B&O No. 1, named Arabian, was an 0-4-0 vertical-boiler tank engine built by Phineas Davis and Israel Gartner in June 1834 for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and entered revenue service later that same year.
History[]
Phineas Davis and Israel Gartner built the locomotive in 1834 for the use on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. It is unclear as to whether or not it was equipped with a cab when built, or just after it entered service.
Its design is referred to as a "grasshopper" due to the configuration of the piston rods perched on top of the locomotive, and that it bounced around like a grasshopper.
It operated on the B&O until the Civil War began, and some time after retirement in 1863, it was sold for scrap for the war effort.
Trivia[]
- There was a model of the locomotive seen in one of the Showcase Cars for the American Freedom Train. After the Freedom Train tour, it is unknown as to what had become of it.
- The Arabian was one of the earliest B&O locomotives, and also the first to cross the ridge between Baltimore and Frederick, Maryland.
- The railroad brotherhoods had a special day on October 16, 1888, celebrating it with a parade and a visit by this locomotive.