Norris Locomotive Works
Encyclopedia
The Norris Locomotive Works was a steam locomotive
manufacturing company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
, that produced about a thousand railroad engines between 1832 and 1866. It was the dominant American
locomotive producer during most of that period, and even sold its popular 4-2-0
engines to European railways. The firm's factory complex was located in the area around 17th and Hamilton Streets on several acres of what had once been the famous Bush Hill estate of Andrew Hamilton
. The site was near the right-of-way of the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad, which crossed through that part of Philadelphia just north of Callowhill Street. (This route was later owned by the Reading Railroad.)
(1802-1867) and Major Stephen H. Long
(1784-1864), a military topographical engineer
and explorer. The two men had experimented with steam engine building for years and as early as 1829 had designed a locomotive to burn anthracite coal
. Norris and Long also built an engine called the Black Hawk, which performed with partial success on the Boston and Providence Railroad and the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad in the early 1830s. Major Long later left the firm and William Norris was joined by his brother Septimus
, who patented several locomotive-related inventions. The two brothers reformed the enterprise into the Norris Locomotive Works.
for 2,805 feet towards present-day Belmont Avenue, rising one foot in 15 for a total of 187 feet.) Named George Washington, the 14,400 pound engine hauled a load of 19,200 pounds (including 24 people riding on the tender and a freight car) up the grade at 15 miles per hour. This engine, the first in the world to ascend a hill by its own power, proved that a steam locomotive could climb a grade while pulling a load. So remarkable was this accomplishment that reports published in engineering journals emphatically doubted its occurrence. A second, more formal trial with an even greater load proved the engine's capabilities on July 19, 1836.
Norris built the Lafayette for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
the following year. Named after the Revolutionary War hero Marquis de Lafayette, this 4-2-0 engine was the world's first locomotive to feature a leading truck and may have been the first standardized production model locomotive. Innovations included the positioning of cylinder
s ahead of the smokebox
and the four-wheel swiveling pilot truck
. The Lafayette established the configuration that steam locomotives would follow until the end of the steam era.
In 1847, the Norris Works built the first ten-wheel locomotive in America: the Chesapeake. Operated by the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, this was also the world's first 4-6-0
locomotive. It weighed 22 tons and had 14½ by 22 inch cylinders and driving wheel
s 46 inches in diameter. Initially a wood-burning locomotive, the Chesapeake was converted to burn anthracite coal in 1862, and ran for about another fifteen years. Some authorities claim that Septimus Norris came up with the design, but other sources attribute it to master builder John Brandt of the Erie Railway.
There were nine Norris brothers altogether, with six of them having been involved in locomotive building at some point. William Norris' enterprise was renamed Norris Brothers when brothers Richard and Octavius joined it in 1844 during a period of financial distress and reorganization that included William's gradual departure from the business. The firm later became Richard Norris and Son. Other locomotive factories, operated independently (and unsuccessfully) by various Norris brothers later opened in Lancaster, Pennsylvania
, and Schenectady, New York
.
The Norris Locomotive Works sold many locomotives overseas, as noted above. Indeed, this company was the first American exporter of locomotives—and perhaps of large mechanical devices generally. As early as 1840, thirty percent of the firm's production until then had been for foreign markets. Norris machines operated in England
, France
, the states of the German Confederation
(including Prussia
, Austria
and Saxony
), Belgium
, Italy
, Canada
, Cuba
and South America
. (The Copiapó, built in 1850 for Chilean Railroad, was the first locomotive in all of South America.) These engines influenced contemporary and subsequent locomotive design in many of these countries.
Furthermore, William Norris had several large-scale operating models constructed as presentation pieces to rulers of several nations. These sovereigns included Tsar Nicholas
of Russia
and King Louis-Philippe of France
, whose pleasure with the model he received was so great that he gave Norris a gold medal and a handsome gold box. A quarter-sized 4-4-0
locomotive and tender were built for Commodore Matthew C. Perry to deliver as a gift on his second expedition to Japan
in 1854. A small circular railway—which also included a miniature passenger car made by another manufacturer and a mile of track—was set up near Yokohama. The Japanese were soon treated to the first train ride available in the Far East
!
. The firm reached its peak in 1857-58, after which time, the Norris family seems to have lost interest in the business. Manufacturing quality and output fell during the Civil War
and the plant closed in 1866, although deliveries continued for a year or two.
The property lay idle until the adjacent Baldwin Locomotive Works
(which had surpassed Norris as the largest locomotive builder in America) acquired the site in 1873. The Norris buildings stood until 1896 when part of the property was cleared for construction of the third United States Mint
in Philadelphia. (Still standing, that building is now part of the Community College of Philadelphia.) Today, there is no trace of either the Norris or Baldwin factories in that part of downtown Philadelphia.
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 company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
, that produced about a thousand railroad engines between 1832 and 1866. It was the dominant American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
locomotive producer during most of that period, and even sold its popular 4-2-0
4-2-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-2-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, two powered and coupled driving wheels on one axle, and no trailing wheels...
engines to European railways. The firm's factory complex was located in the area around 17th and Hamilton Streets on several acres of what had once been the famous Bush Hill estate of Andrew Hamilton
Andrew Hamilton (lawyer)
Andrew Hamilton was a Scottish lawyer in Colonial America, best known for his legal victory on behalf of printer and newspaper publisher John Peter Zenger. This 1735 decision helped to establish that truth is a defense to an accusation of libel...
. The site was near the right-of-way of the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad, which crossed through that part of Philadelphia just north of Callowhill Street. (This route was later owned by the Reading Railroad.)
Origin
The company was more or less started in 1832 as the American Steam Carriage Company by William NorrisWilliam Norris (locomotive builder)
William Norris was an American steam locomotive builder. He founded the Norris Locomotive Works and through this company pioneered the use of the 4-2-0 locomotive type in America during the 1840s....
(1802-1867) and Major Stephen H. Long
Stephen Harriman Long
Stephen Harriman Long was a U.S. army explorer, topographical engineer, and railway engineer. As an inventor, he is noted for his developments in the design of steam locomotives. He was also one of the most prolific explorers of the early 1800s, although his career as an explorer was relatively...
(1784-1864), a military topographical engineer
Corps of Topographical Engineers
The U.S. Army Corps of Topographical Engineers, was separately authorized on 4 July 1838, consisted only of officers, and was used for mapping and the design and construction of federal civil works such as lighthouses and other coastal fortifications and navigational routes. It included such...
and explorer. The two men had experimented with steam engine building for years and as early as 1829 had designed a locomotive to burn anthracite coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
. Norris and Long also built an engine called the Black Hawk, which performed with partial success on the Boston and Providence Railroad and the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad in the early 1830s. Major Long later left the firm and William Norris was joined by his brother Septimus
Septimus Norris
Septimus Norris was an American mechanical engineer and steam locomotive designer. He was the youngest of three brothers all active in the field — his eldest brother William Norris founded the Norris Locomotive Works of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Richard Norris took over the firm in about...
, who patented several locomotive-related inventions. The two brothers reformed the enterprise into the Norris Locomotive Works.
Growth and success
One of the most historic events in railroading history occurred on July 10, 1836, when the Norris Brothers ran a test of a 4-2-0 locomotive on the Belmont Inclined Plane of the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad. (The two-track incline ran from the Schuylkill RiverSchuylkill River
The Schuylkill River is a river in Pennsylvania. It is a designated Pennsylvania Scenic River.The river is about long. Its watershed of about lies entirely within the state of Pennsylvania. The source of its eastern branch is in the Appalachian Mountains at Tuscarora Springs, near Tamaqua in...
for 2,805 feet towards present-day Belmont Avenue, rising one foot in 15 for a total of 187 feet.) Named George Washington, the 14,400 pound engine hauled a load of 19,200 pounds (including 24 people riding on the tender and a freight car) up the grade at 15 miles per hour. This engine, the first in the world to ascend a hill by its own power, proved that a steam locomotive could climb a grade while pulling a load. So remarkable was this accomplishment that reports published in engineering journals emphatically doubted its occurrence. A second, more formal trial with an even greater load proved the engine's capabilities on July 19, 1836.
Norris built the Lafayette for 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 following year. Named after the Revolutionary War hero Marquis de Lafayette, this 4-2-0 engine was the world's first locomotive to feature a leading truck and may have been the first standardized production model locomotive. Innovations included the positioning of cylinder
Cylinder (engine)
A cylinder is the central working part of a reciprocating engine or pump, the space in which a piston travels. Multiple cylinders are commonly arranged side by side in a bank, or engine block, which is typically cast from aluminum or cast iron before receiving precision machine work...
s ahead of the smokebox
Smokebox
A smokebox is one of the major basic parts of a Steam locomotive exhaust system. Smoke and hot gases pass from the firebox through tubes where they pass heat to the surrounding water in the boiler. The smoke then enters the smokebox, and is exhausted to the atmosphere through the chimney .To assist...
and the four-wheel swiveling pilot truck
Bogie
A bogie is a wheeled wagon or trolley. In mechanics terms, a bogie is a chassis or framework carrying wheels, attached to a vehicle. It can be fixed in place, as on a cargo truck, mounted on a swivel, as on a railway carriage/car or locomotive, or sprung as in the suspension of a caterpillar...
. The Lafayette established the configuration that steam locomotives would follow until the end of the steam era.
In 1847, the Norris Works built the first ten-wheel locomotive in America: the Chesapeake. Operated by the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, this was also the world's first 4-6-0
4-6-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-6-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels. This wheel arrangement became the second-most popular...
locomotive. It weighed 22 tons and had 14½ by 22 inch cylinders and driving wheel
Driving wheel
On a steam locomotive, a driving wheel is a powered wheel which is driven by the locomotive's pistons...
s 46 inches in diameter. Initially a wood-burning locomotive, the Chesapeake was converted to burn anthracite coal in 1862, and ran for about another fifteen years. Some authorities claim that Septimus Norris came up with the design, but other sources attribute it to master builder John Brandt of the Erie Railway.
There were nine Norris brothers altogether, with six of them having been involved in locomotive building at some point. William Norris' enterprise was renamed Norris Brothers when brothers Richard and Octavius joined it in 1844 during a period of financial distress and reorganization that included William's gradual departure from the business. The firm later became Richard Norris and Son. Other locomotive factories, operated independently (and unsuccessfully) by various Norris brothers later opened in Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster is a city in the south-central part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the county seat of Lancaster County and one of the older inland cities in the United States, . With a population of 59,322, it ranks eighth in population among Pennsylvania's cities...
, and Schenectady, New York
Schenectady, New York
Schenectady is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 66,135...
.
The Norris Locomotive Works sold many locomotives overseas, as noted above. Indeed, this company was the first American exporter of locomotives—and perhaps of large mechanical devices generally. As early as 1840, thirty percent of the firm's production until then had been for foreign markets. Norris machines operated in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, the states of the German Confederation
German Confederation
The German Confederation was the loose association of Central European states created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to coordinate the economies of separate German-speaking countries. It acted as a buffer between the powerful states of Austria and Prussia...
(including Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
and Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
), Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
and South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
. (The Copiapó, built in 1850 for Chilean Railroad, was the first locomotive in all of South America.) These engines influenced contemporary and subsequent locomotive design in many of these countries.
Furthermore, William Norris had several large-scale operating models constructed as presentation pieces to rulers of several nations. These sovereigns included Tsar Nicholas
Nicholas I of Russia
Nicholas I , was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855, known as one of the most reactionary of the Russian monarchs. On the eve of his death, the Russian Empire reached its historical zenith spanning over 20 million square kilometers...
of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and King Louis-Philippe of France
Louis-Philippe of France
Louis Philippe I was King of the French from 1830 to 1848 in what was known as the July Monarchy. His father was a duke who supported the French Revolution but was nevertheless guillotined. Louis Philippe fled France as a young man and spent 21 years in exile, including considerable time in the...
, whose pleasure with the model he received was so great that he gave Norris a gold medal and a handsome gold box. A quarter-sized 4-4-0
4-4-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-4-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and no trailing wheels...
locomotive and tender were built for Commodore Matthew C. Perry to deliver as a gift on his second expedition to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
in 1854. A small circular railway—which also included a miniature passenger car made by another manufacturer and a mile of track—was set up near Yokohama. The Japanese were soon treated to the first train ride available in the Far East
Far East
The Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...
!
Demise
Richard Norris and Son was the largest locomotive maker in the United States, if not the world, during the 1850s. Employing many hundreds of men, the factory consisted of some ten buildings spread over several city blocks at what is now the campus of the Community College of PhiladelphiaCommunity College of Philadelphia
The Community College of Philadelphia is a community college in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The main campus is located at 1700 Spring Garden Street in a building that was the former Philadelphia Mint...
. The firm reached its peak in 1857-58, after which time, the Norris family seems to have lost interest in the business. Manufacturing quality and output fell during the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
and the plant closed in 1866, although deliveries continued for a year or two.
The property lay idle until the adjacent Baldwin Locomotive Works
Baldwin Locomotive Works
The Baldwin Locomotive Works was an American builder of railroad locomotives. It was located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, originally, and later in nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania. Although the company was very successful as a producer of steam locomotives, its transition to the production of...
(which had surpassed Norris as the largest locomotive builder in America) acquired the site in 1873. The Norris buildings stood until 1896 when part of the property was cleared for construction of the third United States Mint
Philadelphia Mint
The Philadelphia Mint was created from the need to establish a national identity and the needs of commerce in the United States. This led the Founding Fathers of the United States to make an establishment of a continental national mint a main priority after the ratification of the Constitution of...
in Philadelphia. (Still standing, that building is now part of the Community College of Philadelphia.) Today, there is no trace of either the Norris or Baldwin factories in that part of downtown Philadelphia.