John Swatsley (American, B. 1937) "Best Friend of Charleston Locomotive" Signed lower left. Original Watercolor painting on Illustration Board painting. Provenance: Collection of James A. Helzer (1946-2008), Founder of Unicover Corporation. This painting is the original which appeared on the Fleetwood First Day Cover for the U.S. 22c Best Friend of Charleston stamp issued October 1, 1987. As railroads came to be built, American ingenuity and spirit took over, and the design and production of locomotives in this country soon became reality. While sail cars and horse drawn entities were not unknown, it was the experimental steam engine which quickly fired the imagination of the nation's mechanically-minded entrepreneurs. The Charleston & Hamburg Line had as its chief engineer Horatio Allen, who in 1829 had designed the "Stourbridge Lion" -- America's first operational locomotive. The success of the imported Lion gave Allen the encouragement he needed to attempt an American-made version. Thus, the first American-built steam locomotive was produced at the West Point Foundry and was named, "Best Friend of Charleston." In December of 1830, it became the first locomotive ever to pull a train of cars by steam power along American railroad tracks. And one month later, the six-mile railroad began formal operation hauling some two hundred guest passengers, most of whom were shareholders and their families, at a speed of twenty-one miles per hour, and marking its progress by intermittent explosions from a small Army field gun, specially requisitioned for the trip. Later, the two hundred guests were replaced by a much more realistic number -- forty to fifty -- of paying customers who traveled the Charleston & Hamburg Line. Image Size: 13.75 x 12 in. Overall Size: 20.25 x 18 in. Unframed. (B10102)