Builders of Confederate Locomotives

The following companies made locomotives used by Confederate railroads. (A chart shows the numbers.) Most of these companies had various legal names through the years; I have listed the one most frequently used by the railroads. The number of locomotives built is for all railroads – not just Confederate ones.   This page is heavily indebted to A Short History of American Locomotive Builders in the Steam Era, by John H. White.   Amoskeag – A Manchester, New Hampshire company that made 234 engines as a sideline to its textile equipment and machine tool business.   Baldwin Locomotive Works – A Philadelphia machine shop that had produced 1,000 locomotives by 1861.   Breese, Kneeland & Company – A Jersey City, New Jersey company that used the name New York Locomotive Works. It produced well under 300 locomotives before the war.   Burr & Ettinger – A Richmond company that produced a few engines until about 1855.   Cincinnati Locomotive Works – A Cincinnati company that produced about 150 engines before the war. It was also known as Harkness and as Moore & Richardson.   Danforth, Cooke & Company – A Paterson, New Jersey company that made about 160 engines by the start of the war.   Covington Locomotive Works – This Covington, Kentucky company produced only a handful of locomotives in the mid-1850’s.   Denmead – A Baltimore company that produced about 30 locomotives in the 1850’s as a sideline to a very successful foundry.   Hinkley – A Boston company that was officially the Boston Locomotive Works. It produced over 600 engines before being closed down by the Panic of 1857.   Kentucky Locomotive Works – A Louisville, Kentucky company that made a handful of locomotives in the 1850’s. The works were sold to the Louisville & Nashville Railroad in 1858.   Lawrence Machine Shop – A Lawrence, Massachusetts company that produced about 100 engines during the 1850’s.   Manchester Locomotive Works – A Manchester, New Hampshire company that produced about 50 machines in the 1850’s.   Mason Machine Works – This Tauton, Massachusetts textile machinery maker produced about 100 engines during the 1850’s.   Nashville Manufacturing Company – This Nashville company produced about a dozen engines during the 1850’s.   New Castle Manufacturing Company – This small New Castle, Delaware company produced about 75 engines in the 20 years before the war.   New Jersey Locomotive and Machine Company – A Paterson, New Jersey company that produced about 225 engines during the 1850’s. It was known as Swinburne & Smith in its earliest days.   Niles & Company – A small Cincinnati, Ohio maker of about 100 engines in the 1850’s.   Norris Locomotive Works – This Philadelphia locomotive builder produced 1,000 engines between 1836 and 1860. It was the dominant American producer during most of that period.   The Portland Company – Between 1848 and 1860, this Portland, Maine company built over 100 locomotives as a sideline to its other engine businesses.   Rogers Locomotive Works – This Paterson, New Jersey builder was a leader in engine improvements and productivity. Between 1837 and 1860, it produced 900 engines. Also known as Rogers, Ketchum and Grosvenor.   Schenectady Locomotive Works – After a very slow start, this Schenectady, New York company produced about 300 engines in the 1850’s.   Smith and Perkins – This Alexandria, Virginia machine shop traded as the Virginia Locomotive and Car Works. It produced about 50 locomotives during the 1850’s.   John Souther – This Boston machine shop produced about 100 locomotives during the 1850’s. From 1852-1854, John Souther also managed the locomotive shop at Richmond’s Tredegar Iron Works. Also used the name Globe Locomotive Works.   William Swinburne – This Paterson, New Jersey company was opened in 1851, after Swinburne had withdrawn from the New Jersey Locomotive & Machine Company. The new company produced 104 engines before being closed by the Panic of 1857.   Talbott and Brother Iron Works – This small Richmond company produced only a few locomotives during the 1850’s.   Tauton Locomotive and Manufacturing Company – This Tauton, Massachusetts company produced about 300 engines by 1860.   Tredegar Iron Works – A Richmond company that produced about 70 locomotives between 1850 and 1860. Its work is sometimes listed with combinations of the names Anderson (from Joseph R. Anderson, the manager), Souther, Delaney, and Pickering.   Uriah Wells – A Petersburg, Virginia operator of two foundries and machine shops. He built about 20 locomotives during the 1850’s. Also called the Appomattox Locomotive Works.   Seth Wilmarth – A Boston builder of locomotives from 1848 till 1855.