Richmond Locomotive Works
Encyclopedia
Richmond Locomotive Works was a steam locomotive
manufacturing firm located in Richmond, Virginia
. It began operation in 1887 and produced approximately 4,500 engines during its 40 years of operation. The Richmond Locomotive Works was the largest and most significant manufacturers of locomotives in Virginia.
The Richmond Locomotive Works grew out of Tredegar Iron Works
to become a nationally known manufacturer of steam locomotive engines and an integral part of the industrial landscape of the city of Richmond. The engines it produced were shipped across America, as well as several countries in Europe, Asia and the South Pacific.
Most Richmond Locomotive engines were sold to Southern carriers. Many were sold to Virginia lines, including Richmond City Railway, as well as the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad
, the Richmond and Danville Railroad
and the Seaboard Air Line. Other buyers included the Louisville and Nashville Railroad
; the Louisville Southern Railway; the Wilmington, Onslow and East Carolina Railroad
; the Raleigh and Cape Fear Railway; the Nashville and Tellico Railroad; the Atlanta and Florida Railroad
; the Georgia Pacific Railway
; the Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad
; the Savannah, Americus and Montgomery Railway
; the Southern Railroad; the New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad
; the Mississippi River and Bonne Terre Railway; the Vicksburg, Shreveport and Pacific Railroad; and the Little Rock and Hot Spring Western Railroad. Richmond locomotives were delivered as far away as the Southwestern Arkansas and Indian Territory Railroad
and the Alameda and San Joaquin Railroad
.
Richmond locomotives also had a significant market in the Midwest and West as well. Midwestern purchasers included the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway
; the Cincinnati, Richmond and Muncie Railroad; the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
; the Wabash Railroad
; the Chicago Great Western Railway
; the Brainerd and Northern Minnesota Railway; the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway
; and the Chicago and Western Indiana Railroad
. The Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad purchased several trains, including two specifically constructed for carrying passengers to the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair
. Trains from the Richmond works reached even further west, as locomotives were sold to the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe; the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway
; the Rio Grande and Western Railroad; the San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad
; and the California and Northeastern Railway.
(ALCO). Locomotive production at Richmond Locomotive Works ceased in September 1927.
unless otherwise noted.
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
manufacturing firm located in Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
. It began operation in 1887 and produced approximately 4,500 engines during its 40 years of operation. The Richmond Locomotive Works was the largest and most significant manufacturers of locomotives in Virginia.
History
Tredegar Iron Works
The Tredegar Iron Works was a historic iron foundry in Richmond, Virginia, United States of America, opened in 1837. During the American Civil War, the works served as the primary iron and artillery production facility of the Confederate States of America...
to become a nationally known manufacturer of steam locomotive engines and an integral part of the industrial landscape of the city of Richmond. The engines it produced were shipped across America, as well as several countries in Europe, Asia and the South Pacific.
Most Richmond Locomotive engines were sold to Southern carriers. Many were sold to Virginia lines, including Richmond City Railway, as well as the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad
Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad
The Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad was a railroad connecting Richmond, Virginia, to Washington, D.C. It is now a portion of the CSX Transportation system....
, the Richmond and Danville Railroad
Richmond and Danville Railroad
The Richmond and Danville Railroad was chartered in Virginia in the United States in 1847. The portion between Richmond and Danville, Virginia was completed in 1856...
and the Seaboard Air Line. Other buyers included the Louisville and Nashville Railroad
Louisville and Nashville Railroad
The Louisville and Nashville Railroad was a Class I railroad that operated freight and passenger services in the southeast United States.Chartered by the state of Kentucky in 1850, the L&N, as it was generally known, grew into one of the great success stories of American business...
; the Louisville Southern Railway; the Wilmington, Onslow and East Carolina Railroad
Wilmington, Onslow and East Carolina Railroad
The Wilmington, Onslow and East Carolina Railroad was incorporated by the North Carolina General Assembly in 1885 and existed until 1893, when it was merged into the Wilmington, Newbern and Norfolk Railroad. It eventually became part of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad....
; the Raleigh and Cape Fear Railway; the Nashville and Tellico Railroad; the Atlanta and Florida Railroad
Atlanta and Florida Railroad
In July 1886, the Atlanta and Florida Railway was chartered as the Atlanta and Hawkinsville Railroad to connect Atlanta, Georgia and Hawkinsville, Georgia. The Atlanta and Florida Railroad name was instituted in 1887 and the railroad began operation in November 1888, running 105 miles from Atlanta...
; the Georgia Pacific Railway
Georgia Pacific Railway
The Georgia Pacific Railway was chartered on December 31, 1881, consolidating the Georgia Western Railroad and the Georgia Pacific Railroad Company of Alabama. Constructed between 1882 and 1889, the Georgia Pacific connected Atlanta, Georgia, and Greenville, Mississippi...
; the Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad
Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad
The Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad was the final name of a system of railroads throughout Florida, becoming part of the Seaboard Air Line Railway in 1900...
; the Savannah, Americus and Montgomery Railway
Savannah, Americus and Montgomery Railway
The Savannah, Americus and Montgomery Railway was a historic narrow gauge railroad located in the U.S. states of Georgia and Alabama.It was founded in 1888 to take over operations from the Americus, Preston and Lumpkin Railroad which ran from Louvale to Abbeville...
; the Southern Railroad; the New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad
New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad
The New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad was a Class I railroad in Louisiana and Mississippi in the United States. The railroad operated of track from its completion in 1883 until it was absorbed by the Alabama Great Southern Railroad subsidiary of the Southern Railway in 1969.- History :The...
; the Mississippi River and Bonne Terre Railway; the Vicksburg, Shreveport and Pacific Railroad; and the Little Rock and Hot Spring Western Railroad. Richmond locomotives were delivered as far away as the Southwestern Arkansas and Indian Territory Railroad
Southwestern Arkansas and Indian Territory Railroad
The Southwestern Arkansas and Indian Territory Railroad was begun in the mid-1880s. The three-foot line opened a 10-mile extension between Smithton and Hebron in July 1887...
and the Alameda and San Joaquin Railroad
Alameda and San Joaquin Railroad
The Alameda and San Joaquin Railroad was incorporated on May 1, 1895 to serve the coal mines of the San Francisco & San Joaquin Coal Company at Corral Hollow. The line ran from Tesla to Carbona just south of Tracy and then up to Lathrop and Stockton. The line was constructed in 1895...
.
Richmond locomotives also had a significant market in the Midwest and West as well. Midwestern purchasers included the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway
Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway
The Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway, also known as the Big Four Railroad and commonly abbreviated CCC&StL, was a railroad company in the Midwestern United States....
; the Cincinnati, Richmond and Muncie Railroad; the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was one of the oldest railroads in the United States and the first common carrier railroad. It came into being mostly because the city of Baltimore wanted to compete with the newly constructed Erie Canal and another canal being proposed by Pennsylvania, which...
; the Wabash Railroad
Wabash Railroad
The Wabash Railroad was a Class I railroad that operated in the mid-central United States. It served a large area, including trackage in the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri and Ontario. Its primary connections included Chicago, Illinois, Kansas City, Missouri, Detroit,...
; the Chicago Great Western Railway
Chicago Great Western Railway
The Chicago Great Western Railway was a Class I railroad that linked Chicago, Minneapolis, Omaha, and Kansas City. It was founded by Alpheus Beede Stickney in 1885 as a regional line between St. Paul and the Iowa state line called the Minnesota and Northwestern Railroad...
; the Brainerd and Northern Minnesota Railway; the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway
Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway
The Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway is a Class II railroad that operates in the suburbs surrounding Chicago. The railroad is a link between Class I railroads in northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana...
; and the Chicago and Western Indiana Railroad
Chicago and Western Indiana Railroad
The Chicago and Western Indiana Railroad was the owner of Dearborn Station in Chicago and the trackage leading to it. It was owned equally by five of the railroads using it to reach the terminal, and kept those companies from needing their own lines into the city...
. The Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad purchased several trains, including two specifically constructed for carrying passengers to the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair
World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. Chicago bested New York City; Washington, D.C.; and St...
. Trains from the Richmond works reached even further west, as locomotives were sold to the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe; the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway
Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway
The Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway was a railroad founded in Seattle, Washington, on April 28, 1885, with three tiers of purposes: Build and run the initial line to the town of Ballard, bring immediate results and returns to investors; exploit resources east in the valleys, foothills,...
; the Rio Grande and Western Railroad; the San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad
San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad
San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad provided the first extensive standard gauge rail service to Sonoma County and became the southern end of the regional Northwestern Pacific Railroad...
; and the California and Northeastern Railway.
Sale
In 1901, the Richmond Locomotive Works was purchased by Joseph Leiter for $3 million. At the time, the company employed about 1,600 workers and was producing two locomotives a day.Merger
Later that year, Richmond and seven other manufacturing companies merged to form American Locomotive CompanyAmerican 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). Locomotive production at Richmond Locomotive Works ceased in September 1927.
Preserved Richmond locomotives
The following locomotives (in serial number order) built by Richmond before the ALCO merger have been preserved. All locations are in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
unless otherwise noted.
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2957 | 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... |
1900 | Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often abbreviated as Santa Fe, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The company was first chartered in February 1859... #769 |
Madrid, New Mexico Madrid, New Mexico Madrid is a census-designated place in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, United States. It is part of the Santa Fe, New Mexico Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 149 at the 2000 census. Today Madrid has become an artists community with galleries lining Route 14... |
| ____ | 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... |
1926 | Southern Railway 1401 Southern Railway 1401 Southern Railway 1401 is a steam locomotive that is the sole survivor of Southern Railway's Ps-4 class. Today it is on permanent display at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.. It has a Pacific-type or 4-6-2 wheel arrangement and was built in 1926 by the American Locomotive Company at... |
Smithsonian Institution Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines... , Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution.... |
| H2-293 | 4-6-0 | 1900 | Suomen Valtion Rautatiet (Finnish railroads) | Finlyandsky Rail Terminal, Saint-Petersburg, Russia |