You Are There | 1830: Tom Thumb Steam Locomotive | B4TV Radio History Theater

In 1830, a small experimental steam locomotive named Tom Thumb challenged the old world of horse-drawn transportation — and helped prove that the future would run on rails.

In this episode of You Are There, CBS Radio takes listeners back to the early days of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, where inventor and businessman Peter Cooper demonstrates a compact steam locomotive built to show that mechanical power could move passengers and freight faster than horses.

The famous story centers on Tom Thumb’s demonstration run and its legendary race against a horse-drawn rail car. The little locomotive reportedly surged ahead, only to lose steam after a mechanical failure allowed the horse to pass. But even in defeat, Tom Thumb made its point: steam power was coming, and American transportation would never be the same.

Presented in the classic You Are There style, this episode turns a major moment in transportation history into breaking news from the past, complete with dramatic reenactments, reporter-style coverage, and the urgency of a live broadcast.

This B4TV presentation features the episode commonly listed as “Tom Thumb” or “1830: Tom Thumb Steam Locomotive,” originally broadcast November 27, 1949, dramatizing events associated with August 28, 1830.

For fans of old-time radio, American history, railroad history, invention stories, CBS radio drama, and Golden Age broadcasting, this episode captures a turning point when horse power met horsepower — and the future started hissing steam.

Presented by B4TV — preserving the Golden Age of Radio for a new generation.

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