ASSEMBLY TOURISM, GAMING AND THE ARTS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 1079

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  FEBRUARY 19, 2026

      The Assembly Tourism, Gaming and the Arts Committee reports favorably Assembly Bill No. 1079.

This bill designates the "John Bull" as the New Jersey State steam locomotive.

     The steam locomotive “John Bull” was shipped from Liverpool, England to Bordentown, New Jersey arriving in September 1831 and was assembled by Isaac Dripps, a subsequent partner in the Trenton Locomotive Works, who installed an extra pair of wheels to the front, significantly reducing the risk of derailment over United States terrain.

     In November 1831, the “John Bull” pulled several cars containing members of the New Jersey State Legislature up and down a short length of track to convince the distinguished passengers of the utility of steam railway transport.

     From 1833 to the late 1840s the “John Bull” operated between South Amboy and Bordentown and later South Amboy and Camden, providing a railway connection between Philadelphia and New York, the country’s two largest cities at the time.

     The “John Bull” served as a model for similar engines built by the Camden and Amboy Railroad and Transportation Company of Hoboken, New Jersey and enabled United States engineers to export locomotives to other countries with similar terrain.

     Considered an antique by 1858, the "John Bull" was likely the first engine to be set aside as a historic relic in the United States as measured by the fact that it was renovated and exhibited at the 1876 Centennial Celebration in Philadelphia and later moved to the Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, D.C. where it remains to this day.

     It is thus fitting and proper to recognize the importance of the “John Bull” to New Jersey, the United States, and the world by designating the "John Bull" as the New Jersey State steam locomotive.