Alfred Wolcott Gibbs was a mechanical engineer in the railroad industry who attained the position of Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Pennsylvania Railroad

Pennsylvania Railroad

The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....

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He was instrumental in the design of a number of important PRR locomotive classes, including the E6

PRR E6

Class E6 on the Pennsylvania Railroad was the final type of 4-4-2 "Atlantic" locomotive built by the railroad, and second only to the Milwaukee Road's streamlined class A in size, speed and power. Although quickly ceding the crack trains to the larger K4s Pacifics, the E6 remained a popular...

 4-4-2

4-4-2 (locomotive)

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-4-2 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and two trailing wheels on one axle...

 "Atlantic" type, the K4s

PRR K4s

The Pennsylvania Railroad's K4s 4-6-2 "Pacific" was their premier passenger-hauling steam locomotive from 1914 through the end of steam on the PRR in 1957....

 4-6-2

4-6-2

4-6-2, in the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and two trailing wheels on one axle .These locomotives are also known as Pacifics...

 "Pacific" type, and the L1s

PRR L1s

Class L1s on the Pennsylvania Railroad comprised 574 2-8-2 "Mikado" type steam locomotives constructed between 1914 and 1919 by the railroad's own Juniata Shops as well as the Baldwin Locomotive Works and the Lima Locomotive Works ....

 2-8-2

2-8-2

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-8-2 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle , eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and two trailing wheels on one axle...

 "Mikado" type.

Biography

He was born in Fort Fillmore

Fort Fillmore

Fort Fillmore was a fortification established by Col Edwin Vose Sumner in September of 1851 near Mesilla in what is now New Mexico, primarily to protect settlers and traders traveling to California. Travelers in the Westward Migration were under constant threat from Indian attack, and a network of...

 in what is now New Mexico

New Mexico

New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...

, and died of a heart attack at his home in Wayne, Pennsylvania

Wayne, Pennsylvania

Wayne is an unincorporated community located on the Main Line, centered in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. While the center of Wayne is in Radnor Township, Wayne extends into both Tredyffrin Township in Chester County and Upper Merion Township in Montgomery County...

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Alfred Gibbs was educated first at Rutgers College (1873–1874) and then at the Stevens Institute of Technology

Stevens Institute of Technology

Stevens Institute of Technology is a technological university located on a campus in Hoboken, New Jersey, USA – founded in 1870 with an 1868 bequest from Edwin A. Stevens. It is known for its engineering, science, and technological management curricula.The institute has produced leading...

 (1874–1878), graduating in Mechanical Engineering.
He joined the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1879 as an apprentice.

Gibbs was appointed General Superintendent of Motive Power of Lines East in 1903, replacing William W. Atterbury

William W. Atterbury

William Wallace Atterbury was a Brigadier General during World War I. He was instrumental in reorganizing railroad traffic during the war for more efficient transportation of troops and supplies for the American Expeditionary Forces. After the war, he became the 10th president of the...

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