Library of Congress
The John Bull was a locomotive built in England and brought to America in 1831 for service on the Camden and Amboy Railroad in New Jersey. The locomotive was in continual service for decades before being retired in 1866.
This photograph was taken in 1893, when the John Bull was taken to Chicago for the World's Columbian Exposition, but this is how the locomotive would have looked during its working life. The John Bull originally had no cab, but the wooden structure was soon added to protect the crew from rain and snow.
The John Bull was donated to the Smithsonian Institution in the late 1800s. In 1981, to celebrate the John Bull's 150th birthday, the museum staff determined that the locomotive could still operate. It was taken out of the museum, put on tracks, and as it belched fire and smoke it ran along the rails of the old Georgetown branch line in Washington, DC.