Baldwin Locomotive Founded

Matthias Baldwin, a Philadelphia jeweler and machinist, built his first small locomotive in 1831 as a working model for Peale's Museum in Philadelphia. The miniature engine, which hauled passengers around a short track inside the museum, drew wide attention and demonstrated Baldwin's mechanical skill. Encouraged by its success, he soon undertook a full-size locomotive, completing 'Old Ironsides' in 1832 for the Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railroad.

From these modest beginnings grew the Baldwin Locomotive Works, which became the largest and most influential locomotive builder in the United States. Over the nineteenth century the firm produced thousands of engines for railroads across the country and abroad, refining designs for greater power, reliability, and efficiency. Baldwin's enterprise helped make domestic locomotive manufacturing competitive with British producers, freeing American railroads from dependence on imported engines and contributing significantly to the rapid expansion of rail transportation throughout the century.