Providence and Worcester Railroad Company Search this
Former owner:
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Transportation Search this
Extent:
0.15 Cubic feet (1 volume)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Account books
Place:
Rhode Island
Date:
1851-1899
Scope and Contents:
This log book of the Providence, Rhode Island repair shop records the annual summaries of repair costs by various divisions of the Railroad for 1851-1854, as submitted by John B. Winslow, Master Mechanic. It also includes entries recording miscellaneous repairs (mostly minor) and overhauls to locomotives for 1880-1899.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged chronologically.
Biographical / Historical:
Like many of the early railroads in the United States the Providence and Worcester Railroad was built, as were most of the early turnpikes and canals, to serve nearby and local needs.*
*Taylor, Geroge Rogers and Neu, Irene D. The American RR Network, 1861-1890 Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1956, p.4.
Provenance:
Immediate source of acquisition unknown.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Transportation Search this
Extent:
9 Cubic feet (4 drawers)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Technical drawings
Erection drawings
Place:
Philadelphia (Pa.)
Pennsylvania
Date:
1870-1890
Summary:
Collection consists of 202 assembly drawings of locomotives and tenders, prepared to check the clearances and major component parts of the locomotive and retained for engineering reference.
Scope and Contents note:
202 assembly drawings of locomotives and tenders, prepared to check the clearances and major component parts of the locomotive. When work was slow, draftsmen hand-colored the drawings. They were not used in the shop but were retained for engineering reference.
Biographical/Historical note:
The Baldwin Locomotive Works was the largest and most successful locomotive building firm in the world. It was begun as a machine shop owned and operated by Matthias W. Baldwin in 1831. Baldwin turned out its first locomotive engine from its shop in Philadelphia in 1832; within a few years the company was producing two a month and employed 240 men. By 1852, 500 engines had been produced; by 1861, 1,000; and by 1868, 2,000. At that point, the company employed between 1,600-1,700 men, and was one of the very largest machine works in the nation. In 1906 Baldwin began construction of a large auxiliary plant in Philadelphia suburb of Eddystone. In 1928 the Broad Street plant was closed and all work transferred to the Eddystone Plant.
Baldwin had been forced by hard financial times to take on a series of partners between 1839 and 1846, and the firm's name changed repeatedly as a result. It was known as Baldwin, Vail & Hufty (1839-1842); Baldwin & Whitney (1842-1845); M.W. Baldwin (1846-1853); and M.W. Baldwin & Co. (1854-1866). After Baldwin's death in 1866 the firm was known as M. Baird & Co. (1867-1873); Burnham, Parry, Williams & Co. (1873-1890); Burnham, Williams & Co. (1891-1909); it was finally incorporated as the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1909.
The company's phenomenal growth ended with in the mid-1920s as the U.S. railroad industry began its long decline. Despite various mergers and acquisitions--and an increased attention to the development of diesel engines--a slow but sure decline set in. Baldwin declared bankruptcy in 1935. World War Two brought a temporary respite, but after the war the steam locomotive was obsolete and orders rapidly diminished. The Westinghouse Corporation bought Baldwin in 1948 but was unable to turn the company around. In 1950 the Lima-Hamilton Corporation and Baldwin merged but in 1956 the last of some 70,500 locomotives were produced and the company's long history came to an end.
Sources
History of the Baldwin Locomotive Works, 1831-1902
A Short History of American Locomotive Builders in the Steam Era, John H. White, (1982).
Related Archival Materials:
Archives Center #157, the Baldwin Locomotive Works Collection, consists of Engine Registers and Order Books for locomotives, 1833-1956. In addition, a six-reel microfilm edition of collection #157 is located in the NMAH Library (mfm-720).
Photographs relating to Baldwin are in the Railroad and Firefighting History Photographic Collection, Division of Work and Industry.
The DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University has a collection of 8,500 original Baldwin engineering drawings and has published three guides to their records.
Provenance:
Collection donated by H.L. Broadbelt, July 1959-November 1960.
Restrictions:
Unrestricted research use on site by appointment.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Transportation Search this
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Work and Industry Search this
Extent:
4.5 Cubic feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
ca. 1940s-1950s.
Scope and Contents:
The collection consists of approxiamtely 3,000 views of railroads, railroad equipment, stations, yards and employees. The emphasis is on American railroads, but the collection includes a few views of railroad subjects in Africa, Asia, Central and South America, Europe, Scandinavia and several island nations.
Arrangement:
1 series, arranged by railroad.
Biographical / Historical:
McBride was a foreign service officer and museum official. He was also a railroad enthusiast.
Provenance:
Collection donated by Colonel Harry A. McBride, Date Unknown
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection is open for research and access on site by appointment. Unprotected photographs must be handled with gloves.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Rolling stock utilization and financing act of 1973. Hearings before the Special Subcommittee on Freight Car Shortages of the Committee on Commerce, United States Senate, Ninety-third Congress, first session, on S. 1149 ... March 13 and 16, 1973
Author:
United States Congress Senate Committee on Commerce Special Freight Car Shortage Subcommittee Search this
Railway machinery : a treatise on the mechanical engineering of railways : embracing the principles and construction of rolling and fixed plant : illustrated by a series of plates on a large scale, and by numerous engravings on wood / by Daniel Kinnear Clark