Does anybody know if the records of Grant Locomotive Works still exist in some form somewhere? The Willamette Valley and Coast Railroad's first locomotive was the little "Corvallis", which, according to Randall V. Mills Railroad Down the Valleys, was a Grant Locomotive built in 1874. The date may be in error, as best estimates show the locomotive being purchased by the W.V. & Coast in 1879. Scholars have assumed that the locomotive was second hand, but I have a what appears to be a builders photo of the engine lettered for WV&C. If the 1874 date is correct, it would have been purchased when the W.V.&C.R.R. was going to be built as a narrow gauge line. If the 1879 date is correct, that would be about the time the gauge of the line was changed to standard gauge. In E. W. Hadley's book "The Oregon Pacific Railroad" published in 1893, he mentions the apparent exhorbitant cost of the little Corvallis. Could it be that it was purchased narrow gauge, and then shipped back and widened to standard gauge at a later date? The Oregon Pacific records are missing, maybe the Grant Locomotive Works records, if they exist, could clear this up.
Thanks!

fatpiecat2@charter.net

> Does anybody know if the records of Grant
> Locomotive Works still exist in some form
> somewhere?

It seems unlikely; the firm moved from Patterson to Chicago and then went belly up back in 1894. Here's a bit from a Web site on Patterson industry:

"Meanwhile, in 1845, William Swinburne quit as superintendent of the Rogers works. His son-in-law, John Cooke, succeeded him. Swinburne became senior partner in Swinburne, Smith & Co., which in 1848 began building locos, its first one being the New York & ErieÂ’s No. 11. Three years later, the firm was reorganized as New Jersey Locomotive & Machine Co. (NJL&M). In 1867 it became the Grant Locomotive Works, operated by Oliver D. F. Grant and his son David B. Grant. Its masterpiece, the America, later Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific No. 109, won first prize, a gold medal, at the Universal Exposition in Paris in 1867. Thereafter, the Grant works placed a replica of this medal on the cab of every engine it built.

Seriously damaged by fire in 1887, the Grant Locomotive Works moved to Chicago in 1890 and shut down in 1894. While located in Paterson, it constructed more than 1850 engines."

Another thought: have you tried this book by Ferrell:

A Description of Locomotives Manufactured by the Grant Locomotive Works of Paterson N.J. Author: (Ferrell, Mallory Hope).. Published by Boulder CO Pruett Publishing Co. 1971.



eledbetter@rypn.org

Does anybody know if any buildings remain from the Grant Locomotive Works in Cicero (a suburb bordering Chicago on the west side)? They had a massive site, and (from aerial photos) most of it seems to remain configured for industry (wheither or not it is active is another story).

> Seriously damaged by fire in 1887, the Grant
> Locomotive Works moved to Chicago in 1890
> and shut down in 1894.

altoonaroundhouse@umich.edu

My understanding is that no construction records are known to have survived from the Grant Locomotive Works. There have been some attempts to reconstruct a construction list from known railroad records.

As I recall, there is a discription of this situation in Joe Strapac's book on Cotton Belt locomotives. This work was recently republished by University of Indiana.

Brian Norden

bnorden49@earthlink.net

>Thanks, guys. I wondered because I found partial listings for other loco manufacturers in Patterson NJ but nothing for Grant. I will try to find that book by Farrell....

fatpiecat2@charter.net