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Marketing

In 1831, several entrepreneurs began experimenting with a new form of transportation, the steam-powered railroad. One of these men was John Stevens. Having already built an experimental steam-carriage of his own, Stevens backed a new venture, the Camden and Amboy Railroad. This new line would link its namesake New Jersey towns, essentially providing a path of travel and commerce between the nations's largest cities, Philadelphia and New York.

As no American locomotive manufacturers yet existed, the first locomotive for the line was purchased from England. Built by Robert Stephenson & Company, the John Bull was crated and shipped in pieces to America. A young engineer named Issac Drips (that is not a typo) assembled the John Bull without any instructions and then went on to make several modifications to better suit its American operating environment. The John Bull became something of a test bed for Drips' new idea including the first cowcatcher, headlight, tender design, bell and whistle, and a new smoke stack. Later in its career, the John Bull would even receive an enclosed cab.

The John Bull remained in service until 1866, a good run for any steam locomotive and an astonishingly long career for such an early pioneer. But the end of its service life was just the beginning. When the C&A was absorbed by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1871, it was the oldest locomotive on the roster. In fact, it was the oldest operable locomotive in the country!

The Pennsylvania seized on the opportunity to use this antique as a marketing tool. The locomotive was backdated to its 1830's appearance and paraded across the railroad at various events and celebrations. The locomotive's longest journey came in 1883 when it steamed all the way from Philadelphia to the National Railway Appliance Exposition in Chicago.

In 1884, the locomotive found a permanent home in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. It was the first engineering specimen acquired by the national museum. Although the Pennsylvania would be allowed to borrow the locomotive several times over the next fifty years, by 1939 neither the railroad nor the Museum wanted to chance damaging this priceless artifact with continued operation.

The John Bull Replica you see here:

In 1939, wanting an operational John Bull for the World's Fair in New York, the Pennsylvania constructed the replica you see here today. Carefully built to the original John Bull's dimensions in the Junlata Shops, the replica made its debut at the Fair in 1940. Exhibited with C&A coach No. 3, the locomotive made daily performances as part of the "Pageant of Locomotives." After the fair, the replica went into storage with the rest of the newly formed historic collection. The locomotive made several appearances at public events large and small, including the 1948 Chicago Railroad Fair and filiming of the Pennsylvania's promotional fim Clear Track Ahead.

USS New Jersey (BB-62), ("Big J" or "Black Dragon") is an Iowa-class battleship, and was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named in honor of the U.S. state of New Jersey. Among the four completed Iowa-class battleships New Jersey is notable for having earned the most battle stars for her combat actions, and for being the only battleship of the class to have served a tour of duty in Vietnam during the Vietnam War.

During World War II the New Jersey shelled targets on Guam and Okinawa, and screened aircraft carriers conducting raids in the Marshall islands. During the Korean War she was involved in raids up and down the North Korean coast, after which she was decommissioned in to the United States Navy reserve fleets, better known as the "mothball fleet". She was briefly reactivated in 1968 and sent to Vietnam to support U.S. troops before returning to the mothball fleet in 1969. Reactivated once more in the 1980s as part of the 600-ship Navy program, New Jersey was modernized to carry missiles and recommissioned for service. In 1983, she participated in U.S. operations during the Lebanese Civil War.

New Jersey was decommissioned for the last time in 1991, having earned a Navy Unit Commendation for service in Vietnam and a total of 19 battle and campaign stars for combat operations during World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Lebanese Civil War, and service in the Persian Gulf, and is now a museum ship at Camden, New Jersey.

Source: Wikipedia