National Railway Historical Society
Presents the
In the 1820's. the bustling seaport of Charleston experienced an alarming economic recession as settlements expanded inland and westward. With the decrease in commerce, Charleston merchants began aggressively investigating avenues to revitalize the floundering economy.
At this time,
Europeans were just beginning to
experiment with the concept of a "Rail Road;" a new means of
transportation that employed a "locomotive" propelled along rails by
steam power.
Rail Road Company"
to investigate the feasibility of a rail road system connecting
Charleston with inland markets and a canal between the Ashley and
Savannah Rivers to divert trade from the Savannah River to Charleston.
In October 1830,
the engine arrived by packet ship
from the West Point Foundry in New York. It was assembled and
tested.
Dubbed "Best
Friend of Charleston'' by eager merchants, the train made its
premier
trip
on Christmas Day, 1830, becoming the first steam
locomotive in the US
to
establish regularly scheduled passenger service. It ran along six
miles
of wood and metal rails terminating near the junction of State and
Dorchester
Roads. This first trip was described by the ''Charleston Courier"
on
December
29:
The railroad transcended these obstacles and brought economic prosperity back to Charleston. Within five months of the "Best Friend's" debut, a second locomotive, the "West Point," arrived in Charleston.
One month later, the rail line reached
"Woodstock," a point between Charleston and Summerville. Then, tragedy
struck. A careless fireman unwittingly caused an explosion. It killed
him, scalded the engineer, and destroyed the "Best Friend."The "Best Friend'' did much in its short life. It returned economic prosperity to Charleston and it instituted regularly scheduled steam passenger service. In doing so, it completely revolutionized America's transportation. The "Best Friend" was indeed, ''The little engine that did !"
The "Best Friend
of Charleston," now on loan to Norfolk Southern for display in their Atlanta GA headquarters, is a full-sized replica of
the 1830 train. The steam engine was constructed from the
original plans in 1928 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the
"South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company". Southern Railway
operated this replica on excursions across the USA. The
special railroad cars designed to carry the train between excursions
are presently on display at the South Carolina Railroad Museum.
The "Best Friend" was donated to the City of Charleston by Norfolk
Southern in 1993. The Best Friend Museum closed in 2000.
The Museum and Gift Shop were a
joint venture of the Charleston Chapter of the National Railway
Historical Society and the City of Charleston.
Pending the
train's permanent placement into a glass covered extension of the East
Shed of
the Camden Towers, located next to the Charleston Visitor Center, the
train may be seen in the lobby of
the Norfolk Southern Atlanta headquarters at 1200 Peachtree Street NE, Atlanta GA.
