Phineas Davis

Phineas Davis (January 27, 1792 – September 27, 1835) was a well-known clockmaker and inventor who designed and built the first practical American coal-burning railroad locomotive.

Davis was born in Warner, New Hampshire. He lived in York, Pennsylvania from 1809 to 1833, where he gained a national reputation as a jeweler, watchmaker and clockmaker. With his partner Jonathan Jessop, Davis invested in an iron foundry in York. This facility constructed the Codorus, the first iron steamboat made in America. The Codorus, designed by John Elgar, was launched at present-day Accomac (2 miles (3.2 km) north of Wrights Ferry, now Wrightsville) on the Susquehanna River on November 22, 1825.

On August 28, 1830, New York inventor Peter Cooper had publicly demonstrated his diminutive locomotive, later known as Tom Thumb. It successfully hauled 15 short tons (14,000 kg) at 4 miles per hour (6.4 km/h), and without a load reached speeds in excess of 15 miles per hour (24 km/h). The fledgling Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) was impressed with Cooper’s early success, but instead of immediately offering him their business for locomotives, the company planned an open competition with a prize of $4,000. Five prototype locomotives were entered into the contest in early 1831, although Cooper did not participate. Phineas Davis’s design, York, was chosen as the winner. It was a four-wheeled, vertical boiler locomotive that was somewhat similar to Cooper's design, but featured two vertical cylinders that drove vertical main rods. These in turn connected to horizontal side rods that powered the wheels. The first locomotive to burn coal, York was also the first with coupled wheels and a double instead of a single pair of drivers. It weighed 3.5 short tons (3,200 kg) and attained velocity by gearing, using a spur wheel and pinion on one of the axles of the wheels. Davis’ upright “cheese boiler” consisted of a water jacket surrounding a central furnace, and a shallow drum suspended above the grates. The drum, when viewed through the fire door, was thought to resemble a cheese, thus giving the entire assembly its name.

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