Best Friend of Charleston, Steam locomotive in Charleston, United States
The Best Friend of Charleston was a steam locomotive with vertical cylinders that operated on the South Carolina Canal and Railroad Company line in 1830. The machine was compact and produced enough power to haul multiple passenger cars at modest speeds over short distances.
Built in 1830 by the West Point Foundry of New York for the South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company, the locomotive was shipped disassembled and arrived in Charleston in October 1830. Its inaugural run took place on Christmas Day 1830, after which it hauled passengers on a six-mile demonstration route. On 17 June 1831 its boiler exploded, the first such explosion of a US locomotive; usable parts went into the Phoenix.
The locomotive's name was unofficial, and its six-mile demonstration line carried Charleston passengers from Christmas Day 1830. After the 1831 explosion, the company ran a flatcar piled with cotton bales between locomotive and cars to restore passenger confidence. The 1928 replica, built for the line's centenary, is now held by the Charleston chapter of the National Railway Historical Society.
The 1928 replica is displayed at the Best Friend of Charleston Museum on Ann Street, behind the Charleston Visitor Center and near the Charleston Museum. The museum opened in May 2014. A second full-size replica is at the South Carolina State Museum in Columbia.
The fireman who caused the 1831 explosion was an enslaved man who jammed the safety valve lever shut and sat on it; he died in the blast, while engineer Nicholas Darrell escaped unhurt. Afterwards a flatcar piled with cotton bales ran between locomotive and cars to restore passenger confidence.
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