Richmond Locomotive Works was a

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, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

manufacturing firm located in

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

. It began operation in 1887, and produced upward of 4,500 engines during its 40 years of operation.Steam Locomotive Builders, American Locomotive Company
/ref> The Richmond Locomotive Works was the largest and most significant manufacturer of locomotives in Virginia during its years of production.U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, Richmond Locomotive and Machine Works, March 15, 2007
/ref> Its only contemporary in Virginia was the

Roanoke Shops 250px, The Roanoke (East End) Shops in 2004 The Roanoke Shops (comprising the main East End Shops and the West Roanoke Yard and shops at Shaffers Crossing) is a railroad workshop and maintenance facility in Roanoke, Virginia. Between 1884 and 195 ...

, which produced locomotives exclusively for

Norfolk & Western The Norfolk and Western Railway , commonly called the N&W, was a US class I railroad, formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. It was headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia, for most of its existence. Its motto was "Precisio ...

. In 1901 the works merged with several others to form the

American Locomotive Company The American Locomotive Company (often shortened to ALCO, ALCo or Alco) was an American manufacturer that operated from 1901 to 1969, initially specializing in the production of locomotives but later diversifying and fabricating at various time ...

, which continued production at the Richmond works until 1927. Among the locomotives Richmond produced was locomotive H2 293 for the

Finnish State Railways VR-Group Plc (, ), commonly known as VR, is a government-owned railway company in Finland. VR's most important function is the operation of Finland's passenger rail services with 250 long-distance and 800 commuter rail services every day. With ...

, the locomotive that pulled

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

's train into

Petrograd Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

on the last leg of his return from exile during the

Russian Revolution of 1917 The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

, and

Southern Railway 1401 Southern Railway 1401 is a 4-6-2 steam locomotive built in July 1926 by American Locomotive Company (ALCO) of Richmond, Virginia, for the Southern Railway (SOU) as a member of the Ps-4 class, which was based on the United States Railroad Admi ...

, which pulled President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Funeral Train.

History

The Richmond Locomotive Works grew out of

Tredegar Iron Works The Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond, Virginia, was the biggest ironworks in the Confederacy during the American Civil War, and a significant factor in the decision to make Richmond the Confederate capital. Tredegar supplied about half the art ...

to become a nationally known manufacturer of steam locomotive engines and an integral part of the industrial landscape of the city of Richmond. The engines it produced were shipped across America, as well as several countries in Europe, Asia and the South Pacific. Most Richmond Locomotive engines were sold to Southern carriers. Many were sold to Virginia lines, including

Richmond City Railway Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

, as well as the

Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad The Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad was a railroad connecting Richmond, Virginia, to Washington, D.C. The track is now the RF&P Subdivision of the CSX Transportation system; the original corporation is no longer a railroad co ...

, the

Richmond and Danville Railroad The Richmond and Danville Railroad (R&D) Company was a railroad that operated independently from 1847 until 1894, first in the U.S. state of Virginia, and later on of track in nine states. Chartered on March 9, 1847, the railroad completed its ...

and the

Seaboard Air Line The Seaboard Air Line Railroad , known colloquially as the Seaboard Railroad during its time, was an American railroad that existed from April 14, 1900, until July 1, 1967, when it merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, its longtime ri ...

. Other buyers included the

Louisville and Nashville Railroad The Louisville and Nashville Railroad , commonly called the L&N, was a Class I railroad that operated freight and passenger services in the southeast United States. Chartered by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1850, the road grew into one of ...

; the Louisville Southern Railway; the Wilmington, Onslow and East Carolina Railroad; the

Raleigh and Cape Fear Railway Raleigh ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte), the largest city in the Research Triangle area, and the 39th-most populous city in the U.S. Known as th ...

; the

Nashville and Tellico Railroad Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, located on the Cumberland River. Nashville had a population of 689,447 at the 20 ...

; the

Atlanta and Florida Railroad In July 1886, the Atlanta and Florida Railway was chartered as the Atlanta and Hawkinsville Railroad to connect Atlanta, Georgia, and Hawkinsville, Georgia Hawkinsville is a city in Middle Georgia and the county seat of Pulaski County, Georgia ...

; the

Georgia Pacific Railway The Georgia Pacific Railway was a railway company chartered on December 31, 1881, consolidating the Georgia Western Railroad and the Georgia Pacific Railroad Company of Alabama. The Georgia Western Railroad was chartered by the Georgia Legislat ...

; the

Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad The Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad was the final name of a system of railroads throughout Florida, becoming part of the Seaboard Air Line Railway in 1900. The system, including some of the first railroads in Florida, stretched from Jackso ...

; the

Savannah, Americus and Montgomery Railway The Savannah, Americus and Montgomery Railway (SA&M) was a historic railroad located in the U.S. states of Georgia and Alabama. SA&M was built in the 1880s running between Montgomery, Alabama and Lyons, Georgia. It would be completed to Savannah, ...

; the Southern Railroad; the

New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad The New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad was a Class I railroad in Louisiana and Mississippi in the United States. The railroad operated of road from its completion in 1883 until it was absorbed by the Alabama Great Southern Railroad subsidia ...

; the

Mississippi River and Bonne Terre Railway The Mississippi River & Bonne Terre Railway (M.R. & B.T.) was a single-track standard gauge, standard-gauge steam railroad that was located in southeastern Missouri and began service in 1892. It extended from Riverside,_Jefferson_County,_Missouri, ...

; the

Vicksburg, Shreveport and Pacific Railroad The Vicksburg, Shreveport and Pacific Railway (May 1, 1901, to December 31, 1926) was chartered as the Vicksburg, Shreveport, & Texas Railroad Company with an east and west division on April 28, 1853, to be a link, via a transfer boat, between Vic ...

; and the Little Rock and Hot Spring Western Railroad. Richmond locomotives were delivered as far away as the Southwestern Arkansas and Indian Territory Railroad and the

Alameda and San Joaquin Railroad The Alameda and San Joaquin Railroad was incorporated on May 1, 1895, to serve the coal mines of the San Francisco & San Joaquin Coal Company at Corral Hollow. The line ran from Tesla (located in the Corral Hollow canyon southeast of Corral ...

Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the largest Class 1 railroads in the United States between 1859 and 1996. The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight transport; at variou ...

; the

Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway The Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway (SLS&E) was a railroad founded in Seattle, Washington, on April 28, 1885, with three tiers of purposes: Build and run the initial line to the town of Ballard, Seattle, Ballard, bring immediate results ...

; the Rio Grande and Western Railroad; the

San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad (SF&NP) provided the first extensive standard gauge rail service to Sonoma County and became the southern end of the regional Northwestern Pacific Railroad. Although first conceived of by Asbury Harpe ...

; and the California and Northeastern Railway. Richmond locomotives also had a significant market in the Midwest as well. Midwestern purchasers included the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway; the Cincinnati, Richmond and Muncie Railroad; the

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the oldest railroads in North America, oldest railroad in the United States and the first steam engine, steam-operated common carrier. Construction of the line began in 1828, and it operated as B&O from 1830 ...

; the

Wabash Railroad The Wabash Railroad was a Class I railroad that operated in the mid-central United States. It served a large area, including track in the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, and Missouri and the province of Ontario. Its primary con ...

; the

Chicago Great Western Railway The Chicago Great Western Railway was a Class I railroad that linked Chicago, Minneapolis, Omaha, and Kansas City. It was founded by Alpheus Beede Stickney in 1885 as a regional line between St. Paul and the Iowa state line called the Minnesot ...

; the Brainerd and Northern Minnesota Railway; the

Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway The Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway was a Class II railroad, making a roughly circular path between Waukegan, Illinois and Gary, Indiana. The railroad served as a link between Class I railroads traveling to and from Chicago, although it operat ...

; and the

Chicago and Western Indiana Railroad The Chicago and Western Indiana Railroad was the owner of Dearborn Station in Chicago and the trackage leading to it. It was owned equally by five of the railroads using it to reach the terminal, and kept those companies from needing their ow ...

. The

Chesapeake and Ohio Railway The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis Potter Huntington, it reached from Virginia's capital city of Rich ...

purchased several engines, including two specifically constructed for carrying passengers to the

1893 Chicago World's Fair The World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The ce ...

. One

4-6-0 A 4-6-0 steam locomotive, under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, has four leading wheels on two axles in a leading bogie and six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles with the abs ...

locomotive was shipped to

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in 1901 as a sample for the New Zealand Railways to try. It was classed in the 'Ub' family (along with a fellow ALCO product - a Brooks 4-6-0) and given the road number of #371. It was considered too light for mainline running, steaming poorly on New Zealand's ungraded coals but found a home on a local

Canterbury Plains The Canterbury Plains () are an area in New Zealand centred in the Mid Canterbury, to the south of the city of Christchurch in the Canterbury region. Their northern extremes are at the foot of the Hundalee Hills in the Hurunui District, and ...

branchline serving it for 30 years. It was dumped in 1933 but has been rediscovered for possible restoration.

Sale and merger

In 1901, the Richmond Locomotive Works was purchased by Joseph Leiter for $3 million.''New York Times'', Buys Locomotive Works, May 6, 1901
/ref> At the time, the company employed about 1,600 workers and was producing two locomotives a day. Later that year, Richmond and seven other manufacturing companies merged to form

(ALCO). Locomotive production at Richmond Locomotive Works ceased in September 1927.

Preserved Richmond locomotives

The following locomotives (in serial number order) built by Richmond before the ALCO merger have been preserved. All locations are in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

unless otherwise noted. The following preserved Richmond locomotives were built post-merger:

References

Notes

# Sunshine Software,
Steam Locomotive Information
'. Retrieved October 4, 2005. {{Authority control Defunct locomotive manufacturers of the United States History of Richmond, Virginia Industrial buildings and structures in Virginia