Record of Recent Construction, Nos. 21 to 30 Inclusive, Baldwin Locomotive Works

A scarce railroad trade manual published in the early 20th century. Contains illustrations and details of the company’s locomotives alongside detailed essays on the trade. A fascinating and rare volume. No publication date stated, but internal evidence points to ca. 1902. Hardcover bound in green cloth, stamped with gilt on the front cover and spine. The endpapers are decorated with a lovely green pattern. 322 pages. Beautifully illustrated throughout with diagrams, tables, black & white photographs of the Baldwin factory and men at work constructing the locomotives, and pictures of each locomotive for sale. Each listing features an image of the locomotive, its general dimensions, and its class and gauge. Some of the locomotives described in this volume include: Compound Rack Locomotive for the Manitou & Pike’s Peak Railway, Compound Consolidation Locomotive for the Victorian Railways of Australia, Compound Mogul Locomotive for the Union Pacific Railroad Company (Oregon Short Line), Atlantic Type Locomotive for the Paris, Lyons & Mediterranean Railway, and many others. In addition to discussions of specific locomotives, the volume also features several longer essays, including: “Locomotives of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries,” a paper read by S.M. Vauclain at the February 12, 1901 meeting of the New England Railroad Club; “Locomotive Boilers,” read by Cornelius Vanderbilt at the January 8, 1901 meeting of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers; “The Building of a Modern Locomotive” from the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen’s Magazine, February, 1901. The corners and crown/foot of the spine have been bumped and chipped over time. There’s also some wear from rubbing on the spine and covers. The gilt stamping is still bright but it has a small chip in the word “Record” on the front cover. Light toning is visible throughout the interior, more so around the edges of the endpapers. Binding is shaken and in fragile condition. The gutter at the front endpapers is torn; the front free endpaper & title page are detached but present. The front cover and spine piece are almost completely detached from the rest of the book, attached only by a few strands from the binding cloth. Front free and back free endpapers are chipped around the edges. There are several torn gutters scattered throughout in the book, exposing the stitching of the binding and the cloth beneath; they are located between pages 2-3, 144-145, 160-161, 176-177, 272-273, and at page 322. There is a label from the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia adhered to the front attached endpaper, complete with accession number and the name of the donor, T.J. Town. 87803 is written in blue ink on a few other pages, scattered throughout the book. There is also a perforated Franklin Institute stamp in the middle of the title page and on page 319/320, as well. “Mr. J.T. Town May 21/34” is written in pencil on the top right corner of the FFEP. …