The Tom Thumb was the first American steam locomotive, 1830. The first American railway was the B&O, 1827. We imported our rolling stock and rails from the Brits originally.
We sure did import our stuff from Great Britain.
One of the earliest railways in the US was the Quincy Granite RR built to haul granite blocks from the Quincy quarries. There's a preserved portion of the tracks, which dates back to 1826.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granite_Railway
The rails and locomotive were imported from Great Britain and the sleepers were fashioned from granite blocks.
A short time later in 1831, the Boston and Lowell, was built between the namesake cities and opened in 1835. They too used granite sleepers with iron rails imported Great Britain along with locomotives and wagons with the first Planet class 2-2-0 being built by Robert Stephenson, and subsequent locomotives being built locally in Lowell. The passengers loved they could make the 45 minute trip between Boston and the namesake city at speeds up to 60 mph. (That's the same time it takes to make the same commuter trip today!), however, the granite sleepers made for a very bouncy and uncomfortable ride. In 1838 the company double-tracked the line and gave in and used wooden sleepers just as other lines did including the connecting Andover and Wilmington (Boston and Maine), Providence and Worcester and Boston and Providence, among others.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_and_Lowell_Railroad
Some of the old granite sleepers were discovered a few years ago while doing some track work along the line between Wilmington and Billerica. I don't know what happened to them, but I think they have been preserved.
To add a bit to our British legacy, the loading gauge for our local railroads is quite narrow compared to other parts of the US with some areas as close as 4 meters if not closer as well as low bridge heights, and lower tunnels.
EDIT:
Design docs for local transit authority:
https://bc.mbta.com/uploadedfiles/B...rack and Roadway March 8 2008 Revision_O1.pdf
Note the loading gauge for double track... This isn't the 4.5 meters or wider found elsewhere. This presents a problem with double-tracked freight and passenger operations with wider the freight cars we now use. In some areas, such as Lawrence, MA, for example, the freight line is single tracked and away from the platform of the new station on a runaround passing loop.
This gives frog designs, etc. which might be useful.
https://bc.mbta.com/uploadedfiles/B...rack and Roadway March 8 2008 Revision_O2.pdf