Stourbridge Lion

Stourbridge Lion

The Stourbridge Lion's first run, as depicted by Clyde Osmer DeLand c. 1916

Type and origin Power type Steam Builder Foster, Rastrick and Company Build date 1829

Specifications Configuration 0-4-0 Gauge 4 ft 3 in (1,295 mm) Driver dia. 48 in (1.219 m) Loco weight 14,000 lb (6,400 kg; 6.4 t) Tender weight 5,800 lb (2,600 kg; 2.6 t) Total weight 19,800 lb (9,000 kg; 9.0 t) Firebox:  • Firegrate area 8 sq ft (0.74 m2) Boiler 48 in (1.219 m) dia. 10.5 ft (3.20 m) long Cylinder size 8.5 in × 36 in (216 mm × 914 mm) dia. x stroke

Career Operators Delaware & Hudson Canal Company (D&H) First run August 8, 1829 Retired 1834 Current owner Smithsonian Institution Disposition only the boiler remains; other parts were scrapped or stolen in the 1800s

The Stourbridge Lion was a railroad steam locomotive. It was the first to be operated in the United States, and one of the first locomotives to operate outside Britain. It takes its name from the lion's face painted on the front, and Stourbridge in England, where it was manufactured in 1829.

One of the first railroads in the United States, the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company (D&H), was originally chartered in 1823 to build and operate canals between New York City and the coal fields around Carbondale, Pennsylvania. While the line was originally planned as a canal for the entire route, company engineers began thinking about rail transportation as early as 1825; the initial plan was to build a railroad between the mines and the western end of the canal as a way to get the coal to the canal boats.

John B. Jervis, who later became the designer of the 4-2-0 (the Jervis type) locomotive, was named the D&H's chief engineer in 1827. Jervis planned out a series of inclines connected by level, but themselves disconnected, railroads. The company directors liked Jervis's plan and authorized its construction with some hesitation for the as-yet unproven railroad technology.

In 1828, a former coworker of Jervis, Horatio Allen, went on a railroad research tour of England. Through Allen, Jervis sent specifications for locomotives that could be used on the D&H. Allen wrote back in July that four locomotives had been ordered, three from Foster, Rastrick and Company and one from Robert Stephenson and Company, for the D&H.

Stourbridge Lion was one of these three locomotives built by Rastrick, but Stephenson's shop had completed their locomotive, the Pride of Newcastle, before any of Rastrick's locomotives. The Pride of Newcastle even arrived in America nearly two months before the Stourbridge Lion, but it was the latter that was used for the first railroad trials.