Matthias Nace Forney (March 28, 1835 – January 14, 1908) was an American

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

designer and builder. He is most well known for the design of the Forney type locomotive. Locomotives that he designed served the elevated railroads of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

for many years before that system converted to electric power. One example of a Forney 0-4-4T locomotive built in 1902 by

Baldwin Locomotive Works The Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) was an American manufacturer of railroad locomotives from 1825 to 1951. Originally located in Philadelphia, it moved to nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania, in the early 20th century. The company was for decades t ...

has been restored for daily operations on the

Disneyland Railroad The Disneyland Railroad (DRR), formerly known as the Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad, is a 3-foot () narrow-gauge heritage railroad and attraction in the Disneyland theme park of the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, in the United St ...

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most p ...

, as the railroad's number 5, ''Ward Kimball''. Forney was born March 28, 1835, in

Hanover, Pennsylvania Hanover is a borough in York County, Pennsylvania, southwest of York and north-northwest of Baltimore, Maryland and is north of the Mason-Dixon line. The town is situated in a productive agricultural region. The population was 16,429 at the ...

. He apprenticed with another prominent locomotive builder,

Ross Winans Ross Winans (1796–1877) was an American inventor, mechanic, and builder of locomotives and railroad machinery. He is also noted for design of pioneering cigar-hulled ships. Winans, one of the United States' first multi-millionaires, was invol ...

, before joining the

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...

(B&O) as a

draftsman A drafter (also draughtsman / draughtswoman in British and Commonwealth English, draftsman / draftswoman or drafting technician in American and Canadian English) is an engineering technician who makes detailed technical drawings or plans for m ...

in 1855. He left the B&O in 1858, then worked for the

Illinois Central Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad in the Central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A line also co ...

from about 1861 to 1864. In that position, he patented an

0-4-4 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-4-4 represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and four trailing wheels on two axles. This type was only used ...

T locomotive that was the first of the "Forney" types of locomotives, characterized by the

truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...

(US) or

bogie A bogie ( ) (in some senses called a truck in North American English) is a chassis or framework that carries a wheelset, attached to a vehicle—a modular subassembly of wheels and axles. Bogies take various forms in various modes of transp ...

(UK) under the coal bunker/water tank. In 1865 Forney changed employers again, this time to the

Hinkley Locomotive Works Hinkley Locomotive Works was a steam locomotive manufacturer based in Boston, Massachusetts in the 19th century. History The company that was to become known as Hinkley Locomotive Works got its start in Boston in 1831. Holmes Hinkley and his pa ...

, where he stayed until 1870. At that time, he started working as an associate editor for ''

Railroad Gazette ''Railroad Gazette'' was a trade journal first published in April 1856 that focused on railroad, transportation and engineering topics. Master mechanics read and used the publication to share information about railway matters with one another. ...

'' and quickly earned a reputation as an expert in steam locomotive theory. In late 1886, he bought the rival publication ''

American Railroad Journal ''Railway Age'' is an American trade magazine for the rail transport industry. It was founded in 1856 in Chicago (the United States' major railroad hub) and is published monthly by Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation. History The magazine's ...

'', as well as '' Van Nostrand's Engineering Magazine''. He merged the two titles as '' The Railroad and Engineering Journal'', describing himself as "Editor and Proprietor". He renamed the publication '' American Engineer and Railroad Journal'' in 1893. Forney was a founding member of the

American Society of Mechanical Engineers The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is an American professional association that, in its own words, "promotes the art, science, and practice of multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences around the globe" via "continuing ...

, and he participated heavily in other engineering organizations such as the Master Car Builders Association. He died on January 14, 1908, in

New York, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Uni ...

Legacy

Forney was the author of the book ''Catechism of the Locomotive'', first published in 1873. This work is recognized as the seminal authority on steam locomotive construction in the late 19th century.CPRR Discussion Group – Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum
at cprr.org He was an editor for ''The Railroad Gazette,'' an influential weekly newspaper, for many years, including 1880 (with S. Wright Dunning). The

Forney Transportation Museum The Forney Transportation Museum is a transportation museum located in Denver, Colorado. It is named after the founder, J.D. Forney, who started Forney Industries, Inc., in Fort Collins. Collection The museum maintains a collection of approximat ...

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, has a Forney Locomotive 040-T on display. The museum was founded by Matthais Forney's second cousin J.D. Forney, founder of Forney Industries.

References

* (May 3, 2005),
Brief Biographies of Major Mechanical Engineers
'. Retrieved June 29, 2005. * Wyatt, Kyle K., Curator of History & Technology, California State Railroad Museum (March 28, 2005),

'. Retrieved June 29, 2005. * *

External links

Forney Transportation Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forney, Matthias N. 1835 births 1908 deaths People from Hanover, Pennsylvania American people in rail transportation Locomotive builders and designers American railroad mechanical engineers Forney locomotives Engineers from Pennsylvania