BALDWIN'S FIRST LOCOMOTIVES.
The importation of the locomotive "John Bull" was destined to have a far-reaching influence in moulding the types of early American locomotives.
After the demonstration of November 12, 1831, the engine was taken from the track and stored in a shed constructed to protect it until such time as the track should be completed.
It was about this time that the proprietor of Peale's Museum, in Philadelphia, applied to Matthias Baldwin, an ingenious mathematical instrument maker, for a small locomotive to run upon a circular track on the floor of the museum. Mr. Baldwin had heard of this locomotive. He came to Bordentown and applied to Isaac Dripps for permission to inspect it. Mr. Dripps tells me he remembers very well the day that he explained to Mr. Baldwin the construction of the various working parts.
Mr. Baldwin built a toy engine for Mr. Peale, which was so successful, that in 1832 he was called upon by the Philadelphia and Germantown Railroad Company to construct the old "Ironsides,"[7] which was similar in many ways to the "John Bull," as an examination of the model preserved in the National Museum will show. The success of this engine laid the foundation for the great Baldwin Locomotive Works, which is in existence to-day, sending locomotives to every part of the globe.