The first steam locomotive to run on rails in the United States was the Stourbridge Lion, tested at Honesdale, Pennsylvania, in 1829.
Built by Foster, Rastrick and Company in England, the locomotive was purchased by the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company for a planned railroad linking Pennsylvania coal mines with its canal. Engineer Horatio Allen operated it on August 8, 1829, over about three miles of track, including a bridge over Lackawaxen Creek.
The trial demonstrated that steam locomotion worked, but the track was too weak for the roughly 7.5-ton engine. Its iron strips were fastened to wooden rails, and the locomotive was never used for its intended coal-hauling service. The company later relied on gravity systems, stationary engines and horses.
A common mix-up is confusing the Stourbridge Lion with the Best Friend of Charleston, which was the first locomotive built entirely in the United States for revenue service. The Stourbridge Lion was foreign-built, but it holds the earlier American operating milestone.