| constituted,
at that time, the principal route between New York and Philadelphia, and
was, because of its strategic location, a most important part of the country's
transportation system.
The first locomotive to be used on the  Camden & Amboy was the "John Bull," which was built by Robert Stephenson and Co., of New Castle-on-Tyne, England. It was received by the road in August, 1831, and was put in service at Bordentown, N. J., on November 12th of that year. This locomotive was originally named "Stevens," but its name was changed to "John Bull" shortly after its arrival. It was of the well known "Planet" class, as built by the Stephensons at that time, with inside cylinders and two pairs of wheels of the same diameter, coupled by side rods. The cylinders were 9 x 20 inches; the wheels had a diameter of 54 inches, and the weight of the locomotive was 11 tons. This locomotive was placed in service by Isaac Dripps, Master Mechanic of the road; a genius who was destined to subsequently make a name for himself. Finding that the "John Bull," with its rigid wheelbase, was not well fitted to take the curves on the road, Mr. Dripps removed the side rods and improvised a twowheeled leading truck, the wooden frame of which was hinged to the extremities of the front axle. This truck carried a crude form of pilot. It proved effective as a guide, and thus equipped the locomotive not only did duty on the Camden & Amboy for many years, but in 1893 travelled, under its own steam, to Chicago, where it formed part of the |
Pennsylvania
Railroad Company's exhibit at the World's Columbian Exposition. The locomotive
is permanently preserved at the National Museum in Washington.
This locomotive is of special interest to The Baldwin Locomotive Works, in that it was carefully examined by Mr. Baldwin before he built his first locomotive, the "Old Ironsides." Records show that very few Baldwin locomotives were built for the Camden and Amboy. The most interesting of them, from a historical point of view, was one of the 4-4-0 type named the "E. A. Stevans" and completed early in 1846. This locomotive was among the first of its type to be built by Mr. Baldwin, and its general design is shown in an illustration on page 8. The motive power of the, Camden and Amboy included two remarkable groups of locomotives to which at least a brief reference must be made. The first of these were the so-called "Monsters," which were freight locomotives of the 0-8-0 type, and of exceptional weight and capacity for their day. The original "Monster" was alleged to have been built at the Camden and Amboy Shops in Bordentown in 1834, although the date is uncertain and some accounts place its construction as late as 1850. It had inclined  cylinders whose pistons were connected to vibrating beams fulcrumed on bearings bolted to the smokebox front. From these beams the two rear pairs of wheels were rotated by connecting and coupling rods. The first and second pairs of wheels were independently coupled by rods, and the second axle was geared through an intermediate spur wheel to the third axle. The cylinders of this locomotive measured 18x30 |