The history of the first locomotives in America. From original ...

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HISTOKT OF THE FIRST LOCOMOTIVES IN AMERICA.
iron, and tlie weight of the whole was atout six tons
a \ivooden frame was supported by four pairs of wheels,
and a barrel of water placed upon another frame sustained
by two pairs of wheels served as a tender. When
all was ready, the word was given to go ahead, but the
engine would not move an inch ; when it was finally set
in motion, it flew to pieces, and the workmen and spec-
tators, with Mr. Blackett at their head, scattered and fled
in every direction ! The machine, or what was left of it,
was taken off the road, and afterward a portion of it
was used as a pump at one of the mines.
Mr. Blackett was not, however, discouraged. His
next experiment was an engine with a single eight-inch
cylinder, which was fitted with a fly-wheel, the driving-
wheel on one side being cogged in order to enabk it to
travel on the rack-rail. This engine proved more successful
than its predecessors, and, although it was
clumsy and unsightly, it was capable of drawing eight
or nine wagons loaded with coal to the shipping-point
at Lemington ; its weight, however, was too great for the
road, and the cast-iron rails were continually brealdng.
Its work was by no means successful. It crept along
at a snail's pace, sometimes taking six hours to go five
miles to the landing-place. It was continually getting
off the track, and there it would stick. Horses would
then have to be sent out to pull it on the track. The
engine often broke down ; its pumps, plugs, and cranks
would get wrong, then the horses again would be
needed to drag the machine back to the shop. In fact,
it at last got so cranky that the horses were frequently
sent out to follow the engine to be in readiness to draw
it along when it gave out. At last it was abandoned.
Notwithstanding the repeated failures, and the
amount of money expended on these experiments, Mr.
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