New York Locomotive Works. Breese Kneeland and Company was a nineteenth century builder of
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 ...
engines located at
Jersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.[Hudson River Railroad
The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Mid ...]
was the first shop foreman and designer.
Locomotives
The initial products were noted for their up to the minute designs and were well received. The first two locomotives went to the Hudson River Railroad in 1853. Named the Superior and the Baltic they were very large for their time, weighing 29 tons and were fitted with 78 inch driving wheels. They also featured advanced features such as straight top boilers, front end throttles and more heating surface than most contemporary locomotives.
Reorganizations
Although the company seemingly was off to a good start the "iniquitous conduct of certain western railroad managers... buying engines on credit while they knew their companies were hopelessly insolvent..." doomed the enterprise and the financial collapse of 1857 put the company in the hands of its creditors.
The company was reorganized as the
Jersey City Locomotive Works with William Hamilton in charge, but the company again failed in 1865. James McHenry then leased the shop to build over 100 locomotives for the
broad gauge
A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways.
Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union (CIS ...
Atlantic and Great Western Railroad
The Atlantic and Great Western Railroad began as three separate railroads: the Erie and New York City Railroad based in Jamestown, New York; the Meadville Railroad based in Meadville, Pennsylvania (renamed A&GW in April 1858); and the Franklin and ...
which apparently was unable to supply its needs through commercial builders.
When McHenry's contract concluded, the works were leased to Nathaniel McKay, brother of Donald McKay, of clipper ship fame, formerly associated with locomotive builder McKay and Aldus. McKay Iron Works built general machinery, including a few locomotives, until the works closed for good in 1872.
[''American Steam Locomotive Builders'']
Production
Total locomotive production at Jersey City is estimated at about 300 under all managements. One locomotive,
El Paso & Southwestern Railroad No. 1 (formerly
Milwaukee & Mississippi Railroad
The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P), often referred to as the "Milwaukee Road" , was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwest and Northwest of the United States from 1847 until 1986.
The company experience ...
number 40), built by Breese Kneeland, is preserved at the Centennial Museum, University of Texas, El Paso.
See also
*
Rome Locomotive Works
The New York Locomotive Works, sometimes known as the Rome Locomotive Works, was a nineteenth century builder of steam locomotive engines located at Rome, New York. The company was active under various ownerships in building steam locomotives fr ...
, another company trading as New York Locomotive Works
References
Defunct locomotive manufacturers of the United States