Atlantic (locomotive)

Atlantic
The Atlantic preserved on static display at the B&O Railroad Museum
Power type Steam
Builder Phineas Davis
Build date 1832
Configuration 0-4-0
Gauge 4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm)
Locomotive weight 6.5 tons
Fuel type anthracite coal
Boiler pressure 50 psi
Cylinders 2
Power output 63 hp (47 kW)
Tractive effort 1,570 pound force
Career Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
Nicknames "Grasshopper"

Atlantic was the name of an early American steam locomotive built by Phineas Davis for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) in 1832.

Design and construction

Built at a cost of $4,500, the Atlantic weighed 6.5 tons and had two vertical cylinders. Ox teams were used to convey the engine to Baltimore, where it made a successful inaugural trip to Ellicott's Mills, Maryland, a distance of thirteen miles (19 km). Nicknamed the "Grasshopper" for its distinctive vertical pushrods, the locomotive carried 50 pounds of steam and burned a ton of anthracite coal on a 40-mile (64 km) trip from Baltimore. Satisfied with this locomotive's operations, the B&O built 20 more locomotives of a similar design at its Mt. Clare shops in Baltimore.

Replica Atlantic

In 1892, the B&O rebuilt another locomotive, originally named Andrew Jackson, to resemble the 1832 Atlantic. It was intended to be used as a heritage showpiece, and it was first exhibited at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois. It was exhibited again at the 1939 New York World's Fair and then in 1948-49 at the Chicago Railroad Fair as part of the latter fair's "Wheels A-Rolling" pageant.

References