The Brooks Locomotive Works manufactured steam railroad locomotive

Locomotive

A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...

s and freight cars from 1869 through its merger into the American Locomotive Company

American Locomotive Company

The American Locomotive Company, often shortened to ALCO or Alco , was a builder of railroad locomotives in the United States.-Early history:...

 until 1934.

History

When the New York and Erie Railroad (NY&E) relocated its shops facilities from Dunkirk, New York, to Buffalo

Buffalo, New York

Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...

 in 1869, Dunkirk lost its largest employer. Coming to the city's rescue was Horatio G. Brooks

Horatio G. Brooks

Horatio G. Brooks worked as chief engineer for the New York and Erie Railroad until the railroad moved its steam locomotive maintenance facilities from Dunkirk, New York, to Buffalo, New York. In 1869 he leased the former NY&E shops in Dunkirk and formed Brooks Locomotive Works...

 (1828–1887), the former chief engineer of the NY&E who was at the controls of the first train into Dunkirk in 1851. In 1869, Brooks leased the Dunkirk shops facility from the NY&E and formed the Brooks Locomotive Works. The new company officially opened on November 11, 1869. The company's first steam locomotive is completed the following month as part of an order for the NY&E, the company's first customer.

Within a couple of years of its opening, Brooks was producing as many as seven new locomotives per month, compared to one per month while the facility was controlled by the NY&E. Brooks built locomotives for nearly all of the major railroads of the time, producing 37 new locomotives in its first year and 43 new locomotives in its second year of operations.

After the financial crisis of 1873, orders for new equipment dropped off, but Brooks was able to recover enough business to avoid bankruptcy

Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....

. Brooks locomotives were displayed a few years later at the National Railway Appliance Exhibition in Chicago, where they were judged the Best in Show.
The 1890s brought another period of depressed sales following another financial crisis. The company produced 226 new locomotives in 1891, but only 90 new locomotives in 1894. Brooks was not able to recover business as easily and the company was merged with several other manufacturers in 1901 to form the American Locomotive Company

American Locomotive Company

The American Locomotive Company, often shortened to ALCO or Alco , was a builder of railroad locomotives in the United States.-Early history:...

. ALCO produced locomotives at this facility until 1934 when the shop was renamed ALCO Thermal Products Division. Locomotives produced at the former Brooks plant after ALCO's formation came to be known as ALCO-Brooks locomotives.

Although new locomotives were no longer being produced at the former Brooks shops in Dunkirk, shop forces were kept busy for some time building spare parts for ALCO locomotives. Production had shifted from locomotives to heat exchangers, high-pressure vessels and pipes of all sizes.

After World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, production at the Dunkirk plant never got back to its prewar levels. ALCO finally closed the facility in 1962.

Timeline

• November 11, 1869: Horatio Brooks leases the shops facility in Dunkirk and officially opens the Brooks Locomotive Works
• 1883: Brooks locomotives are named the Best in Show locomotives at the National Railway Appliance Exhibition in Chicago.
• February 22, 1884: Brooks completes its 1,000th new locomotive.
• November 30, 1891: Brooks completes its 2,000th new locomotive.
• July 23, 1898: Brooks completes its 3,000th new locomotive.
• 1901: Brooks and several other locomotive manufacturers are merged into the American Locomotive Company
  American Locomotive Company
  The American Locomotive Company, often shortened to ALCO or Alco , was a builder of railroad locomotives in the United States.-Early history:...
  
  
• 1934: New locomotive construction at the Brooks plant ends as the plant is renamed ALCO Thermal Products Division.
• 1962: ALCO closes the former Brooks plant in Dunkirk, laying off the remaining 750 laborers at the facility.

Preserved Brooks locomotives

Brooks Locomotive Works sold locomotives to all of the major railroads of the late 19th century. Following is a partial list (in serial number order) of Brooks-built locomotives that have been spared the scrapper's torch.

Serial number	Wheel arrangement (Whyte notation Whyte notation The Whyte notation for classifying steam locomotives by wheel arrangement was devised by Frederick Methvan Whyte and came into use in the early twentieth century encouraged by an editorial in American Engineer and Railroad Journal... )	Build date	Operational owner(s)	Disposition
494	2-6-0 2-6-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-6-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels. This arrangement is commonly called a Mogul...	January 1881	Utah and Northern Railway Utah and Northern Railway The Utah and Northern Railway is a defunct railroad that was operated in the Utah Territory and later in the Idaho Territory and Montana Territory in the western United States during the 1870s and 1880s. It was the first railroad in Idaho and in Montana....  #23, then #80; Pacific and Arctic Railway and Navigation Company #51	Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada
522	2-6-0 2-6-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-6-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels. This arrangement is commonly called a Mogul...	April 1881	Klondike Mines Railroad #1	Minto Park, Dawson City, Yukon Territory, Canada
567	2-6-0 2-6-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-6-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels. This arrangement is commonly called a Mogul...	August 1881	Utah and Northern Railway Utah and Northern Railway The Utah and Northern Railway is a defunct railroad that was operated in the Utah Territory and later in the Idaho Territory and Montana Territory in the western United States during the 1870s and 1880s. It was the first railroad in Idaho and in Montana....  #37, then #94, White Pass and Yukon Route White Pass and Yukon Route The White Pass and Yukon Route is a Canadian and U.S. Class II narrow gauge railroad linking the port of Skagway, Alaska, with Whitehorse, the capital of Yukon. An isolated system, it has no direct connection to any other railroad. Equipment, freight and passengers are ferried by ship through the...  #52	Skagway, Alaska
1535	2-6-0 2-6-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-6-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels. This arrangement is commonly called a Mogul...	May 1889	Quincy and Torch Lake Railroad #1 Thomas F. Mason	Quincy Mine, Hancock, Michigan
2475	2-6-0 2-6-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-6-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels. This arrangement is commonly called a Mogul...	October 1894	Quincy and Torch Lake Railroad #3	Huckleberry Railroad, Flint, Michigan
2779	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...	1897	Bisai Railway #1, Nagoya Railroad Nagoya Railroad , often abbreviated as , is a railroad company operating around Aichi Prefecture and Gifu Prefecture of Japan.Some of the more famous trains operated by Nagoya Railroad include the Panorama Car and the Panorama Car Super, both of which offer views through their wide front windows...  #1	Museum Meiji-mura, Inuyama, Aichi, Japan
2951	2-8-0 2-8-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-8-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle , eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels...	June 1898	Colorado and Southern Railway Colorado and Southern Railway The Colorado and Southern Railway was a railroad company in the western United States that operated independently from 1898 to 1908, then as part of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad until it was absorbed into the Burlington Northern Railroad in 1981.The railway began as the...  #74, Rio Grande Southern Railroad Rio Grande Southern Railroad The Rio Grande Southern Railroad was a narrow gauge railroad which ran from Durango to Ridgway in the western part of the US state of Colorado...  #74	Central Park, Boulder, Colorado
3687	4-6-0 4-6-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-6-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels. This wheel arrangement became the second-most popular...	November 1900	Wisconsin Central Railway Wisconsin Central Railway The original Wisconsin Central Railroad Company was established by an act of the Wisconsin State Legislature and incorporated in February 1871. It built track throughout Wisconsin, connecting to neighboring states, before being leased to Northern Pacific Railway between 1889–1893...  #247, to Soo Line Railroad Soo Line Railroad The Soo Line Railroad is the primary United States railroad subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway , controlled through the Soo Line Corporation, and one of seven U.S. Class I railroads. Although it is named for the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste...  #2645	Mid-Continent Railway Museum Mid-Continent Railway Museum The Mid-Continent Railway Museum is a railroad museum in North Freedom, Wisconsin.-Collection:Three steam locomotives are currently under restoration to federal guidelines. The museum has 14 steam and 6 diesel locomotives including Chicago & North Western # 1385 and over 100 other pieces of... , North Freedom, Wisconsin
3697	2-6-0 2-6-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-6-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels. This arrangement is commonly called a Mogul...	December 1900	Illinois Central Railroad Illinois Central Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, is a railroad in the central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois with New Orleans, Louisiana and Birmingham, Alabama. A line also connected Chicago with Sioux City, Iowa...  #3706	Illinois Railway Museum Illinois Railway Museum The Illinois Railway Museum is the largest railroad museum in the United States and is located in Union, Illinois, northwest of Chicago... , Union, Illinois