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By Janna Bennett, Curator of the American Collection
Everyone knows trains pull their cars along the train track, right?
Well, not always. The Reuben Wells locomotive in All Aboard! is proof of that. This stubby, powerful locomotive was designed to travel the steep, 5.89% grade of Madison Hill in Madison, IN, which it did for thirty years in the late 1868 to 1898.
Until 1868, when master mechanic Reuben Wells built his special pusher engine, no train had been able to climb the Madison Hill in Madison, Indiana without help. The 55-ton Reuben Wells steam engine was capable of pushing more than 150 tons up the incline. It was known as the world's most powerful engine at the time!
The city of Madison is also featured in the exhibit. Painstakingly reproduced by Paul Besse and Applied Imagination, the main features of the town including its fountain and the Lanier Mansion are there.
