B&O No. 8 named, John Hancock is an 0-4-0 Grasshopper steam locomotive. It was built in April 1836 by Ross Winans and George Gillingham at the Mt. Clare shops for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.
The No. 8 John Hancock was stripped of its name and left with only the No. 8. In the renumbering program of 1884, the No. 8 was renumbered as the No. 3, as the third oldest B&O locomotives in existence.
It was one of four Grasshoppers that survived until 1892 when it retired from service and sent to the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. At that time, No. 3 was incorrectly named the Thomas Jefferson, which had been the original No. 3 Grasshopper locomotive.
Today it’s on static display at the B&O Railroad Museum.
Trivia[]
- This was one of a series of enhanced Grasshoppers, which introduced a number of improvements such as a covered cab for the engineer and dual-powered axles.
- As the first B&O locomotive with a cab, the John Hancock weighed twice the amount of the original Atlantic.
- Later transferred to switching service, the John Hancock was in continuous operation at Mt. Clare from 1836 until 1892 when it was under a rebuild.
- This locomotive looks identical to the Arabian.
- The locomotive is in the game ”Railway Empire”.