Dickson Manufacturing Co.

Illustrated Catalogue of Standard Gauge Locomotives: Manufactured by Dickson Manufacturing Co.

Founded in Scranton, Pennsylvania in 1856, the Dickson Manufacturing Company built steam engines, boilers, hoisting and blowing engines and coal-fired steam locomotives for nearly five decades. The locomotives included 10-wheeled engines for the Santa Fe and 8-wheeled passenger engines for the Delaware and Hudson. While most Dickson engines were standard in terms of engineering, the company was a pioneer in the area of compressed-air locomotives for coal mining. By the time Dickson merged with seven other firms to form the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) in 1901, the company had produced 1,334 steam locomotives. The Scranton plant remained operational after the merge, producing 428 light freight, industrial and passenger engines through 1909. In the end however the design of the Dickson shops made it impossible to continue locomotive building. The new, heavy type freight and passenger locomotives simply required more erection space and especially ceiling height in their construction than the Scranton facilities could provide. The former shops for Dickson are still standing, and at least one locomotive serial number 1005, is extant. This book is an exact replica of Dickson?s 1885 illustrated catalog, containing information on the company?s full line of locomotives at the height of its production. It also contains a brief history of the company and a discussion of its resources and financial disposition.