Matthias William Baldwin was a steam
locomotives manufacturer. He had a machine shop which he opened in 1825. When
his business grew, he named it Baldwin Locomotive Works.
Baldwin was born on December 10,
1795 in Elizabethtown, New Jersey. He was an apprentice at a local jewelry
maker in Frankford, Virginia in 1811. He moved to a new employer in 1817. After
two years, he used his knowledge in jewelry making to patent a procedure for gold plating.
He also engaged in printing and
bookbinding. His printing business foreshadowed his success in locomotives. At
his printing press, Baldwin was using a steam-powered engine he himself designed.
In 1831, Baldwin produced his first
locomotive. The engine can pull several cars which carry at least four
passengers each. The locomotive engine was coal-powered.
Baldwin was first commissioned to
assemble the British steam locomotive in1832 named Delaware. Since then he produced his first steam locomotive which
he named “Old Ironsides”. It was
launched on November 23, 1832.
Baldwin and his locomotives were
instrumental in shaping the railroad industry of today.
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