The first use, known to the writer, of the Bissell pony in this country occurred in November or December of 1859 on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad. D. H. Feger, master mechanic of the railroad reported, eight months later, that since the locomotive had been fitted with the Bissell truck "she has never left the rail and previous to her having this truck she was off the rail almost daily."[21] In the same report Feger stated that he planned to re-equip another locomotive in the same manner.
ANTHRACITE COAL BURNING FREIGHT LOCOMOTIVE ROGERS LOCOMOTIVE & MACHINE WORKS
FIGURE 11.--The New Jersey Railroad and Transportation Company _No. 36_, built by the Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works in 1863, was one of the first locomotives to be equipped by this firm with a 2-wheel Bissell truck. (_Smithsonian photo 46806-m_)]
The Baldwin Locomotive Works in December 1860 built a group of rather awkward looking 2-6-0's for the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. Equipped with Bissell trucks, these were undoubtedly among the very first new locomotives to be so built. The first consolidation type was built by Baldwin in 1866; it was equipped with a 2-wheel Bissell safety truck.
The Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works and the New Jersey Locomotive and Machine Works, both of Paterson, New Jersey, in the early 1860's began building Moguls; these are known to have had Bissell trucks. Other builders followed their example, so that by the 1870's 2-wheel trucks had become relatively common.
It should be noted that the 2-wheel truck was not an absolute success until it was equalized with the front driving axle. This arrangement was perfected in 1864 by William S. Hudson, but before describing his invention it will be helpful to discuss several earlier attempts to equalize pony trucks with the drivers.
In 1857 John P. Laird, then master mechanic of the Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad, rebuilt an old Niles 8-wheeler into a curious 2-6-0 on which only the two rear driving wheels were coupled. The front driver was driven by a chain and sprocket, and the pilot wheels were equalized with the front driving axle. The success or failure of the arrangement has not been definitely determined, but whatever the outcome, Laird continued his experiments when he became superintendent of motive power for the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1862. He abandoned the chain drive for a more conventional arrangement of side rods, but the truck and his plan of equalization were much the same as that tried earlier. Laird used two equalizing levers, attached at one end to the front spring hangers and at the other to the truck, but in a way to allow the truck to swing horizontally. The fulcrum for each lever was mounted on the underside of the front frame rail. A number of old 8-wheel Baldwin flexible-beam engines and several Winans' Camels were rebuilt in this way. One of these is shown in figure 8. Laird, however, eventually became dissatisfied with his arrangement and re-equipped the engines with Bissell trucks.