Andrew Catherine

15 South 8th Street

Philipsburg, PA 16866
June 4, 2010

Alan Jalowitz
502 Paterno Library
University Park, PA 16802

Dear Mr. Jalowitz,

Introduction

Since I was a small child, like many other children, have loved steam
engines. From "Thomas the Tank Engine" to the train under the Christmas
Tree, I have always been fascinated with how they actually work and what it
takes to build them. Such an intricate system with thousands of pieces
working together to move large quantities of people and freight; created at
the dawn of the industrial revolution without the aid of electronics and
computer technology is amazing. Anyone today would be daunted with even
approaching such a task with the tools available in the mid 1800's igniting
the curiosity of how were such machines made. The Baldwin Locomotive
Works was at the forefront of innovation and production during the golden
era of steam engine and one of the primary producers of locomotives in the
country.

Who I am

While this topic is not in direct relationship to Biomedical Engineering, as a

engineer I am still drawn to investigate and determine how things work.
Combined with my prior visits to Train Museums and building model train
layouts, I have an appreciation for and an interest in Baldwin. The history
and impact of the Baldwin Locomotive Works provides me an opportunity to
explore and analyze how Baldwin built locomotives and functioned to propel
the railroad industry in Pennsylvania and the country.

Background

The Baldwin Locomotive Works was a large American steam engine

manufacturing site in the Philadelphia area that rapidly grew during the
industrial revolution and declined with the end of the steam locomotive era.
Baldwin was founded by Matthias Baldwin in 1825 as a machine
manufacturing small business on Broad Street in Philadelphia. By the
beginning of the 20th century Baldwin was producing over 2, 000 steam
engines a year and generating many important innovations, improving both
speed and efficiency of the locomotives they manufactured. Baldwin
expanded its facilities to more than 600 acres at Eddystone, PA (just south
west of Philadelphia). During both World Wars the Baldwin Locomotive
Works also produced war goods including rifles and tanks. With the rise of
diesel and diesel-electric locomotives, Baldwin had difficulty adapting to
these new technologies and, after several mergers, eventually left the
locomotive business in 1956. Finally, in 1972, what was left of the Baldwin
Locomotive Works company closed with more than 70,000 locomotives
produced during the span of its existence.

Figure 1- A aerial picture of the Eddystone Factory in 1949

(http://www.delawarecountyhistory.com/images/EddystonePA.BaldwinLocomotiveW
orksfromtheair.c.1948pcp.jpg).

Figure 2- Three workers shaping a locomotive boiler at Baldwin in the early 1900's
(Miller, Vogel, and Allen 78).
Figure 3- A picture of the Baldwin Locomotive Works production floor in the
1910's(Miller, Vogel, and Allen 79).
Figure 4- A picture of the factory floor at the Baldwin Locomotive Works Factory at
Eddystone, Pa January 21, 1942 (Solomon 9).

From several period newspaper articles from the New York Times the impact
that Baldwin Locomotive Works had in everyday life was gained. Several
books written about the end of the steam era, the US railroading system, and
Baldwin specifically provided detail about how Baldwin affected the entire
system. One book was officially commissioned in 1923 by the Baldwin
Corporation to document its founding and history to that point and was an
extremely valuable aid in researching the topic.

Technical Description

A steam locomotive is a external combustion engine that generates heat and

uses this heat to boil water creating steam which drives a set of pistons to
create motion which in turn moves a train. Fired by wood, coal, or oil a steam
locomotive burns the fuel in a boiler creating steam at high rate and a high
pressure . This steam is collected and channeled into piston cylinders at a
controlled rate via a throttle valve that determines the speed and power of
the steam locomotive. Depending on the locomotive, the steam may act on
up to two sets of cylinders (double expanding - where the first set operates
at a higher pressure and then second set on a larger lower pressure set to
maximize efficiency). Additionally, the generated steam may be heated after
being created, called superheating, to greatly increase the temperature of
the steam. This increases the efficiency of the engine but has the
detrimental effect of increasing wear on parts in contact with the
superheated steam. A steam locomotive may have from 4 to over 20 wheels
depending on the type of route the locomotive is designed to travel on. All
of these pieces work together to provide a highly efficient means of travel
via rail.

Figure 5- Basic layout of a steam engine

(http://straction.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/steam-engine.jpg).

Conclusion

I propose to continue my initial research and investigation of the Baldwin

Locomotive Works leading to an Article for submission to the PA Center for
the Book. Baldwin, and the railroading industry it helped build and support,
helped defined Pennsylvania and affected the lives of many. This article
should help document how Baldwin shaped the history of Pennsylvania and
its workers. Hopefully this idea meets with your approval. I am open to your
suggestions for improving the focus of this theme.

Sincerely,
Andrew Catherine
Annotated Bibliography- MLA

"$80,000,000 Shell Order. Baldwin Locomotives Said to Have Closed Contract with
Allies." The New York Times 15 July 1915.

• This is a good quality period source.

• This short news article describes how the Baldwin Locomotive Works
obtained WWI war contracts in 1915.

• This shows how, in conjunctions with other sources, Baldwin went from
mothballed state to full production and contributed to the war effort.

"50 Miles of Locomotives." The New York Times 4 April 1923.

• This is a good quality period source.

• This short article describes the massive production that Baldwin achieved in
the early twenties.

• This source shows the prosperity of the roaring twenties that Baldwin and the
country enjoyed.

"AMERICAN INDUSTRIES-Baldwin Locomotive Works." Scientific American 31 May

1884.

• This is a excellent period source.

• This multipage article describes in a more technical manner the history and
operations of the Baldwin Locomotive Works to the 1880's in Philadelphia.

• This article provides a substantial amount of background material on the

founding and earlier operations of Baldwin.

"Baldwin Lays Off 4,000." The New York Times 23 December 1950.

• This is a good quality period source.

• This short article describes the labor issues plaguing the Baldwin plant after
WWII and poor adaptation to the post steam era.

• This source will provide some insight into the lack of demand during the later
days of Baldwin.

"Baldwin Locomotive Works, Eddystone, Pa." Circa 1948. Delaware County History.
19 May 2010
 <http://www.delawarecountyhistory.com/images/EddystonePA.BaldwinLocom
otiveWorksfromtheair.c.1948pcp.jpg>.

• This is a good quality source.

• This image shows the Baldwin Locomotive Works at Eddystone in 1948.

• This graphic will help show the scale of the factory and explain its impact on
the local economy.

"Baldwin Plant to Close." The New York Times 5 September 1914.

• This is a good quality period source .

• This short article describes the poor economic state of Baldwin before WWI.

• This article will help show case the revival of Baldwin due to the WWI war
contracts later granted.

"Baldwin Strike Spreads. Labor Leaders Say 10,000 of 14,000 at Locomotive Works
Have Quit. ." The New York Times 9 June 1911.

• This is a good quality period article.

• This article describes how the labor problems and work conditions at the
Baldwin Locomotive Works around 1910-1912.

• This source will show the labor issues that began long before the Baldwin
Locomotive Works finally closed.

Brown, John K. The Baldwin Locomotive Works, 1831-1915. Baltimore: Johsn Hopkins
University Press, 1995.

• This is an excellent source.

• This book takes an analytical look at the Baldwin Locomotive Works and it
development.

• This source will help to substantiate the reasons for Baldwin's rise and fall.

Burnham, George, et al. Baldwin Locomotive Works Illustrated Catalogue.

Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1881.

• This is a good quality period source.

• This catalogue describes the many early locomotives that Baldwin made and
what influenced there design.
• This source will help provide illustrations and information on early
locomotives that Baldwin made.

"Call Baldwin Strike." The New York Times 26 June 1947.

• This is a good quality period source.

• This short article describes the labor issues plaguing the Baldwin plant after
WWII and poor adaptation to the post steam era.

• This source will provide some insight into the labor issues during the later
days of Baldwin.

Churella, Albert. "Corporate Culture and Marketing in the American Railway

Locomotive Industry: American Locomotive and Electro-Motive Responeded
to Dieselization." The Business History Review 63.2 (1995): 194-217.

• This is an okay article.

• This article describes how Baldwin, among others, failed to adapt to a diesel-
electric locomotive generation.

• This source will help reinforce the reasons for Baldwin's eventual merger and
closing.

Clark, Malcolm. "The Birth of an Enterprise: Baldwin Locomotive, 1831-1842." The

Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 90.4 (1966): 423-444.

• This is a good quality article.

• This article describes the environment which spurred Matthias Baldwin in

partnership with David Mason to start the Baldwin Locomotive Works.

• This article will provide needed detail as to the founding of the Baldwin
company.

History of the Baldwin Locomotive Works 1831-1923. Philadelphia: Bingham, 1923.

• This is an excellent period source.

• This book was published for Baldwin to describe the history and operations of
the company.

• This book will provided a very high level of detail and provide many different
references to people show shaped the Baldwin Locomotives Works in its early
and mid life.

"Inspect Baldwin Works." The New York Times 14 June 1937.

• This is a good quality period source.

• This short advertisement shows the community outreach for public tours of
the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1937.

• This source will show the community impact that the company tried to instill
in the late 1930's and how the Baldwin Works was a place of interest to the
public.

Marx, Thomas G. "Technological Change an the Theory of the Firm: The American
Locomotive Industry, 1920-1955." Business History Review 50 (1976): 1-24.

• This is a good quality article.

• This article describes the changes in the country from 1920-1955 and how
the railroads faded from prominence.

• This source will show that advancing technology that helped make Baldwin
now moved the country past Baldwin.

Miller, Fredric M., Morris J. Vogel and Allen F. Davis. Still Philadelphia A Photographic
History, 1890-1940. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1983.

• This is a good quality source for images.

• This book contains a whole series of photographs of Philadelphia.

• This book has several pages devoted to the Baldwin Locomotive Works and
the images will be helpful in illustrating what the Baldwin Factory looked like.

"Orders 100 Locomotive. Pennsylvania Will Use New Engines for Fast Freight." The
New York Times 24 October 1929.

• This is a good quality period source.

• This short article describes the continued prosperity during eh twenties just
before the Great Depression.

• This source shows how the Baldwin Plant was a significant economic factor
and how it impact other Pennsylvania companies like the PRR.

Ormsby, Barbara. "Eddystone's taking on new look-Former Baldwin-Lima site being

razed, implosion set for December 10 for gas plant." Delaware County Daily
Times 20 November 1994.

• This is an okay short new article.

• This article describes how the Eddystone plant is being replaced by new
industry.

• This source will help show that after Baldwin's closure, the area is slowly
seeing a return of some industry.

"Plan Homes For Employes." The New York Times 29 April 1912.

• This is a good quality period source.

• This short article describes how Baldwin tried to sooth the labor issues before
WWI.

• This source shows how Baldwin responded to the strikes of 1910 and 1911
and improved work conditions. This also increased the impact that Baldwin
had on not only workers but their families who lived in the new homes.

Sandberg, William R. and H.Dixon Wilcox. Opportunity Recognition and Disruptive

Technology: The U.U. Locomotive Industry from 1920 to 1940. 2002. 18 May
2010 <http://www.babson.edu/entrep/fer/Babson2002/II/II_P4/P4/html/ii-
p4.htm>.

• This is a okay web source that is referenced to many published material.

• This webpage looks at how the railroad industry, including Baldwin, failed to
maintain its importance between world wars.

• This article will show what Baldwin and others failed to do to remain in
business.

Scranton, Philip. "Large Firms and Industrial Restructuring: The Philadelphia

Region." The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 116.4 (1992):
419-465.

• This is a good quality article.

• This paper takes a look at how industrial enterprises changed in the

Philadelphia area from the twentieth century to 1980.

• This source will help shed light on how the changing economy affected
Baldwin and how it failed to adapt to a post steam era locomotive
environment.

Smaple, N. W. "Apprenticeship System at the Baldwin Locomotive Works." Annals of

the American Academy of Political and Social Science 33.1 (1909): 175-177.

• This is an excellent period source.

• This paper describes the apprenticeship system used in the Baldwin plants to
train new workers.

• This source will help show how workers were trained and what labor
conditions were like in the locomotive shops.

Solomon, Brian. Baldwin Locomotives. Ed. Dennis Pernu. Minneapolis: MBI

Publishing Company, 2010.

• This is a good quality source.

• This book focuses on the engines that Baldwin built and how they impacted
railrodaing in the U.S. and the world.

• This source provides information on the products that Baldwin made and
insight into how they were innovative and where they were used.

Treese, Lorett. Railrodas of Pennsylvania Fragments of the Past in the Keystone

Landscape. First. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2003.

• This is a good quality source.

• This book describes railroading in Pennsylvania with two sections on the

Baldwin Locomotive Works.

• This source provides a highlight of Baldwin and how it grew and impacted
railroading in Pennsylvania.

Vitello, Domenic. "Engineering the Metropolis: Williams Sellers, Joseph M. Wilson,

and Industrial Philadelphia." The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and
Biography 126.2 (2002): 273-303.

• This is a good quality source.

• This article describes the many important developments in the growth of

Philadelphia.

• This source will help solidify the importance that Baldwin played in the
development of Philadelphia during the industrial revolution.

Westing, Fred. The Locomotives that Baldwin built. Seattle: Superior, 1966.

• This is a good quality source.

• This book describes the locomotives that Baldwin built and also the factory
and production facilities of the Baldwin Locomotive Works.
• This source will provided details about how the company advanced through
time and how it innovated to better satisfy the need of the country. This
source also provides good images for the article.

White, John H. A Short History of American Locomotive Builders in the Steam Era.
Washington D.C. : Bass Inc. , 1982.

• This is a good quality source.

• This book describes many different locomotive builders including Baldwin.

• This book will provide a concise overview of the entire history of the Baldwin
Locomotive Works.