It remained in service for six months until June 17, 1831 when its boiler exploded, partially destroying the locomotive and severely injuring its crew (as legend goes the fireman became tired of listening to the hissing and whistling coming from the boiler and held down the steam pressure release valve). The Best Friend of Charleston was a steam-powered railroad locomotive widely considered the first locomotive to be built entirely within the United States for revenue service. He and the Best Friend have appeared in three movies, the nations Bicentennial parade, and Presidents Carters Inaugural Parade. History. During the test runs, frequent derailments occurred 28 in fact before John realized the tread on the wheels needed to be one half inch wider to negotiate the track. The Best Friend was built at the West Point Foundry in New York. The only mode of travel that was any faster was by an experienced horse and rider. The Best Friend of Charleston was a steam-powered railroad locomotive that is widely acclaimed as the first locomotive to be built entirely within the United States for revenue service. As one might imagine, John has his favorite stories, like meeting film star Elizabeth Taylor at a banquet in Danville, Va., and giving her a Best Friend Charm. It houses a replica of the Best Friend of Charleston, a steam locomotive which carried passengers en route from Charleston to Hamburg, passing through Branchville. We were equally excited because the children had never heard anything before. The Charleston Courier described the experience of riding the locomotive as flying "on the wings of wind at the speed of fifteen to twenty-five miles per hour, annihilating time and space." Best Train arrives at the State Museum. The steam-powered Best Friend of Charleston made its inaugural trip along a 6-mile stretch of track reaching northwest from Charleston on Christmas Day, 1830. . The new company name was the Georgia Railroad and Banking Company. The Best Friend of Charleston made its inaugural run on Christmas Day, December 25, 1830. The locomotive weighed 6.6 tonnes, with many elements, including the boiler, cylinders and wheels, composed of cast iron, although the frame was timber. One is at the Best Friend Museum in Charleston, and the other is at our very own South Carolina State Museum. The Best Friend of Charleston took its first trip along six miles of track on Christmas Day, 1830. The Best Friend of Charleston. South Carolina History Illustrated 1 (February 1970): 1923, 7071. Dubbed Best Friend of Charleston by eager merchants, the train made its premier trip on Christmas Day 1830, becoming the first steam locomotive in the US to establish regularly scheduled passenger service. Created by Michael Sheehan Media www.michaelsheehanmedia.net Copyright 2020- Hosted by, A History of Transportation in the Eastern Cotton Belt to 1860, South Carolina Canal and Railroad Company, The North Carolina Railroad: Planning the Route. To restore passenger confidence, a flatcar piled high with protective cotton bales was placed between the locomotive and its passenger cars. The speed of The Best Friend of Charleston was laughable by our standards, but in its day, it was audacious. The Best Friend is usually scheduled along with the Norfolk Southerns Exhibit Car, every weekend from late march until Late October, for an array of community actives in NSs 21-state system. Though its speed might not impress us today, by 19th century standards it was nothing short of incredible. Reportedly, a fireman accidentally caused the explosion when he closed the steam pressure release valve. 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. 1 was about 15mph (24km/h). Later regulations specified that no train was to exceed 20 mph unless greatly behind time. Ah, what would we do without loopholes? I think it was the bicentinial of the founding of the colony. 1 became obsolete within a decade. Around 300 tickets had been sold but about twice as many people were believed to have been aboard. The Charleston Courier breathlessly reported on the inaugural excursion and on the wondrous new reality of transportation in America: The one hundred and forty-one persons flew on the wings of wind at the speed of fifteen to twenty-five miles per hour, annihilating time and spaceleaving all the world behind. Well one day the operator got sick of hearing it and tied down the safety valve to make it stop. The locomotive, as its ownership changed, remained in Darlington from 1857, in later years on display at the Head of Steam museum in Darlington, in the same building as Darlington's North Road station. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. It ran along six miles of wood and metal rails terminating near the junction of State and Dorchester Roads. small incline railways and local horse-drawn operations were in service The real Best Friend, destroyed six months after its debut, is American railroading's first and most famous boiler explosion, was survived by drawings -- from which today's replicas advisedly depart on several points: the original track, for example, was 5-foot gauge. To train its new AI model, the company's researchers used an audio library from Meta called LibriLight. In 1928 an operable replica of the locomotive was completed using original blueprints upon which time it was donated to the city of Charleston in celebration of the South Carolina Canal and Rail Road's 100th anniversary. Corrections? By 1821, the economy was better in both port cities, but Charleston realized it was not recovering as quickly as Savannah, its major commercial rival. 1 is most notable for being the first locomotive to haul a passenger train on a public railway than for the innovations in its design. The engine was forgotten. A replica of the Best Friend of Charleston was built in 1928 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company by the Southern Railway. Enjoy all the splendor West Virginia's natural beauty has to offer while enjoying dinner by train on the West Virginia Central and other locations. Centennial History of South Carolina Railroad. Reportedly, a fireman . Today, this replica is under the ownership of the Charleston Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society (NRHS)/Best Friend Museum although it has been loaned to Norfolk Southern Railway to display at their headquarters in Atlanta (the SCC&RR later became a subsidiary of the Southern Railway, an NS predecessor). McCall was walking across the yard of . The work of clearing the route and laying track commenced in earnest in the spring of 1831, proceeding from suburban Charleston to the . Norfolk Southern Railway (reprinted by Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, December 13, 2005), "The Best Friend of Charleston at Summerville, South Carolina", South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company, Norfolk Southern's 'Best Friend' visits stock exchange for opening bell ceremony, Norfolk Southern's "Best Friend" Visits Stock Exchange, "New train museum features Best Friend of Charleston", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Best_Friend_of_Charleston&oldid=1104969120, June 17, 1831: The boiler explodes on the, This page was last edited on 17 August 2022, at 20:37. Historic information: The Charleston Chapter NRHS was organized in 1967 and holds meetings at the Ashley Park Retirement Community, 1451 Tobias Gadson Blvd., Charleston SC , at 11 A.M. on the second Saturday of each month. Dubbed "Best Friend of Charleston" by eager merchants, the train made its premier trip on Christmas Day 1830, becoming the first steam locomotive in the US to establish regularly scheduled passenger service. So what do you think happened? It survived until Amtrak in 1971. 2 minutes to read. It is believed that Locomotion No. It took ten months to shape up the little train, including the installation of a new boiler. 1930. This new company was tasked with building a route from Augusta west into the interior of the state by construction of a railroad. 28329. It was rebuilt but, as a consequence of the rapid advances in locomotive design, Locomotion No. Thumb" along the Baltimore & Ohio. Other east coast cities took notice and the port of Charleston, South Carolina followed suit on December 19, 1827 establishing the South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company. At this time, Europeans were just beginning to experiment with the concept of a Rail Road; a new means of transportation that employed a locomotive propelled along rails by steam power. Construction went quickly, having the advantages that the railway was a single set of slightly elevated tracks, was built almost entirely of wood, and was laid over relatively flat terrain. Another milestone was set down by the little puffer Best Friend of Charleston. At the time, it was considered one of the fastest modes of transport, taking its passengers "on the wings of wind at the speed of fifteen to twenty-five miles per hour (24 to 40km/h). The Best Friend had a short life. [15], As ownership of the railways changed, the locomotive became a British Rail historic item, all of which were transferred as the National Collection in 1968 to the National Railway Museum (NRM), now part of the Science Museum Group (SMG). [3][4][5] It was then put on public display at NS Atlanta headquarters at 1200 Peachtree Street in midtown Atlanta, GA; then transported by truck in October 2013[6] to Charleston, SC. Home U.K. JohnWilliams 18 jan 2020. It is widely acclaimed as the first locomotive to be built entirely within the United States for revenue service. It was successful in its duties, until a careless fireman ca. trainkid 19 jan 2020. My first question was, Whats the Best Friend? Moore's son, named Samuel, had been born in December 1845 and was therefore less than a year older than George. At this time, Europeans were just beginning to experiment with the concept of a Rail Road; a new means of transportation that employed a locomotive propelled along rails by steam power. Then John left Southern for five years, did building contract work and a very short stint with the Pennsylvania Railroad as industrial engineer. Upon departing the steam locomotive enshrined itself into the history books as the first ever to pull a regularly scheduled passenger train in the United States. When the Best Friend began to move again, a terrible explosion threw the boiler twenty feet into the air, killing the fireman, scalding the engineer, and injuring several workers. In 1819, economic recession hit the United States hard, the first market turmoil for the relatively new nation. 1 (originally named Active) is an early steam locomotive that was built in 1825 by the pioneering railway engineers George and Robert Stephenson at their manufacturing firm, Robert Stephenson and Company. Theres no doubt much of the Best Friends success is due to John. A replica of the Best Friend of Charleston was in the 1948-49 Chicago Railroad Fair because in 1830 it was the first commercially operated steamer constructed in America on the South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company (SCC&RR). When it is loaded, the train rests on tracks installed inside the cars. It returned economic prosperity to Charleston and it instituted regularly scheduled steam passenger service. Designed by Elegant WordPress Themes | Powered by WordPress, on The Best Friend of Charleston: Short-Lived, Long Legacy, Apollo April at the South Carolina State Museum. That action put Best Friend of Charleston in the history books again, this time for experiencing the first recorded boiler explosion on an American railroad. Both means of transportation were totally dependent upon weather and temperature conditions. The Best Friend performed flawlessly and was credited as the first American-built steam locomotive to haul a trainload of paying customers on a common-carrier railroad. Images, GIFs and videos featured seven times a day. In the 1820s, the bustling seaport of Charleston experienced an alarming economic recession as settlements expanded inland and westward. The engine was rebuilt and rechristened the Phoenix. John has supervised every showing except one. About six months after the first run, a sensitive fireman, annoyed by the hissing of the steam escaping from the boiler safety valve, decided to hold it down. [17], As the original locomotive is too fragile to return to steam, a working replica was built in 1975, and was resident at Beamish Museum. GreatFatsby 20 jan 2020. Commissioned by the South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company, the Best Friend of Charleston was the first locomotive built in the United States for public service. However, the centre-flue boiler proved to be a weakness, providing for a poor heating surface compared to later multi-flue boilers. 2023 The Best Friend of Charleston - Site Deployment by. [10], On 27 September 1825, Locomotion No.1 hauled the first train on the Stockton and Darlington Railway, driven by George Stephenson. I enjoyed that job because it offered such variety, he said. Thats the job he has now, but he has spent little time at it. John even designed the Best Friends carrier cars a boxcar to house the two coaches and tender and a flat car with a dog house that protects the engine. It was assembled and tested. Disassembled for shipment by boat to Charleston, South Carolina, it arrived in October of that year and was unofficially named The Best Friend of Charleston.After its inaugural run on Christmas Day, the Best Friend was used in regular passenger service along a six . It was built in 1928 to commemorate the centenary of the South Carolina Canal and Rail Road, and widely exhibited. After the incident the railroad salvaged parts from theBest Friendto construct thePhoenix, which remained in use until the start of the Civil War in 1861. In 1856, Joseph Pease and his family spent 50 to restore the S&DR Company's Locomotion No. Heightstown, N.J.: world's first train wreck and first passenger fatalities recorded. For a detailed account of the economic forces behind the Charleston & Hamburg Railroad and of the engineering required to build the line, see Ulrich Bonnell Phillips 1908 book A History of Transportation in the Eastern Cotton Belt to 1860. It returned economic prosperity to Charleston and it instituted regularly scheduled steam passenger service. You can use the link to read the book online. Built at West Point Foundry Works in New York State, it claimed the distinction of being the first steam engine built in the United States for use on a domestic railroad. [2] The boiler had a blastpipe in the chimney. The George Washington became the C&O's flagship train between Cincinnati and Norfolk after it was inaugurated in 1932. Both replicas have whistles -- unknown in 1830 and Santee's also has a bell. She had just returned from Egypt where Anwar Sadat had given her a huge gold pendant necklace she was wearing, he said She accepted our charm with such courtesy and graciousness.. But this meant that more goods were heading to Savannah, Georgia, and Charleston was missing out on those export taxes. design being tested on the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company in 1829 (officially, the first such locomotive ever operated in the U.S. but was built in England). Learn about the vital importance of Illinois to the nation's railroads and enjoy dinner aboard a train at the Monticello Railway Museum. In October, 1830 the SCC&RR received its order after it had been delivered aboard the shipNiagara. It ran along six miles of wood and metal rails terminating near the junction of State and Dorchester Roads. In 1833 the world's longest railroad was completed linking Charleston to Hamburg, South Carolina, just across the Savannah River from Augusta. Available for both RF and RM licensing. Though its speed might not impress us today, by 19th century standards it was nothing short of incredible. She made her first six-mile trip on December 25, 1830. Today, two replicas of theBest Friendsurvive and both are owned by South Carolina institutions. 1 was preserved and put on display. Condition. After arriving disassembled in Charleston it was rebuilt and ready for trails by November 2nd. In doing so, it completely revolutionized America's transportation. History; Replicas; Best Friend of Charleston Museum; Timeline; See also; References; External links; History On June 17, 1831, less than six months after its debut, the locomotive fell victim to one of the country's first serious railroad accidents. Locomotion No. On that day, it pulled a passenger train along a six-mile route. You want to be around to run that train.'. John served as diesel shop foreman from 1949 until 1953, moved to Charlotte Roadway Shop as assistant general foreman for a year, assistant shop superintendent for two years and superintendent for three years. Notify me by email when the comment gets approved. 59.3K subscribers The Best Friend of Charleston was a steam-powered railroad locomotive. . Save up to 30% when you upgrade to an image pack. After rebuilding the locomotive, they interposed between boiler and passenger a flat car stacked with cotton bales. This fire heats the water held in a boiler to the point that it creates steam, which pushes pistons that move rods connected to the wheels, moving the train forward. The locomotive was built for the South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company by the West Point Foundry of New York in 1830. [6][pageneeded], Locomotion No. It seems like they had a lot figured out back in the day about transportation. Posted by SCSM on May 18, 2020 in Deep Dive, History | Comments Off on The Best Friend of Charleston: Short-Lived, Long Legacy, By Meredith Nichter, Curator of Science and Technology. 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