BALDWIN LOCOMOTIVE WORKS.
[Bird's-eye View.]
Baldwin Locomotive Works.
ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUE
OF
LOCOMOTIVES.
M. BAIRD & Co.,
PHILADELPHIA.
| MATTHEW BAIRD, | EDWARD H. WILLIAMS, |
| GEORGE BURNHAM, | WILLIAM P. HENSZEY, |
| CHARLES T. PARRY, | EDWARD LONGSTRETH. |
PRESS OF
J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.,
PHILADELPHIA.
(p. 5) SKETCH OF THE BALDWIN LOCOMOTIVE WORKS.
The Baldwin Locomotive Works dates its origin from the inception ofsteam railroads in America. Called into existence by the earlyrequirements of the railroad interests of the country, it has grownwith their growth and kept pace with their progress. It hasreflected in its career the successive stages of American railroadpractice, and has itself contributed largely to the development ofthe locomotive as it exists to-day. A history of the BaldwinLocomotive Works, therefore, is, in a great measure, a record of theprogress of locomotive engineering in this country, and as suchcannot fail to be of interest to all who are concerned in thisimportant element of our material progress.
Matthias W. Baldwin, the founder of the establishment, learned thetrade of a jeweler, and entered the service of Fletcher & Gardiner,Jewelers and Silversmiths, Philadelphia, in 1817. Two years later heopened a small shop, in the same line of business, on his ownaccount. The demand for articles of this character falling off,however, he formed a partnership, in 1825, with David Mason, amachinist, in the manufacture of bookbinders' tools and cylindersfor calico-printing. Their shop was in a small alley which runsnorth from Walnut Street, above Fourth. They afterwards removed toMinor Street, below Sixth. The business was so successful thatsteam-power became necessary in carrying on their manufactures, andan engine was bought for the purpose. This proving unsatisfactory,Mr. Baldwin decided to design and construct one which should bespecially adapted to the requirements of his shop. One of theserequirements was that it should occupy the least possible space, andthis was met by the construction of an upright engine on a novel andingenious plan. On a bed-plate about five feet square an uprightcylinder was placed; the piston-rod connected to a cross-bar havingtwo legs, turned downward, and sliding in grooves on the sides ofthe cylinder, which thus formed the guides. To the sides of theselegs, at their lower ends, was connected by pivots an invertedU-shaped frame, prolonged at the arch into a single rod, which tookhold of the crank of a fly-wheel carried by upright standards on thebed-plate. It will be seen that the length of the ordinary separateguide-bars was thus saved, and the whole engine was brought withinthe smallest possible compass. The design of the machine was notonly unique, but its workmanship was so excellent, and itsefficiency so great, as readily to procure for Mr. Baldwin (p. 6)orders for additional stationary engines. His attention was thusturned to steam engineering, and the way w