The Music of The Stourbridge Lion

Things were never to be the same once the locomotive, The Stourbridge Lion, arrived in the USA, although it was heavy for the American tracks, and apparently wasn't used as often as I'd imagined.

The test trial of the British-built Lion down a US railroad line took place on August 8, 1829.

The sound of honky-tonk, boogie-woogie, train and harmonica blues and country music were all influenced by the rhythm of the railroad, the 'lonesome' sound of the steam-whistle, the clickety-clack of the steam train.

Three cheers for Foster, Rastrick and Co who built the Stourbridge Lion, the Delaware and Hudson!

Long live the name of Stephenson too. Remember the Rocket, the John Bull, the America?

Horatio Allen came over to England in 1828 and signed a contract for four locomotives, which were delivered in New York in 1829.

British smokestacks made it happen! That’s my theory. I've written two train songs in my time, "The Stourbridge Lion" and "The Kenyan Cannonball".  Maybe I'll get round to recording them one day.