| Samson | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Samson with its coal tender and passenger coach, The Nova Scotia Pioneer, circa 1880 | |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
The Samson is an English-built railroad steam locomotive made in 1838 that ran on the Albion Mines Railway in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is preserved at the Nova Scotia Museum of Industry in Stellarton, Nova Scotia and is the oldest locomotive in Canada.
The locomotive was built in 1838 by Timothy Hackworth at his Soho Works in Durham, England. Samson represents an early design of steam locomotive with a return-flue boiler. The fireman and engineer worked separately on open platforms at either end of the locomotive. It was commissioned for the General Mining Association along with two other locomotives, Hercules and John Buddle, for the Albion Mines Railway to serve mines in Pictou County, Nova Scotia.
The locomotives arrived unassembled aboard the brig Ythan in May 1839. [2] Two engineers arrived with the locomotives (the Samson, the John Buddle and the Hercules), including George Davidson, who helped build the locomotives in England and would settle in Nova Scotia to work with Samson for the rest of his career. Also accompanying the locomotives on the journey was John Brown Stubbs (Stobbs), Hackworth's master mechanic. He too helped build the locomotives and when the job was complete, he returned to Hackworth's employ in England. The new railway officially opened with a large celebration on 19 September 1839, although the tracks were not actually completed to the coal pier until May 1840.
Samson served from 1839 to 1867 carrying coal on the six-mile line from the mines around Stellarton and New Glasgow to the East River loading pier. It proved a strong and reliable locomotive, considered "slow but of great power" by railway workers of the day. [3] One former engineer recalled how it moved a heavy string of coal cars from a crooked siding on a wet day when a more modern locomotive failed to move them. [4] In addition to its regular duties moving coal cars, Samson also saw service carrying passengers in an early design of a passenger coach. The locomotive was semi-retired in 1867 but continued to operate when necessary until 1885. [5] It was sent to Chicago to the National Exhibition of Railway Appliances in 1883.
Samson languished on a scrapline until 1893 when it was displayed at the Chicago World’s Fair as an antique, and acquired along with one of its passenger coaches by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad where it was preserved. Samson was returned to Nova Scotia in 1927. [3] The passenger coach stayed behind and may be seen today at the B&O Railroad Museum. Samson was displayed beside the Halifax train station until 1950 when the locomotive was moved to New Glasgow. Today it is displayed in the Age of Steam Gallery at the Nova Scotia Museum of Industry in Stellarton, part of the Nova Scotia Museum system where it is restored to its appearance at the end of its working life. A careful survey of the structure of the locomotive before restoration found it remarkably well preserved, retaining 90% of its end of service parts. Examination of the parts show various repairs and evolutionary modifications which were added to the original Hackworth assembly by the shops of the Albion Mines Railway during the locomotive's long working career. A small number of parts such as the steel tires were added by the B & O railroad museum after the locomotive retired. [6]
Samson was the first locomotive in Canada to run on iron rails. It is the oldest surviving locomotive in Canada, one of the oldest in North America and one of only three surviving locomotives designed by engineer Timothy Hackworth (the others being Derwent and Sans Pareil ).
Pictou County is a county in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. It was established in 1835, and was formerly a part of Halifax County from 1759 to 1835. It had a population of 43,657 people in 2021, a decline of 0.2 percent from 2016. Furthermore, its 2016 population is only 88.11% of the census population in 1991. It is the sixth most populous county in Nova Scotia.
Timothy Hackworth was an English steam locomotive engineer who lived in Shildon, County Durham, England and was the first locomotive superintendent of the Stockton and Darlington Railway.
New Glasgow is a town in Pictou County, in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. It is situated on the banks of the East River of Pictou, which flows into Pictou Harbour, a sub-basin of the Northumberland Strait.
Westville is a town in Pictou County, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is located immediately west of Stellarton and about four kilometres southwest of New Glasgow, the major town in the area.
Pictou is a town in Pictou County, in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Located on the north shore of Pictou Harbour, the town is approximately 10 km north of the larger town of New Glasgow.
Stellarton is a town located in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. It is adjacent and to the south of the larger town of New Glasgow. In pioneer times the area was called Coal Mines Station, and from 1833 until 1889, it was known as Albion Mines. The town was incorporated as Stellarton in 1889 and owes its name to a specific type of torbanite which came to be known as "stellarite" because of the "stars of fire" given off by its sparky flame.
Central Nova is a federal electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1968 until 1996. In 1996, Antigonish County and part of Guysborough County were placed with Pictou County in a new electoral boundaries configuration to form the electoral district of Pictou-Antigonish-Guysborough. A new version of Central Nova was established in 2003 and — in conjunction with the Pictou-Antigonish-Guysborough iteration — represented a significant electoral boundaries change with specific reference to Antigonish County. Between 1867 and 1997, Antigonish County was not in a riding that included Pictou County; rather, it comprised either its own electoral district (Antigonish), or part of other districts shared with Eastern Nova Scotia (Antigonish-Guysborough) and Cape Breton Island communities. In 2013, part of Antigonish County was "placed back" with communities in the electoral district of Cape Breton Canso, a riding which had emerged in part from the former Cape Breton Highlands Canso riding in 1996. The current version of Central Nova includes Pictou County, parts of Antigonish and Guysborough Counties and extends into Halifax Regional Municipality.
Shildon is a town and civil parish in County Durham, in England. The population taken at the 2011 Census was 9,976. The town has the Locomotion Museum, due to it having the first station, built in 1825, and locomotive works on the Stockton and Darlington Railway.
The Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia Railway is a short line railway that operates in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. CBNS operates of main line and associated spurs between Truro in the central part of the province to Point Tupper on Cape Breton Island.
This is a list of the earliest railroads in North America, including various railroad-like precursors to the general modern form of a company or government agency operating locomotive-drawn trains on metal tracks.
Trunk 4 is part of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia's system of Trunk Highways. The route runs from Highway 104 exit 7 near Thomson Station to Glace Bay. Until the construction of the Trans-Canada Highway, Trunk 4 was a major traffic link in northern Nova Scotia and Cape Breton, and is still used on Cape Breton as an alternative to Highway 105. The highway was originally called the King's Highway, however, this name is no longer applied to the entire road. The only remaining historic section of the highway that maintains the name "King" is King's Road in Sydney.
Peter Crerar was a Scottish-Nova Scotian civil engineer. He designed the first railway in British North America, and the first standard gauge railroad in North America, at Stellarton, near Pictou, Nova Scotia.
John Buddle was a prominent self-made mining engineer and entrepreneur in North East England. He had a major influence on the development of the Northern Coalfield in the first half of the 19th century, contributing to the safety of mining coal by innovations such as the introduction of the Davy Lamp, the keeping of records of ventilation, and the prevention of flooding. He was also interested in shipping as an owner, and built Seaham Harbour, establishing an important trade dock. He was chairman of the company that built the Tyne Dock at South Shields, and was also involved in the creation of two harbours and the development of a tunnel.
Hopewell is a village in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, in Pictou County.
The Nova Scotia Museum of Industry is a provincial museum located in Stellarton, Nova Scotia, dedicated to the story of Nova Scotia work and workers. Part of the Nova Scotia Museum system, the museum aims to explain how Nova Scotia was affected by the opportunities and challenges of the Industrial Age.
Pioneer Coal Limited is a Canadian mining company based in Antigonish, Nova Scotia.
Pictou Harbour is a natural harbour in Nova Scotia on the Northumberland Strait.
The East River of Pictou is a Canadian river located in Pictou County, Nova Scotia.
The Middle River of Pictou is a Canadian river located in Pictou County, Nova Scotia.
The General Mining Association was a London coal mining company operating in Nova Scotia. It was formed by Rundell & Bridge in 1827. It held a mining monopoly in Nova Scotia until 1858.
Coordinates: 45°34′04.1″N62°39′27.2″W / 45.567806°N 62.657556°W
