A look at the Western & Atlantic built locomotives

‘We should strengthen ourselves in the Union by becoming, as fast as possible, independent of the North, for our locomotives as well as our clothes, shoes, carriages’

This photo shows the buildings of the Western & Atlantic in Atlanta, Georgia, in November 1864. These were destroyed a few days later. (Photo by George Barnard via the Library of Congress)

On the eve of the Civil War, the Western & Atlantic Railroad had more than 45 locomotives on its active roster.

The roster included four more engines that were “worn out and condemned.” “But, in [the] absence of any legislative action, I shall not feel authorized to sell them,” Superintendent John W. Lewis said in a September 30, 1860, report to Gov. Joseph E. Brown.

He noted, “The Road at no time of your administration, nor at any other time, has been in so perfect condition as at the present time.”

While the overwhelming majority were constructed by the major locomotive builders of the day, including Baldwin and Rogers, Ketchum & Grosvenor, the Western & Atlantic built one locomotive in its own shop: the R.C. Jackson.