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Cincinnati Locomotive Builders 1845-1868 John White HARD COVER
Cincinnati Locomotive Builders 1845-1868 By John White SOME wear on the cover
HARD COVER
Copyright 1965
167 Pages Indexed
Contents
Prefacevii
1. Toward the Industrial Millennium3
2. Anthony Harkness and the Cincinnati Locomotive Works9
3. George Escol Sellers' Grade-Climbing Locomotive47
4. Niles & Company91
5. The Covington Locomotive Works117
Appendix
1. Two 1856 accounts of the Cincinnati Locomotive Works125
2. Excerpt from Trips in the Life of a Locomotive Engineer131
3. Excerpt describing Whetstone's radial valve gear135
4. Two 1856 accounts of Niles & Company locomotives137
5. 1856 article comparing performances of passenger
engines operated by the Cincinnati, Hamilton, and
Dayton Railroad145
6. List of Locomotives Built in Cincinnati 1845-1868147
Bibliography161
Index163
Preface
Although several detailed studies and numerous articles on eastern locomotive builders have been prepared, the early mid-western builders have been largely neglected. To many who profess an interest in locomotive history, their very existence is virtually unknown.
The history of the Cincinnati builders might well be viewed as a case study of the industry as practiced west of the Alleghenies before the Civil War. Surely, a better example would be hard to find. Except, perhaps, for McClurg, Wade & Company of Pittsburgh (a firm which built only five locomotives in the late 183o's and dropped this line of work for more profitable business), Cincinnati firms were the area's earliest commercial producers of locomotive engines. The Cincinnati shops, although largely imitators of eastern machines, introduced certain mechanical improvements. Their products, an estimated 5oo engines, were to be found on lines from Panama to the western United States and were respected as more than cheap machines hastily fabricated to capture a temporary local market.
The Cincinnati Locomotive Works (Moore & Richardson) alone survived the Panic of 1857, which closed the early locomotive industry in the Midwest. The industry was not revived until the Pittsburgh (1867) and Lima (1879) shops opened after the Civil War. In Cincinnati itself, there is little question that locomotive building ceased entirely once Robert Moore closed his shop in 1868. An attempt in I890 to establish a works for the construction of the Strong patent locomotive was unsuccessful.
Still, traces of its locomotive industry are not entirely absent in present-day Cincinnati. In December 1961 I visited Cincinnati in search of any remains of the Niles or Harkness plants. No trace of the former could be found; however, at 506 East Front Street stands an antique brick structure now occupied by the Reliance Foundry Company. While I could not say with complete assurance that the building is the original Harkness foundry, its general appearance is nearly identical to the building shown in the 1848 daguerrotype (fig. 8). 1 was told by an officer of the Reliance firm that the present company took over the works in about 1921 and that two foundries had previously occupied the same buildings. To the best of his knowledge the buildings had always been a foundry. Apparently, then, a foundry business has been in continuous or nearly continuous operation on this site since Anthony Harkness opened his firm in 1828.
The preparation of the history of technological subjects is frequently made difficult by the fragmentary and often contradictory information available. Rarely do the records of engineers or commercial enterprises survive. This is certainly the case with the Cincinnati locomotive industry. Although I was able to find a surprising amount of manuscript material, it was necessary to depend, in greater degree than is desirable, on newspapers and the technical press. There was little choice, however, since the companies involved have been out of business for nearly a century and their records lost or destroyed many years ago.
This work would have been impossible without the encouragement and assistance of a number of persons. My first thanks must go to Thomas Norrell, whose precise and wide knowledge of locomotive builders was invaluable in the preparation of this study. Others who generously provided information or illustrations were Harry Eddy and John McCloud of the Bureau of Railway Economics Library; Mrs. Alice P. Hook of the Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio; Charles E. Fisher of the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society; and L. W. Sagle and M. I) Thornburg of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. My thanks also to the following institutions and their staffs: Cincinnati Public Library, Connecticut Historical Society, Ohio Historical Society, American Philosophical
Society, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and the Covington Public Library Mrs. Richard T. Keys kindly furnished the invaluable William Harkness letters, and Mr. and Mrs. Robert L. Moore contributed much useful data on Moore & Richardson. A word of thanks to my former colleague Eugene S. Ferguson for directing me to the Peale-Sellers papers For their care and interest in preparing the manuscript my thanks to Mary E. Braunagel and Lillian Edwards. Final appreciation is due John S. Lea, Robert C. Reed, Margaret A. Pabst, Thomas C. Witherspoon, and Louise Heskett for their patient and meticulous editing, which did so much to clarify and reform this study.
The inspiration for this study ultimately rests with my parents, John and Christine White, whose high regard for their native city stimulated my interest in the industrial beginnings of Cincinnati.
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