Richmond Locomotive Works

The Richmond Locomotive Works grew out of Tredegar Iron Works 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. It was owned by Joseph Bryan, whose son Jonathan Bryan was also involved in its operations. At its height, the firm had more than 3,000 employees and made 200 locomotives a year.

Most Richmond Locomotive engines were sold to Southern carriers. Many were sold to Virginia lines, including Richmond City Railway, as well as the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad, the Richmond and Danville Railroad and the Seaboard Air Line. Other buyers included the Louisville and Nashville Railroad; the Louisville Southern Railway; the Wilmington, Onslow and East Carolina Railroad; the Raleigh and Cape Fear Railway; the Nashville and Tellico Railroad; the Atlanta and Florida Railroad; the Georgia Pacific Railway; the Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad; the Savannah, Americus and Montgomery Railway; the Southern Railroad; the New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad; the Mississippi River and Bonne Terre Railway; the Vicksburg, Shreveport and Pacific Railroad; 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, Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe; the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway; the Rio Grande and Western Railroad; the San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad; 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 Wabash Railroad; the Chicago Great Western Railway; the Brainerd and Northern Minnesota Railway; the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway; and the Chicago and Western Indiana Railroad. The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway purchased several engines, including two specifically constructed for carrying passengers to the 1893 Chicago World's Fair.

One 4-6-0 locomotive was shipped to New Zealand 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 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. 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 American Locomotive Company (ALCO). Locomotive production at Richmond Locomotive Works ceased in September 1927.