off, the ground being nearly on a level
with the road at that place; others, especially those standing in the
forward burthen Car were thrown backwards and knocked off, those near
the edge of it under the wheels of the other; some attempted to leap on
the bank, fell and rolled down, and thus all the mischief was done.
Lewis Lankard and Leonard Taylor, of Lexington, Ky.; William A. Cocke
and Joseph Holt, of Louisville; F. W. Trapnall, of Springfield, and
Daniel Green, of Fayette County, were in this way thrown off the forward
burthen Car and under the wheels of the other. Lankard was instantly
killed; Taylor and Green had each a leg broken; Messrs. Trapnall and
Holt had severe bruises and were probably saved by Lankard's falling
before them and in some measure stopping the car. Mr. Cocke had his
right foot firmly fastened in the forward wheel of the hindmost car and
was much injured and but for the presence of mind and promptness of the
Engineer in stopping at the moment must have lost his leg and most
probably his life; another quarter turn of the wheel would have been
fatal. He could only be released by taking that part of the Car to
pieces. Several other gentlemen were bruised and slightly injured. None
of the Cars turned over and if the burthen Cars had been substantially
railed round or if only passenger cars had been used or all had been
drawn and not pushed, nothing serious would have been the consequence.
Too much praise cannot be bestowed upon the Engineer. Although under
considerable headway he stopped almost instantly and much sooner than
a stage with horses could have been halted. May we now be permitted to
make a single suggestion or two to the Manager of the Rail Road?
1st--The number of passengers to go in each Car should be limited.
Huddling numbers on the top is extremely hazardous.
2nd--Unless a wire sieve is fastened over the top of the chimney of the
engine we shall soon have some dwelling house, barn or other building
near the road burnt down or the Cars themselves set on fire.
In conclusion we hope that the feeling of our citizens will not be again
excited by the occurrence of such a painful and heart-rending accident
as the one over which a number have been called to mourn, as we are
confident that by proper management and strict attention it may be
easily avoided."
* * * * *
Now let us consider this first locomotive engine ever used on the
Lexington and Ohio Railroad. This locomotive was invented by Thomas
Harris Barlow (who afterward became world-famous as the inventor of
the Planetarium) and was constructed by Joseph Bruen at his machine
shops which stood near the corner of Water and Spring Streets.
That wonderful little locomotive is described by one who saw it with his
own eyes, who rode behind it often, and who knew the men who invented
and constructed it quite intimately. The old gentleman I refer to was
Samuel D. McCullough, who was born in 1803 and who wrote his diary,
which is now in the Lexington Public Library, in 1871.
"Mr. Thomas Harris Barlow was born in Nicholas County, Kentucky, (says
his son, Milton, in a letter to me) August 5th, 1789, and resided in the
State of his birth till the last year or two of his life and died in
Cincinnati June, 1865."
I shall condense Mr. Milton Barlow's short biography of his father,
which states that he had but a common school education. He was an
industrious and even a hard working student of mechanism for which he
had a wonderful natural gift, and which induced Col. R. M. Johnson to
appoint him principal Military Artificer in his Regiment. He was under
fire in the Battle of the Thames (1812) where he distinguished himself
for coolness and bravery. After his intermarriage with Miss Lizzie West
he turned his attention to erecting flour, saw and other mills and
building and overseeing their steam motive power. In 1825 he removed to
Lexington and opened a machine shop.
"I remember myself all which followed and give my own recollections.
Believing that Locomotives could be propelled at a greater velocity Mr.
Barlow and Mr. Joseph Bruen, another mechanical genius, built an engine
to run on the new Rail Road, just started from this place towards
Frankfort, the finished portion of the road extending then but five
miles from this City, and on which Sunday pleasure Cars were running
drawn by two horses.
The Steam Engine was an odd concern; not more than three or four feet
high wheels, boiler and all; the pistons working perpendicularly; two
cylinders _and a tongue in front to guide the steam wagon with the
necessary pilot wheel with its tiller ropes_. I never knew what became
of the engine but I have placed all that is left of the model in the
Museum of the Eastern Kentucky Lunatic Asylum along with the remnant of
Edward West's model steam engine for boats. Mr. Barlow and Mr. Bruen
also built another small steam engine which ran on a miniature oval Rail
Road, in the large room, third story of the factory, corner of Water and
Rose Streets, drawing after it a miniature car large enough to hold one
grown person or two children. I paid my 25 cents for a ride on it.
The novelty of the occasion brought multitudes of citizens, male and
female, to see it and as Mr. Barlow quaintly and truthfully observes,
'each of the visitors had to pay a small sum for the pleasure of riding
on land by steam.' I give the following remark of Mr. Barlow, Jr., just
as he used it without stopping to inquire whether it be genuine or
apocryphal. He says, 'This was the first steam locomotive engine ever
made in America.'
Mr. Barlow sold the miniature engine, Car and wooden rails to Mr. Samuel
Robb, of this county, who exhibited the workings of them in 1827 in the
cities of Louisville, Nashville, Memphis, Vicksburg, New Orleans, in
which city it was consumed by fire during the year 1828. Mr. Barlow
built another miniature engine for Mr. Rockhill who used it for
exhibition. I wish it distinctly remembered so as not to confuse dates,
that the first mattock struck and the first stone laid on the Lexington
and Louisville Rail Road were done in Lexington June 3rd, 1831, the
citizens, the Free Masons and the Military assisting in the ceremonies
which took place at the corner of Water and Upper Streets, not ten feet
from the present storage house of Hayman and Wooley. Prof. Charles
Caldwell, of Transylvania Medical School, made the address on the
occasion.
I remember again, that the model engine of Mr. Barlow and Mr. Bruen was
run on the miniature Rail Road _three or four years before_ the first
rail was laid on the track which was a flat iron rail on a stone sill.
The great danger occurring continually from the ends of the flat rails
turning upwards causing what was then called 'snake heads,' and the
disintegration of the stone sills induced the directors to change both
sills and rails to their present form.
I recollect the old horse car running from here to Frankfort and back to
Lexington.
It was in 1835, in company with my deceased friend, John J. Crittenden,
who with myself was watching a splendid comet in the North West during
our ride, the horse cars were four hours in running the distance of
twenty-four miles, or six miles an hour. Upon arriving upon the hill
near Frankfort the passenger trains were sent down an inclined plane
drawn by horses. Several accidents occurred which afterwards induced the
Directors to change the route to a more circuitous and safer place, the
road now in constant use. At Frankfort the passengers for Louisville
took seats in five and six four-horse coaches, eighteen to twenty-four
passengers each. The necessities of travel and commerce finally
culminated in finishing the Rail Road to Louisville. Lexington and
Frankfort with the counties of Fayette, Woodford and Franklin did their
parts nobly, and Louisville with that symptom of haggling so usual with
her, finally was induced to help finish the road to that city.
Whilst upon the subject of inventors, inventions and Rail Roads, I may
tell you that the two-horse-car ran from this City to Frankfort over the
'flat iron' rail until 18-- when a little steam locomotive called the
Nottaway made one trip to Frankfort and back the same day. It drew one
passenger coach built by Mr. Ashton, the venerable coach builder of this
city. The inside would accommodate about as many as a modern omnibus
and seats on the top with an iron railing all around would seat as many
more. I have an indistinct recollection where the baggage and mail
matter were stored but I think they were given in charge of the
engineer, who also in that capacity was baggage master and mail agent.
I recollect distinctly the little locomotives, Nottaway and Logan.
More than two-score times have I and other able bodied men gotten out of
the passenger car when the locomotive was not able to pull the load over
some slight elevation in the road and pushed passenger car and engine up
the inclined plane of less than one degree inclination. When we arrived
at the summit of the inclination, which was about nine miles from
Lexington in what was called the 'deep cut,' the engineer in the
meantime having raised steam enough to carry passengers to the next
slight ascension in the road, cried 'all aboard' and away we went.
'All out' was the engineer's next cry when he came to some slight
ascension in the road. Out we came and our shoulders were again applied
to help the little locomotive out of its terrible difficulty. Arriving
at the top of the hill at Frankfort from a four to six hours ride of
twenty-four miles we met with two serious questions either to go down
the inclined plane at nearly 40 degrees inclination free of charge or
take the hacks and carriages in waiting by paying 25 cents extra. My
old friend, Rev. Dr. R. J. Breckinridge and myself not wishing to risk
our lives on the incline plane took seats in a hack. I recollect Dr.
Breckinridge's remark, when he paid his extra quarter for hack hire:
'I agree to pay $1.00 to be carried safely to Frankfort. I pay this
additional 25 cents under protest as a swindle.' The driver 'took our
monies and went his ways' and proceeded to collect 25 cents from each
passenger going into Frankfort until some 'change' was made by the
Directors of the Rail Road."
* * * * *
Mr. Andy Shepherd in an interview said he remembered the old locomotives
Daniel Boone, Logan and Joe Davis.
He said the passenger coach was painted yellow. He described the first
locomotive as having a tall smoke stack, a single wheel, and a crank
axle, with no cab, the engineer standing unprotected through wind and
weather. He said it required a cord of two-foot wood to make the trip
from Lexington to Frankfort and return, that the engineer stopped at
Villa Grove and at Duckers "to wood and water." He said at first there
was one passenger and one freight train a day, that freight came from
Cincinnati to Frankfort by river, and from Frankfort to Lexington by
rail. When asked where the headlight for the locomotive was, he replied:
"They did not need a headlight because they only travelled by daylight."
(And yet one of the English commentaries which had made deepest
impression on the railroad promoters was that "Locomotives can travel
safely in the dark.")
Mr. Shepherd said the old engines were finally sold for scrap iron,
loaded on a flat car, and taken away. But the Logan was sold to a coal
mine.
* * * * *
The Gazette, November 28th, 1835, says:
"There seems to be a perfect mania pervading the country on the subject
of railroads. Hardly a paper comes to hand but contains accounts of
meetings held for the purpose of projecting one through some part or
another."
* * * * *
And on January 9th, 1836:
"The Mayor has called a meeting of the citizens of Lex. and Fayette Co.
on Monday next at 12 o'clock to take into consideration measures
relative to the contemplated Railroad from Charleston, S. C., to the
Ohio River. The meeting will take place in a Court House."
* * * * *
On January 23rd, 1836:
We learn that "the Directors of the R. R. Co. have declined bringing
more fire wood to this city but have offered to the agents for procuring
fuel the use of their road and wood cars free of expense for the
transport of that article. The great quantity of freight at the depots
rendering this course necessary on the part of the Company."
* * * * *
On December 12th, 1835, was an interesting article headed: