Baldwin: Over 70,000 Built

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”. It is fascinating to see these massive engines move with their distinctive rhythmic chug. Many of these machines can trace their roots back to the Baldwin Locomotive Works that produced them in Philadelphia and later in Eddystone, Pa. 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 19th and early 20th century of the state and the country. Brain Solomon author of Baldwin Locomotives states that "By the mid 19th century, it [Baldwin] was well established as the foremost name in locomotive construction... It was known and respected for its high quality products."

"The Name to Beat", the Baldwin Locomotive Works states Harold Davies in his book North American Steam Locomotive Builders & Their Insignia about steam locomotive manufacturers. Baldwin had many successful steam engines and innovations but it also had the distinction of creating the most successful freight locomotive ever in North America in 1866. Designed by Alexander Mitchell of Baldwin, the design was called the Consolidation type steam engine and combined the power needed to pull heavy freight with the ability to sustain this at higher speeds. Other manufactures soon copied the design and by the end of the steam era, over 33,000 Consolidation type locomotives were produced by the big three locomotive companies. This highlights the creative and innovative nature that Baldwin maintained from its founding by Matthias Baldwin until the Great Depression.

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. In the 1820's Baldwin was a jeweler in Philadelphia but due to low demand, he shifted his focus to book binding. This interlude into printing machinery did not last, but it did expose 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.

Ups and Downs

The American economy through the Civil War was one of great booms and busts; thus, Baldwin’s shops would one year produce 40 or 50 engines and the next only 20. However, by now Baldwin’s little enterprise had grown from a backroom tinkerer to one of the largest locomotive manufactures in the country. As the Western frontier was settled and the Eastern US was urbanized, the railroads grew to accommodate the demand for long distance passenger and freight transportation. By the late 1860’s, Baldwin’s designs incorporated much lighter and stronger steel boilers and were recognized as being safe, rugged, and innovative. By 1880, Harold Davies in his book North American Steam Locomotive Builders & Their Insignia states that "Total building [all locomotives to date by Baldwin] now exceeded that of any competitor, worldwide, by a factor of more than two" and was known for producing "...locomotives that never wear out."

The Basics of What Baldwin Built

A steam locomotive, like the engines Baldwin built, is an external combustion engine that generates heat and uses this heat to boil water, creating steam which drives a set of pistons to create motion. This motion in turn moves the train. Fired by wood, coal, or oil a steam locomotive burns the fuel in a boiler to create 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). Baldwin designer Samuel Vauclain created the Vauclain compound which according to Brain Solomon, the author of Baldwin Locomotives, "...proved to be one of the most distinctive and successful varieties of compound locomotives [built]" and "... enjoyed greater versatility [than other compound systems] and could be applied to faster services." John Brown, in his book The Baldwin Locomotive Works, states that by "1900, 70 percent of all compounds built in the United States were of the Vauclain type."

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 and whether the engine will pull heavier freight or lighter passenger cargo.

All of these pieces work together to provide a highly efficient means of travel via rail. Baldwin Locomotive Works built steam engines that all used the basic ideas but then refined them and over time added more complex components that increased the power, the speed, and the efficiency of the locomotives.

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 #3 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. Baldwin's factories employed over 17,000 people and greatly impacted the lives of those around Philadelphia and Eddystone. The labor issues would return after WWII as Baldwin struggled to adapt to a post steam country.

FIGURE #4 HERE

WWI and the Great Depression

After the labor issues and loss of orders following the 1907 Panic, when war broke out in Europe in 1914, Baldwin quickly shifted production to weapons, ammunition, and steam locomotives for the Allies. The Baldwin Works produced its 30,000th locomotive in June 1913 and quickly increased production so that by September 1918 number 40,000 was rolling off the production line.

Early in the 1920's, Baldwin underwent a decline as the company lost its innovative sprit. Now Baldwin was playing catch up with Lima to produce larger and faster steam engines. In 1923 the New York Times reported that 50 miles of locomotives were produced in the previous year but without innovation Baldwin’s production declined. The stock crash of 1929 did not immediately cause great collapse at the Baldwin Works, but by 1935, after a decade of so-so revenues, Baldwin was forced to declare bankruptcy. Once the leading locomotive company with great cachet was now in financial ruin. While hope appeared in the mid 1930’s as the Pennsylvania Railroad had Baldwin produce its GG1 electric locomotives--one of the most successful electric engines in the United States--Baldwin could never regain its market dominance.

WWII and a Failure to Adapt

With the development of another war in Europe, Baldwin once again fell into producing military goods; however, this time excluding the new diesel-electric locomotives that were going to be the future of the locomotive market. According to Philip Scranton's article entitled "Large Firms and Industrial Restructuring: The Philadelphia region, 1910-1980", Baldwin's management "...erred doubly, expanding capacity at a time when railroad finances thinned motive power equipment orders, and retaining a commitment to refining steam traction, just as the superiority of diesel and electric locomotives was being established." As seen below, the Baldwin plant continued to produce its iconic steam engines.

FIGURE #5 HERE

After the war, Baldwin still produced a few concept steam and small diesel switching engines for railroad yard work. A poor economy forced Baldwin to merge with the competing Lima-Hamilton works. Due to the changing economy, the low demand for their products, and the labor issues at Eddystone Baldwin

produced its final locomotive in 1954. This last locomotive was the final of 70,541 built (actually numbered 76140 but 5,599 of these numbers belonged to war materials not locomotives). While not closing until 1971, what remained of the Baldwin Works produced construction tools.

A Close and a Memorial

With the end of the Baldwin Locomotive Works, the Eddystone plant --that once employed over 17,000-- slowly redeveloped into other manufacturing plants but never with the same impact that the Baldwin plant had.

In 1926, a special engine was built to commemorate the 60,000th engine produced. Number 60,000 was donated to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia as a display piece after being used as a test or "concept" engine. In 1933, the city laid four blocks of rail over the street to move the more than 700,000 pound engine into the new museum. Lorett Treese, in her book Railroads of Pennsylvania-Fragments of the Past in the Keystone Landscape, described the process as "...a monumental project that fascinated the citizens of Philadelphia in the autumn of 1933." The Evening Bulletin's Laura Lee reported in the September 22, 1933 edition that "An ordinary size truck has been pulling it [No. 60,000], one day on account of the truck strike, a horse was used, much to the amusement of the crowds of onlookers who have lined the streets ever since maneuvers began." During all the subsequent renovations, number 60,000 has been left in place as it is too massive to easily move. Thus, even today it is possible to visit the Train Factory at the Franklin Institute and walk through one of Baldwin's locomotives.

FIGURE #6 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.

Bibliography

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

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

"AMERICAN INDUSTRIES-Baldwin Locomotive Works." Scientific American 31 May 1884.

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

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

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

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

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

Burnham, George, et al. Baldwin Locomotive Works Illustrated Catalogue. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1881.

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

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.

Clark, Malcolm. "The Birth of an Enterprise: Baldwin Locomotive, 1831-1842." The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 90.4 (1966): 423-444.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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>.

Scranton, Philip. "Large Firms and Industrial Restructuring: The Philadelphia Region." The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 116.4 (1992): 419-465.

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.

Solomon, Brian. Baldwin Locomotives. Ed. Dennis Pernu. Minneapolis: MBI Publishing Company, 2010.

Treese, Lorett. Railrodas of Pennsylvania Fragments of the Past in the Keystone Landscape. First. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2003.

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.

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

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

Pictures

Figure 1- A picture of a Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Consolidation Type freight locomotive- the most successful freight locomotive in North America. (Solomon 31- Baldwin image No. 63 from the H.L. Broadbelt Baldwin Collection (RR88.2), Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania)

Figure 2- Basic layout of a steam locomotive. (http://straction.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/steam-engine.jpg)

Figure 3 - A aerial picture of the Eddystone Factory in 1949. (http://www.delawarecountyhistory.com/images/EddystonePA.BaldwinLocomotiveWorksfromtheair.c.1948pcp.jpg)

Figure 4- A picture of the Baldwin Locomotive Works production floor in the 1910's. (Miller, Vogel, and Allen 79- anonymous photographer)

Figure 5- A picture of the factory floor at the Baldwin Locomotive Works Factory at Eddystone, Pa January 21, 1942. (Solomon 9-Baldwin image No. 12160-36 from the H.L. Broadbelt Baldwin Collection (RR88.2), Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania)

Figure 6- Baldwin Locomotive # 60,000 produced in 1926 for the Franklin Institute. (Solomon 74- Baldwin image No. 9772 from the H.L. Broadbelt Baldwin Collection (RR88.2), Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania)