The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1899-04-05
OUR LOCOMOTIVES
GOING TO FRANCE

Philadelphia, April 2-The recent order
placed by the commissioners of the French
State Railway with the Baldwin Locomo-
tive Works for ten express passenger en-
gines has opened up another market for
American locomotive construction. The or
der for twenty locomotives given by the
Great Northern Railroad Company. of
England to the Baldwin works, created
mucn comment in engineering and official
circles on the other side. The order has in
part been attributed to the engineering
strike In England, by which the English
workshops were put behind in their orders.
The first significant foreign order received
by the Baldwin Locomotive Works was in
1898, from the English war office, and was
for three locomotives of the ordinary pas
senger type, narrow gauge. for use on the
Soudan Military railway This was supple
mented by call for a fourth. The order
for the first three was placed January 4.
and the agreement was that the engines
were to be ready for shipment by Febru-
airy 26, which would have given the COM
pany fifty-three days on the first three en-
gines and less than fifty on the fourth.
This was considered a very short time for
the work, yet the locomotives were shipped
from the works February g. being held for
eight days prior to that until the arrival of
an English inspector In order that he might
look them over The engines were shipped
from New York to Alexandria. They were
only thirty days in course of construction.
Following this order came one from the
Egyptian government railway for twenty
freight locomotives OF these fifteen were
orda Ifabr md obi
April 81. Five more were ordered April
and left the works June 2. Since that time
several more engines have been built for
the Soudan railway. 1t is matter of mil
itary record that the first batch of locomo-
tives built for the Soudan were used by
General Lord Kitchener, the sirdar, In his
advance on Khartoum.
The recent order from the Midland Rail-
way Company, of England. is equally Sig
nficant. 1t is for thirty locomotives on the
mogul pattern for freight service built ac-
cording to American practice as to design
but having copper fire-boxes and copper
hues. In accordance with the English prac-
tice. Another large foreign order was for
seventy-one engines for the Chinese East
ern railway, all of the consolidated type for
freight service built on the Vauclain COM
pound system.
Since the first foreign order was received
the Baldwins have built engines for use in
China to connect with the Russian Trans
continental Line Egypt, Soudan, Australia,
Finland, Russia, Spain South Africa, South
America, Queensland, England and Jeru-
salem. The Baldwins built the first loco
motives that ran into Jerusalem from
Jaffa.
ON <@f
French commissioners who placed the or
der for ten engines for the French State
railway was as to the comparative con-
sumption of coal by American and Euro
pean locomotives. M. Boell, who was at
the head of the French commission, said
that this Is a question that can be deter
mined only by comparative tests. This, he
said is matter of much Importance in
Europe, where the cost of fuel is greater
than in America. For himself, he believed
the American engine uses the greater
quantity of COAL but he gave evidence of a
desire to see the question fairly and fully
tested.
A correspondent called on George Burn
| ham, president of the Baldwin Locomotive
| Works, and asked that gentleman how his
| firm could build locomotives much more
| quickly and much better than the Eng
| fish firms. President Durham said:
'There is very little doubt that the en-
SlneerS StrlKe eighteen months ago had
much to do with the placing of the orders
with our firm. On comparative basis
I iron Is cheaper in this country than in
| England. The coal mines in England are
becoming very deep and difficult to work
with a profit, and coal can now be pur-
chased in this country as cheap, If not
cheaper, than in England. The appliances
necessary to the manufacture of locomo-
| tives are more modern on this side than
| on the other, and far more efficient. An
| other advantage is that the locomotives
| built by us for foreign trade are according
| to American pattern and design The Pc
| culiarity of design of American loeomo-
| lives makes it easier to build and enables
| us to construct them more rapidly"