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Hinkley Locomotive Works was a steam locomotive manufacturer based in Boston, Massachusetts in the 19th century.
The company that was to become known as Hinkley Locomotive Works got its start in Boston in 1831. Holmes Hinkley and his partner Daniel F. Child founded the Boston Machine Works and soon built the third stationary steam engine that was constructed in
''Shaw's four cylinder balanced engine''
describing a unique Hinkley product of 1881.
Hinkley Locomotive Works Shop Drawings at Baker Library Historical Collections, Harvard Business School
{{Authority control 1831 establishments in Massachusetts 1889 disestablishments in the United States Defunct locomotive manufacturers of the United States Industrial buildings and structures in Massachusetts Massachusetts in the American Civil War Defunct manufacturing companies based in Massachusetts
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 partner Daniel F. Child founded the Boston Machine Works and soon built the third stationary steam engine that was constructed in Massachusetts
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. The company's first locomotive was a 4-2-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, two powered driving wheels on one axle and no trailing wheels. This type of locomotive is often called a ...
built in 1840 that followed the roughly standard designs of the 1830s. Hinkley's early locomotives closely resembled those designed by John Souther
John Souther (March 1, 1816 – September 12, 1911) was the founder of Globe Locomotive Works, an American steam locomotive manufacturing company. In his obituary published in the Newton, Massachusetts
Newton is a city in Middlesex Cou ...
.
The company gained a reputation as a reliable and respectable locomotive builder and grew to become the largest manufacturer in New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...
within a decade. In 1848 the company reorganized as the Boston Locomotive Works and operated under that name until foreclosure due to the financial panic in 1859.
After reorganization under Jarvis Williams, the company became Hinkley, Williams and Company. Hinkley, who had been forced out in the foreclosure, returned to the company in another reorganization in 1864 as the Hinkley and Williams Locomotive Works. The company produced locomotives for the railroads of the American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
and regained some of the earlier profitability that they had enjoyed earlier in the century.
Also during the Civil War, as Hinckley, Williams and Co, fifty large cannon were forged for the US Government.
In 1872 the company was renamed to Hinkley Locomotive Works but soon fell into bankruptcy again by the end of the decade. This bankruptcy led to the 1880 reorganization as the Hinkley Locomotive Company. Orders fell off and the company was permanently closed in 1889. The only Hinkley locomotive known to be preserved is a 9-ton 0-4-0 built in 1846 as the '' Lion'' for the Machiasport Railroad of eastern Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...
. It is preserved at the Maine State Museum
The Maine State Museum is the official Maine government's museum and is located at 230 State Street, adjacent to the Maine State House, in Augusta. Its collections focus on the state's pre-history, history, and natural science.
Permanent exhib ...
in Augusta, Maine.Rivard, 1987
Another Hinkley engine still exists but not in its original form. In 1879, the Hinkley Locomotive Works built a 4-4-0 named "H. C. Hardon", and numbered 73, for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe. This engine was converted to a 2-8-0 wheel arrangement, now numbered 643, by the Santa Fe shops in 1897 and it served the Santa Fe until its retirement c1953. This engine, not currently in operating condition, is now located in the Oklahoma Railway Museum, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
References
* *External links
''Shaw's four cylinder balanced engine''
describing a unique Hinkley product of 1881.
Hinkley Locomotive Works Shop Drawings at Baker Library Historical Collections, Harvard Business School
{{Authority control 1831 establishments in Massachusetts 1889 disestablishments in the United States Defunct locomotive manufacturers of the United States Industrial buildings and structures in Massachusetts Massachusetts in the American Civil War Defunct manufacturing companies based in Massachusetts