Chapter M: BAIRD & Co.,

PHILADELPHIA.

MATTHEW BAIRD,
GEORGE BURNHAM,
CHARLES T. PARRY,
EDWARD H. WILLIAMS,
WILLIAM P. HENSZEY,
EDWARD LONGSTRETH.

PRESS OF
J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.,
PHILADELPHIA.

SKETCH OF THE BALDWIN LOCOMOTIVE WORKS.

THE BALDWIN LOCOMOTIVE WORKS dates its origin from the inception of steam railroads in America. Called into existence by the early requirements of the railroad interests of the country, it has grown with their growth and kept pace with their progress. It has reflected in its career the successive stages of American railroad practice, and has itself contributed largely to the development of the locomotive as it exists to-day. A history of the Baldwin Locomotive Works, therefore, is, in a great measure, a record of the progress of locomotive engineering in this country, and as such cannot fail to be of interest to all who are concerned in this important element of our material progress.

MATTHIAS W. BALDWIN, the founder of the establishment, learned the trade of a jeweler, and entered the service of Fletcher & Gardiner, Jewelers and Silversmiths, Philadelphia, in 1817. Two years later he opened a small shop, in the same line of business, on his own account. The demand for articles of this character falling off, however, he formed a partnership, in 1825, with David Mason, a machinist, in the manufacture of bookbinders' tools and cylinders for calico-printing. Their shop was in a small alley which runs north from Walnut Street, above Fourth. They afterwards removed to Minor Street, below Sixth. The business was so successful that steam-power became necessary in carrying on their manufactures, and an engine was bought for the purpose. This proving unsatisfactory, Mr. Baldwin decided to design and construct one which should be specially adapted to the requirements of his shop. One of these requirements was that it should occupy the least possible space, and this was met by the construction of an upright engine on a novel and ingenious plan. On a bed-plate about five feet square an upright cylinder was placed; the piston-rod connected to a cross-bar having two legs, turned downward, and sliding in grooves on the sides of the cylinder, which thus formed the guides. To the sides of these legs, at their lower ends, was connected by pivots an inverted U-shaped frame, prolonged at the arch into a single rod, which took hold of the crank of a fly-wheel carried by upright standards on the bed-plate. It will be seen that the length of the ordinary separate guide-bars was thus saved, and the whole engine was brought within the smallest possible compass. The design of the machine was not only unique, but its workmanship was so excellent, and its efficiency so great, as readily to procure for Mr. Baldwin orders for additional stationary engines. His attention was thus turned to steam engineering, and the way was prepared for his grappling with the problem of the locomotive when the time should arrive.

This original stationary engine, constructed prior to 1830, has been in almost constant service since its completion, and at this day is still in use, furnishing all the power required to drive the machinery in the erecting-shop of the present works. The visitor who beholds it quietly performing its regular duty in a corner of the shop, may justly regard it with considerable interest, as in all probability the indirect foundation of the Baldwin Locomotive Works, and permitted still to contribute to the operation of the mammoth industry which it was instrumental in building up.

The manufacture of stationary steam-engines thus took a prominent place in the establishment, and Mr. Mason shortly afterward withdrew from the business.

In 1829-30 the use of steam as a motive power on railroads had begun to engage the attention of American engineers. A few locomotives had been imported from England, and one (which, however, was not successful) had been constructed at the West Point Foundry, in New York City. To gratify the public interest in the new motor, Mr. Franklin Peale, then proprietor of the Philadelphia Museum, applied to Mr. Baldwin to construct a miniature locomotive for exhibition in his establishment. With the aid only of the imperfect published descriptions and sketches of the locomotives which had taken part in the Rainhill competition in England, Mr. Baldwin undertook the work, and on the 25th of April, 1831, the miniature locomotive was put in motion on a circular track made of pine boards covered with hoop iron, in the rooms of the Museum. Two small cars, containing seats for four passengers, were attached to it, and the novel spectacle attracted crowds of admiring spectators. Both anthracite and pine-knot coal were used as fuel, and the exhaust steam was discharged into the chimney, thus utilizing it to increase the draught.

The success of the model was such that, in the same year, Mr. Baldwin received an order for a locomotive from the Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railroad Company, whose short line of six miles to Germantown was operated by horse-power. The Camden and Amboy Railroad Company had shortly before imported a locomotive from England, which was stored in a shed at Bordentown. It had not yet been put together; but Mr. Baldwin, in company with his friend, Mr. Peale, visited the spot, inspected the detached parts, and made a few memoranda of some of its principal dimensions. Guided by these figures and his experience with the Peale model, Mr. Baldwin commenced the task. The difficulties to be overcome in filling the order can hardly be appreciated at this day. There were few mechanics competent to do any part of the work on a locomotive. Suitable tools were with difficulty obtainable. Cylinders were bored by a chisel fixed in a block of wood and turned by hand. Blacksmiths able to weld a bar of iron exceeding one and one-quarter inches in thickness, were few, or not to be had. It was necessary for Mr. Baldwin to do much of the work with his own hands, to educate the workmen who assisted him, and to improvise tools for the various processes.

The work was prosecuted, nevertheless, under all these difficulties, and the locomotive was finally completed, christened the "Old Ironsides," and tried on the road, November 23, 1832. The circumstances of the trial are fully preserved, and are given, further on, in the extracts from the journals of the day. Despite some imperfections, naturally occurring in a first effort, and which were afterward, to a great extent, remedied, the engine was, for that early day, a marked and gratifying success. It was put at once into service, as appears from the Company's advertisement three days after the trial, and did duty on the Germantown road and others for over a score of years.

The "Ironsides" was a four-wheeled engine, modeled essentially on the English practice of that day, as shown in the "Planet" class, and weighed, in running order, something over five tons. The rear or driving-wheels were fifty-four inches in diameter on a crank-axle placed in front of the fire-box. The cranks were thirty-nine inches from centre to centre. The front wheels, which were simply carrying wheels, were forty-five inches in diameter, on an axle placed just back of the cylinders. The cylinders were nine and one-half inches in diameter by eighteen inches stroke, and were attached horizontally to the outside of the smoke-box, which was D-shaped, with the sides receding inwardly, so as to bring the centre line of each cylinder in line with the centre of the crank. The wheels were made with heavy cast-iron hubs, wooden spokes and rims, and wrought-iron tires. The frame was of wood, placed outside the wheels. The boiler was thirty inches in diameter, and contained seventy-two copper flues, one and one-half inches in diameter and seven feet long. The tender was a four-wheeled platform, with wooden sides and back, carrying an iron box for a water-tank, inclosed in a wooden casing, and with a space for fuel in front. The engine had no cab. The valve-motion was given by a single loose eccentric for each cylinder, placed on the axle between the crank and the hub of the wheel. On the inside of the eccentric was a half-circular slot, running half-way around. A stop was fastened to the axle at the arm of the crank, terminating in a pin which projected into the slot. This pin would thus hold the eccentric at one end or the other of the half-circular slot, and the engine was reversed by moving the eccentric about the axle, by means of movable hand-levers set in sockets in the rock-shafts, until it was arrested and held by the pin at one end or the other of the slot. The rock-shafts, which were under the footboard, had arms above and below, and the eccentric-straps had each a forked rod, with a hook, or an upper and lower latch or pin, at their extremities, to engage with the upper or lower arm of the rock-shaft. The eccentric-rods were raised or lowered by a double treadle, so as to connect with the upper or lower arm of the rock-shaft, according as forward or backward gear was desired. A peculiarity in the exhaust of the "Ironsides" was that there was only a single straight pipe running across from one cylinder to the other, with an opening in the upper side of the pipe, midway between the cylinders, to which was attached at right angles the perpendicular pipe into the chimney. The cylinders, therefore, exhausted against each other; and it was found, after the engine had been put in use, that this was a serious objection. This defect was afterwards remedied by turning each exhaust-pipe upward into the chimney, substantially as is now done. The steam-joints were made with canvas and red-lead, as was the practice in English locomotives, and in consequence much trouble was caused, from time to time, by leaking.

The price of the engine was to have been $4000, but some difficulty was found in procuring a settlement. The Company claimed that the engine did not perform according to contract; and objection was also made to some of the defects alluded to. After these had been corrected as far as possible, however, Mr. Baldwin finally succeeded in effecting a compromise settlement, and received from the Company $3500 for the machine.

We are indebted for the sketch of the "Ironsides" from which the accompanying cut is produced, as well as for other valuable particulars in regard to the engine, to Mr. H. R. Campbell, who was the Chief Engineer of the Germantown and Norristown Railroad when the "Ironsides" was placed in service, and who is thoroughly familiar with all the facts in regard to the engine. Much of the success of the machine was due to his exertions, as, while the President of the Company was inclined to reject it as defective, Mr. Campbell was earnest in his efforts to correct its imperfections, and his influence contributed largely to retain the engine on the road.

The results of the trial and the impression produced by it on the public mind may be gathered from the following extracts from the newspapers of the day:

The _United States Gazette_ of Nov. 24th, 1832, remarks:

"A most gratifying experiment was made yesterday afternoon on the
Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railroad. The beautiful
locomotive engine and tender, built by Mr. Baldwin, of this city,
whose reputation as an ingenious machinist is well known, were
for the first time placed on the road. The engine traveled about
six miles, working with perfect accuracy and ease in all its
parts, and with great velocity."

The _Chronicle_ of the same date noticed the trial more at length, as follows:

"It gives us pleasure to state that the locomotive engine built
by our townsman, M. W. Baldwin, has proved highly successful. In
the presence of several gentlemen of science and information on
such subjects, the engine was yesterday placed upon the road for
the first time. All her parts had been previously highly finished
and fitted together in Mr. Baldwin's factory. She was taken apart
on Tuesday and removed to the Company's depot, and yesterday
morning she was completely together, ready for travel. After the
regular passenger cars had arrived from Germantown in the
afternoon, the tracks being clear, preparation was made for her
starting. The placing fire in the furnace and raising steam
occupied twenty minutes. The engine (with her tender) moved from
the depot in beautiful style, working with great ease and
uniformity. She proceeded about half a mile beyond the Union
Tavern, at the township line, and returned immediately, a
distance of six miles, at a speed of about twenty-eight miles to
the hour, her speed having been slackened at all the road
crossings, and it being after dark, but a portion of her power
was used. It is needless to say that the spectators were
delighted. From this experiment there is every reason to believe
this engine will draw thirty tons gross, at an average speed of
forty miles an hour, on a level road. The principal superiority
of the engine over any of the English ones known, consists in the
light weight,--which is but between four and five tons,--her
small bulk, and the simplicity of her working machinery. We
rejoice at the result of this experiment, as it conclusively
shows that Philadelphia, always famous for the skill of her
mechanics, is enabled to produce steam-engines for railroads
combining so many superior qualities as to warrant the belief
that her mechanics will hereafter supply nearly all the public
works of this description in the country."

On subsequent trials, the "Ironsides" attained a speed of thirty miles per hour, with its usual train attached. So great were the wonder and curiosity which attached to such a prodigy, that people flocked to see the marvel, and eagerly bought the privilege of riding after the strange monster. The officers of the road were not slow to avail themselves of the public interest to increase their passenger receipts, and the following advertisement from _Poulson's American Daily Advertiser_ of Nov. 26, 1832, will show that as yet they regarded the new machine rather as a curiosity and a bait to allure travel than as a practical, every-day servant:

"NOTICE.--The locomotive engine (built by M. W. Baldwin, of this
city) will depart daily, _when the weather is fair_, with a train
of passenger cars. _On rainy days horses will be attached._"

This announcement did not mean that in wet weather horses _would be attached to the locomotive_ to aid if in drawing the train, but that the usual horse-cars would be employed in making the trips upon the road without the engine.

Upon making the first trip to Germantown with a passenger train with the Ironsides, one of the drivers slipped upon the axle, causing the wheels to track less than the gauge of the road and drop in between the rails. It was also discovered that the valve arrangement of the pumps was defective, and they failed to supply the boiler with water. The shifting of the driving wheel upon the axle fastened the eccentric, so that it would not operate in backward motion. These mishaps caused delay, and prevented the engine from reaching its destination, to the great disappointment of all concerned. They were corrected in a few days, and the machine was used in experimenting upon its efficiency, making occasional trips with trains to Germantown. The road had an ascending grade, nearly uniform, of thirty-two feet per mile, and for the last half-mile of forty-five feet per mile, and it was found that the engine was too light for the business of the road upon these grades.

Such was Mr. Baldwin's first locomotive; and it is related of him that his discouragement at the difficulties which he had undergone in building it and in finally procuring a settlement for it was such that he remarked to one of his friends, with much decision, "That is our last locomotive."

It was some time before he received an order for another, but meanwhile the subject had become singularly fascinating to him, and occupied his mind so fully that he was eager to work out his new ideas in a tangible form.

Shortly after the "Ironsides" had been placed on the Germantown road, Mr. E. L. Miller, of Charleston, S. C, came to Philadelphia and made a careful examination of the machine. Mr. Miller had, in 1830, contracted to furnish a locomotive to the Charleston and Hamburg Railroad Company, and accordingly the engine "Best Friend" had been built under his direction at the West Point Foundry, New York. After inspecting the "Ironsides," he suggested to Mr. Baldwin to visit the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad and examine an English locomotive which had been placed on that road in July, 1831, by Messrs. Robert Stephenson & Co., of Newcastle, England. It was originally a four-wheeled engine of the "Planet" type, with horizontal cylinders and crank-axle. The front wheels of this engine were removed about a year after the machine was put at work, and a four-wheeled swiveling or "bogie" truck substituted. The result of Mr. Baldwin's investigations was the adoption of this design, but with some important improvements. Among these was the "half-crank," which he devised on his return from this trip, and which he patented September 10, 1834. In this form of crank, shown in Figure 2, the outer arm is omitted, and the wrist is fixed in a spoke of the wheel. In other words, the wheel itself formed one arm of the crank. The result sought and gained was that the cranks were strengthened, and, being at the extremities of the axle, the boiler could be made larger in diameter and placed lower. The driving axle could also be placed back of the fire-box, the connecting rods passing by the sides of the fire-box and taking hold inside of the wheels. This arrangement of the crank also involved the placing of the cylinders outside the smoke-box, as was done on the "Ironsides."

By the time the order for the second locomotive was received, Mr. Baldwin had matured this device and was prepared to embody it in practical form. The order came from Mr. E. L. Miller in behalf of the Charleston and Hamburg Railroad Company, and the engine bore his name, and was completed February 18, 1834. It was on six wheels; one pair being drivers, four and a half feet in diameter, with half-crank axle placed back of the fire-box as above described, and the four front wheels combined in a swiveling truck. The driving-wheels, it should be observed, were cast in solid bell-metal. The combined wood and iron wheels used on the "Ironsides" had proved objectionable, and Mr. Baldwin, in his endeavors to find a satisfactory substitute, had recourse to brass. June 29, 1833, he took out a patent for a cast-brass wheel, his idea being that by varying the hardness of the metal the adhesion of the drivers on the rails could be increased or diminished at will. The brass wheels on the "Miller," however, soon wore out, and the experiment with this metal was not repeated. The "E. L. Miller" had cylinders ten inches in diameter; stroke of piston, sixteen inches; and weighed, with water in the boiler, seven tons eight hundredweight. The boiler had a high dome over the fire-box, as shown in Figure 3; and this form of construction, it may be noted, was followed, with a few exceptions, for many years.

The valve-motion was given by a single fixed eccentric for each cylinder. Each eccentric-strap had two arms attached to it, one above and the other below, and, as the driving-axle was back of the fire-box, these arms were prolonged backward under the footboard, with a hook on the inner side of the end of each. The rock-shaft had arms above and below its axis, and the hooks of the two rods of each eccentric were moved by hand-levers so as to engage with either arm, thus producing backward or forward gear. This form of single eccentric, peculiar to Mr. Baldwin, was in the interest of simplicity in the working parts, and was adhered to for some years. It gave rise to an animated controversy among mechanics as to whether, with its use, it was possible to get a lead on the valve in both directions. Many maintained that this was impracticable; but Mr. Baldwin demonstrated by actual experience that the reverse was the case.

Meanwhile the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania had given Mr. Baldwin an order for a locomotive for the State Road, as it was then called, from Philadelphia to Columbia, which, up to that time, had been worked by horses. This engine, called the "Lancaster," was completed in June, 1834. It was similar to the "Miller," and weighed seventeen thousand pounds. After it was placed in service, the records show that it hauled at one time nineteen loaded burden cars over the highest grades between Philadelphia and Columbia. This was characterized at the time by the officers of the road as an "unprecedented performance." The success of the machine on its trial trips was such that the Legislature decided to adopt steam-power for working the road, and Mr. Baldwin received orders for several additional locomotives. Two others were accordingly delivered to the State in September and November respectively of that year, and one was also built and delivered to the Philadelphia and Trenton Railroad Company during the same season. This latter engine, which was put in service October 21, 1834, averaged twenty-one thousand miles per year to September 15, 1840.

Five locomotives were thus completed in 1834, and the new business was fairly under way. The building in Lodge Alley, to which Mr. Baldwin had removed from Minor Street, and where these engines were constructed, began to be found too contracted, and another removal was decided upon. A location on Broad and Hamilton Streets (the site, in part, of the present works) was selected, and a three-story L-shaped brick building, fronting on both streets, erected. This was completed and the business removed to it during the following year (1835). The original building still stands, forming the office, drawing-room, and principal machine-shops of the present works.

These early locomotives, built in 1834, were the types of Mr. Baldwin's practice for some years. Their general design is shown in Figure 3. All, or nearly all of them, embraced several important devices, which were the results of his study and experiments up to that time. The devices referred to were patented September 10, 1834, and the same patent covered the four following inventions, viz.:

1. The half-crank, and method of attaching it to the driving-wheel. (This has already been described.)

2. A new mode of constructing the wheels of locomotive engines and cars. In this the hub and spokes were of cast-iron, cast together. The spokes were cast without a rim, and terminated in segment flanges, each spoke having a separate flange disconnected from its neighbors. By this means, it was claimed, the injurious effect of the unequal expansion of the materials composing the wheels was lessened or altogether prevented. The flanges bore against wooden felloes, made in two thicknesses, and put together so as to break joints. Tenons or pins projected from the flanges into openings made in the wooden felloes, to keep them in place. Around the whole the tire was passed and secured by bolts. The above sketch shows the device.

3. A new mode of forming the joints of steam and other tubes. This was Mr. Baldwin's invention of ground joints for steam-pipes, which was a very valuable improvement over previous methods of making joints with red-lead packing, and which rendered it possible to carry a much higher pressure of steam.

4. A new mode of forming the joints and other parts of the supply-pump, and of locating the pump itself. This invention consisted in making the single guide-bar hollow and using it for the pump-barrel. The pump-plunger was attached to the piston-rod at a socket or sleeve formed for the purpose, and the hollow guide-bar terminated in the vertical pump-chamber. This chamber was made in two pieces, joined about midway between the induction and eduction-pipes. This joint was ground steam-tight, as were also the joints of the induction-pipe with the bottom of the lower chamber, and the flange of the eduction-pipe with the top of the upper chamber. All these parts were held together by a stirrup with a set-screw in its arched top, and the arrangement was such that by simply unscrewing this set-screw the different sections of the chamber, with all the valves, could be taken apart for cleaning or adjusting. The cut below illustrates the device.

It is probable that the five engines built during 1834 embodied all, or nearly all, these devices. They all had the half-crank, the ground joints for steam-pipes (which was first made by him in 1833), and the pump formed in the guide-bar, and all had the four-wheeled truck in front, and a single pair of drivers back of the fire-box. On this position of the driving-wheels, Mr. Baldwin laid great stress, as it made a more even distribution of the weight, throwing about one-half on the drivers and one-half on the four-wheeled truck. It also extended the wheel-base, making the engine much steadier and less damaging to the track. Mr. William Norris, who had established a locomotive works in Philadelphia in 1832, was at this time building a six-wheeled engine with a truck in front and the driving-wheels placed in front of the fire-box. Considerable rivalry naturally existed between the two manufacturers as to the comparative merits of their respective plans. In Mr. Norris's engine, the position of the driving-axle in front of the fire-box threw on it more of the weight of the engine, and thus increased the adhesion and the tractive power. Mr. Baldwin, however, maintained the superiority of his plan, as giving a better distribution of the weight and a longer wheel-base, and consequently rendering the machine less destructive to the track. As the iron rails then in use were generally light, and much of the track was of wood, this feature was of some importance.

To the use of the ground joint for steam-pipes, however, much of the success of his early engines was due. The English builders were making locomotives with canvas and red-lead joints, permitting a steam pressure of only sixty pounds per inch to be carried, while Mr. Baldwin's machines were worked at one hundred and twenty pounds with ease. Several locomotives imported from England at about this period by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the State Road (three of which were made by Stephenson) had canvas and red-lead joints, and their efficiency was so much less than that of the Baldwin engines, on account of this and other features of construction, that they were soon laid aside or sold.

In June, 1834, a patent was issued to Mr. E. L. Miller, by whom Mr. Baldwin's second engine was ordered, for a method of increasing the adhesion of a locomotive by throwing a part of the weight of the tender on the rear of the engine, thus increasing the weight on the drivers. Mr. Baldwin adopted this device on an engine built for the Philadelphia and Trenton Railroad Company, May, 1835, and thereafter used it largely, paying one hundred dollars royalty for each engine. Eventually (May 6, 1839) he bought the patent for nine thousand dollars, evidently considering that the device was especially valuable, if not indispensable, in order to render his engine as powerful, when required, as other patterns having the driving-wheels in front of the fire-box, and therefore utilizing more of the weight of the engine for adhesion.

In making the truck and tender wheels of these early locomotives, the hubs were cast in three pieces and afterward banded with wrought-iron, the interstices being filled with spelter. This method of construction was adopted on account of the difficulty then found in casting a chilled wheel in one solid piece.

April 3, 1835, Mr. Baldwin took out a patent for certain improvements in the wheels and tubes of locomotive engines. That relating to the wheels provided for casting the hub and spokes together, and having the spokes terminate in segments of a rim, as described in his patent of September 10, 1834. Between the ends of the spokes and the tires wood was interposed, and the tire might be either of wrought-iron or of chilled cast-iron. The intention was expressed of making the tire usually of cast-iron chilled. The main object, however, was declared to be the interposition between the spokes and the rim of a layer of wood or other substance possessing some degree of elasticity. This method of making driving-wheels was followed for several years.

The improvement in locomotive tubes consisted in driving a copper ferrule or thimble on the outside of the end of the tube, and soldering it in place, instead of driving a ferrule into the tube, as had previously been the practice. The object of the latter method had been to make a tight joint with the tube-sheet; but, by putting the ferrule on the outside of the tube, not only was the joint made as tight as before, but the tube was strengthened, and left unobstructed throughout to the full extent of its diameter. This method of setting flues has been generally followed in the works from that date to the present, the only difference being that, at this time, with iron tubes, the end is swedged down, the copper ferrule brazed on, and the iron end turned or riveted over against the copper thimble and the flue-sheet, to make the joint perfect.

Early in 1835, the new shop on Broad Street was completed and occupied. Mr. Baldwin's attention was thenceforward given to locomotive building exclusively, except that a stationary engine was occasionally constructed.

In May, 1835, his eleventh locomotive, the "Black Hawk," was delivered to the Philadelphia and Trenton Railroad Company. This was the first outside-connected engine of his build. It was also the first engine on which the Miller device of attaching part of the weight of the tender to the engine was employed. On the eighteenth engine, the "Brandywine," built for the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad Company, brass tires were used on the driving-wheels, for the purpose of obtaining more adhesion; but they wore out rapidly and were replaced with iron.

Fourteen engines were constructed in 1835; forty in 1836; forty in 1837; twenty-three in 1838; twenty-six in 1839; and nine in 1840. During all these years the general design continued the same; but, in compliance with the demand for more power, three sizes were furnished, as follows:

First-class. Cylinders, 12-1/2 x 16; weight, loaded, 26,000 pounds.
Second-class. " 12 x 16; " " 23,000 "
Third-class. " 10-1/2 x 16; " " 20,000 "

The first-class engine he fully believed, in 1838, was as heavy as would be called for, and he declared that it was as large as he intended to make. Most of the engines were built with the half-crank, but occasionally an outside-connected machine was turned out. These latter, however, failed to give as complete satisfaction as the half-crank machine. The drivers were generally four and a half feet in diameter.

A patent was issued to Mr. Baldwin, August 17, 1835, for his device of cylindrical pedestals. In this method of construction, the pedestal was of cast-iron, and was bored in a lathe so as to form two concave jaws. The boxes were also turned in a lathe so that their vertical ends were cylindrical, and they were thus fitted in the pedestals. This method of fitting up pedestals and boxes was cheap and effective, and was used for some years for the driving and tender wheels.

As showing the estimation in which these early engines were held, it may not be out of place to refer to the opinions of some of the railroad managers of that period.

Mr. L. A. Sykes, engineer of the New Jersey Transportation Company, under date of June 12, 1838, wrote that he could draw with his engines twenty four-wheeled cars with twenty-six passengers each, at a speed of twenty to twenty-five miles per hour, over grades of twenty-six feet per mile. "As to simplicity of construction," he adds, "small liability to get out of order, economy of repairs, and ease to the road, I fully believe Mr. Baldwin's engines stand unrivalled. I consider the simplicity of the engine, the arrangement of the working-parts, and the distribution of the weight, far superior to any engine I have ever seen, either of American or English manufacture, and I have not the least hesitation in saying that Mr. Baldwin's engine will do the same amount of work with much less repairs, either to the engine or the track, than any other engine in use."