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“B” is for Best Friend of Charleston

“B” is for Best Friend of Charleston. Commissioned by the South Carolina Canal and Railroad Company, the Best Friend of Charleston was the firs locomotive built in the United State for public service. Constructed in New York City at the West Point Foundry to run on the Charleston-Hamburg line, the Best Friend was christened by hopeful supporters on its arrival in Charleston in October 1830. The locomotive had its formal debut on Christmas Day 1830, pulling passenger cars from Charleston to Dorchester. Its performance exceeded expectations, exceeding speeds of fifteen miles per hour. In 1831, the Best Friend was used to carry mail, passengers, and freight. In June 1831, the engine exploded, tossing the boiler twenty feet into the air, killing the fireman, and injuring the engineer and several workers. The Best Friend of Charleston was rebuilt and rechristened the Phoenix.

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Dr. Walter Edgar has two programs on South Carolina Public Radio: Walter Edgar's Journal, and South Carolina from A to Z. Dr. Edgar received his B.A. degree from Davidson College in 1965 and his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina in 1969. After two years in the army (including a tour of duty in Vietnam), he returned to USC as a post-doctoral fellow of the National Archives, assigned to the Papers of Henry Laurens.