Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Andrew Catherine
Everyone remembers fondly the first time they saw a steam engine, whether it
was in person or on TV as “Thomas the Tank Engine”. These incredibly
complex machines were and are fascinating to see. Many of these machines
can trace their roots back to the Baldwin Locomotive Works that produced
them in, and later, just outside of Philadelphia. In the golden era of the steam
engine, Baldwin was one of the big three locomotive manufactures--Lima,
American Locomotive Company, and the Baldwin Locomotive Works-- in the
United States and was a integral part of the economy during the late 19 th and
early 20th century of the state and the country.
FIGURE #1 HERE
In the Beginning…
As with many ventures, Matthias Baldwin’s path that lead to the creation of the
Baldwin Locomotive Works in the 1830’s began in the opposite direction of
what it would become. Baldwin was a jeweler by trade in Philadelphia but due
to low demand in the 1820's, he shifted his focus to book binding. This
interlude into printing machinery did not last, but it did exposed Baldwin to
small steam engines used to power the equipment. In 1831, the Franklin Perle
Museum of Philadelphia requested from Matthias Baldwin a model of a British
steam engine so that patrons could ride this new invention in the museum.
From this model he began an import-manufacturing business creating British
steam engines from drawings he acquired. Baldwin quickly learned the trade
and improved upon the British design to better suit the more rugged and non-
ideal rail conditions found in the United States. By 1835 Baldwin purchased a
shop for the Baldwin Locomotive works on Broad Street in Philadelphia and by
1836 produced 40 steam engines.
FIGURE #2 HERE
The Big Move
By 1906 with an economic boom and advances in technology and the size of
locomotives, Baldwin needed to expand out of its original Philadelphia shop
neighborhood and Eddystone was the answer. Just southwest of Philadelphia,
Eddystone was close to the railroads mainline and offered space for a new and
expanded factory. As the ink dried on the contracts to build the Eddystone
plants, the Panic of 1907 caused orders for locomotives to fall to 617 in 1908
from 2666 in 1906. Baldwin never recovered the clear dominance it had in the
early 1900's and spent the rest of the pre-WWI years struggling. However
Baldwin still shifted its operations to the more modern spacious Eddystone
plant and sold off the Philadelphia shops.
FIGURE #4 HERE
As with any large company, Baldwin had labor relations issues that resulted in
strikes in 1911 and 1912 as the company transitioned to Henry Ford's
production line model and replaced skilled craftsman with machinery and
unskilled labor. The labor issues would return after WWII as Baldwin struggled
to adapt to a post steam country.
FIGURE #5 HERE
FIGURE #6 HERE
After the war Baldwin still produced a few concept steam engines and small
diesel switching engines for railroad yard work, but Baldwin was forced to
merge with competing Lima-Hamilton works. Due to the changing economy,
low demand for their products, and labor issues Baldwin produced its final
locomotive in 1954. This last diesel switcher was the last of 70,541 locomotives
built (actually numbered 76140 but 5,599 of these numbers belonged to war
materials not locomotives). While not closing untill 1971, what remained of the
Baldwin works produced construction tools.
FIGURE #7 HERE
It is a fitting tribute to the Baldwin Locomotive Works, which played such an
important part in America's expansion and the Pennsylvanian economy for
decades, that an example of their work can still be seen.
Annotated Bibliography
"Baldwin Lays Off 4,000." The New York Times 23 December 1950.
Miller, Fredric M., Morris J. Vogel and Allen F. Davis. Still Philadelphia A
Photographic History, 1890-1940. Philadelphia: Temple University Press,
1983.
Mustaffa, Muhammad Fadhli and Ahmad Lutfi Mohayiddin. How the Steam
Engine of the Locomotive Works. 1 June 2010
<http://straction.wordpress.com/how-the-steam-engine-of-the-
locomotive-works/>.
"Orders 100 Locomotive. Pennsylvania Will Use New Engines for Fast Freight."
The New York Times 24 October 1929.
"Plan Homes For Employes." The New York Times 29 April 1912.
Westing, Fred. The Locomotives that Baldwin built. Seattle: Superior, 1966.
Pictures
Figure 1- Basic layout of a steam locomotive.
(http://straction.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/steam-engine.jpg)