THE
ROGERS LOCOMOTIVE
WORKS
Courtesy
of Great Falls
Visitor Center
Three
locomotive
manufacturing
companies, the
Rogers Locomotive
Works, Danforth
and Cooke Company,
and Grant
Locomotive Company
were located in
Paterson.
Altogether, these
companies produced
over 10,000 steam
locomotive
engines. The
Rogers Locomotive
Works was the
second largest
manufacturer in
the country. The
No. 119 locomotive
met the locomotive
from the west on
the
Trans-Continental
Railroad in the
state of Utah in
1869 when the
famous "Golden
Spike" was
driven.
Excerpts
from Historic
Notes, Great Falls
Visitor Center:
Paterson,
New Jersey was the
home of five steam
locomotive
manufacturers. The
largest of these
was the Rogers
Locomotive Works.
In 1832, Thomas
Rogers became the
head of a new firm
known as Rogers,
Ketchum and
Grosvenor which
made cotton
textile looms and
machinery. Rogers
became interested
in locomotives and
with his extensive
machinery
experience, he
studied and
dismantled an
English locomotive
purchased by the
Paterson and
Hudson River
Railroad. In 1835,
after making
extensive
drawings, the firm
announced plans to
manufacture its
own locomotives.
This was a daring
step because
Rogers venture had
to overcome the
twin problems of a
young American
technology and
heavy competition
from established
British
manufacturers.
The first Rogers
locomotive, the
Sandusky, took
sixteen months to
complete and on
October 6, 1837
made its first
trip from Paterson
to Jersey City and
New Brunswick and
back.
The
Sandusky
Rogers locomotive
production rose
from 1 in 1837 to
103 in 1854. By
then Rogers had
become America's
leading locomotive
company,
maintaining this
position for
nearly ten years.
After Thomas
Rogers' death in
1856, the firm
name was changed
to the Rogers
Locomotive and
Machine Works with
Thomas' son,
Jacob A. Rogers as
President. William
A. Hudson was
appointed Chief
Engineer and
Superintendent of
the Works and he
continued to
improve the Rogers
designs during the
Civil War when the
demand for
locomotives
dramatically
increased. The two
most famous Civil
War locomotives,
the 1855 Rogers
General and the
1856 Danforth,
Cooke Texas (which
opposed each other
in the great
railroad chase),
were both
manufactured in
Paterson.
Until his death in
1881, Hudson
continued the
innovative
locomotive
engineering and
manufacturing that
became a trademark
of Rogers
locomotive and
Machine Company.
By then, a new
Rogers locomotive
was produced every
second work day
and many were
shipped throughout
the world.
The
213 was built in
1880 and
exhibited in the
Chicago Museum
of Science and
Industry. The
213 is still in
existence.
However, in
1900, because of
severe
competition and
poor management,
the company
ceased active
manufacturing.
In 1909, the
company was sold
to the American
Locomotive
company (ALCO)
which had
purchased the
Cooke Locomotive
Works in 1902.
(ALCO was a
merger and
consolidation of
10 locomotive
manufacturers.)
The ALCO-Rogers
Works which
itself ceased
production in
September, 1923.
In 1919,
ownership of the
Rogers Building
was divided
among the
Dolphin Jute
Mill and others
and the
buildings were
used for jute
and textile
manufacturing
and storage, and
the Paterson
Silk Exchange.
Excerpts
from NPS HAER
Reports
The Rogers
Locomotive and
Machine Works is
situated on what
was, originally,
four mill lots.
These lots were
first developed in
the 1830s after
completion of the
upper raceway in
1829.
The first
building, known as
the Jefferson
Mill, was built on
lot 4 in 1831. It
was originally
designed to be a
combination of a
textile machinery
plant and spinning
mill, but demand
for machinery made
use of the entire
premises for that
purpose more
profitable. For
many years, the
factory
manufactured only
textile machinery
though there was
capacity for an
estimated 5,000
cotton spindles in
addition to the
machine works.
Rogers Locomotive
bought the leases
on lot #4 in 1859
by which time some
spinning was being
done in the
Jefferson Mill,
about 3400
spindles being in
place. Rogers had
assumed the lease
in 1854, and had
constructed some
buildings for the
construction of
locomotives, In
1859 they bought
the lease, and
assumed title to
the mill, and
there were, at
that time, some 70
people employed
turning 6,000
pounds of cotton a
week into yarn.
The Erecting Shop
is the oldest of
the structures
surviving from the
complex which
formed the Rogers
Locomotive and
Machine Works.
Although all the
equipment and
machinery have
been removed, its
exterior
architectural
character remains
intact, and
includes several
of the large
double-bay doors
through which
completed
locomotives were
delivered.
The Erecting Shop
has been restored
to house the
offices of the
Great Falls
Historic
Preservation and
Development
Corporation and
the Paterson
Museum. The
museum features a
permanent exhibit
of textile
machinery, Holland
submarines, and
Colt firearms.
Special exhibits
are mounted
throughout the
year and the
museum also serves
as a culture
center.
The
eighty-ton
locomotives
constructed in the
Erecting Shop
began as small
parts on the top
floor and were put
together in
stages, each
larger assembly
gradually moving
down toward the
main floor.
The completed
engines then
rolled through the
massive wooden
doors that face
the street.
Many Paterson
steam locomotives
were shipped
overseas,
including 144 of
the 246 American
locomotives used
to build the
Panama
Canal. One
of those was Old
299, which
returned to
Paterson in 1979
and can be seen at
the rear of the
Paterson Museum,
at 2 Market
Street.
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