Refurbished 107-Year-Old Baldwin Locomotive Back on the Job

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The No. 16 engine returns to duty, built in 1916 at Baldwin Locomotive Works
Image via the East Broad Top Railroad
The No. 16 engine returns to duty, built in 1916 at Baldwin Locomotive Works

A 107-year-old steam engine locomotive built in 1916 by Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia and later Eddystone, is back in service now on the East Broad Top Railroad, writes Michael Tanenbaum for Philly Voice.

The restored locomotive will be used to pull train tours at the East Broad Top Railroad in Rockhill Furnace starting in May.

East Broad Top is a 150-year-old former coal-hauling freight line, the oldest surviving narrow-gauge railroad east of the Rocky Mountains. It was a valued customer of Baldwin Locomotive Works.

Baldwin Locomotive started in a factory at Broad and Spring Garden Streets in Philadelphia.

The main factory was demolished in 1937 when the company moved to Eddystone.

In 1956, after 125 years of locomotive production, Baldwin closed most of its Eddystone plant and turned to the production of heavy construction equipment, according to Wikipedia.

The steam railroad hearkens back to America’s 19th and early 20th-century industrial eras and provided more than a century of travel.

“The whole purpose of heritage railroads like ours is that you can’t be nostalgic for an experience you never had,” said Jonathan Smith, EBT Foundation’s director of sales and marketing.

Read more about the restoration of this Baldwin locomotive at Philly Voice.

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Here’s how to operate a steam locomotive.

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