The Brooks Locomotive Works manufactured steam railroad locomotives and freight cars from 1869 through its merger into the American Locomotive Company until 1934.
History
When the New York and Erie (NY&E) railroad relocated its shops facilities from Dunkirk, NY to Buffalo, NY in 1869, Dunkirk lost its largest employer. Coming to the city's rescue was Horatio G. Brooks (1828–1887), the former chief engineer of the NY&E who was at the controls of the first train into Dunkirk in 1851. In 1869, Brooks leased the Dunkirk shops facility from the NY&E and formed the Brooks Locomotive Works. The new company officially opened on November 11 1869. The company's first steam locomotive is completed the following month as part of an order for the NY&E, the company's first customer.
Within a couple of years of its opening, Brooks was producing as many as seven new locomotives per month, compared to one per month while the facility was controlled by the NY&E. Brooks built locomotives for nearly all of the major railroads of the time, producing 37 new locomotives in its first year and 43 new locomotives in its second year of operations.
After the financial crisis of 1873, orders for new equipment dropped off, but Brooks was able to recover enough business to avoid bankruptcy. Brooks locomotives were displayed a few years later at the National Railway Appliance Exhibition in Chicago, IL, where they were judged the Best in Show.
The 1890s brought another period of depressed sales following another financial crisis. The company produced 226 new locomotives in 1891, but only 90 new locomotives in 1894. Brooks was not able to recover business as easily and the company was merged with several other manufacturers in 1901 to form the American Locomotive Company. ALCO produced locomotives at this facility until 1934 when the shop was renamed ALCO Thermal Products Division. Locomotives produced at the former Brooks plant after ALCO's formation came to be known as ALCO-Brooks locomotives.
Although new locomotives were no longer being produced at the former Brooks shops in Dunkirk, shop forces were kept busy for some time building spare parts for ALCO locomotives. Production had shifted from locomotives to heat exchangers, high-pressure vessels and pipes of all sizes.
After World War II, production at the Dunkirk plant never got back to its prewar levels. ALCO finally closed the facility in 1962.
Timeline
- November 11 1869: Horatio Brooks leases the shops facility in Dunkirk and officially opens the Brooks Locomotive Works
- 1883: Brooks locomotives are named the Best in Show locomotives at the National Railway Appliance Exhibition in Chicago.
- February 22 1884: Brooks completes its 1,000th new locomotive.
- 1901: Brooks and several other locomotive manufacturers are merged into the American Locomotive Company
- 1934: New locomotive construction at the Brooks plant ends as the plant is renamed ALCO Thermal Producs Division.
- 1962: ALCO closes the former Brooks plant in Dunkirk, laying off the remaining 750 laborers at the facility.
Preserved Brooks locomotives
Brooks Locomotive Works sold locomotives to all of the major railroads of the late 19th century. Following is a partial list (in serial number order) of Brooks-built locomotives that have been spared the scrapper's torch.
- 522 – 2-6-0, built April 1881, Klondike Mines Railroad #1; Minto Park, Dawson City, Yukon Territory, Canada
- (s/n unknown) – 2-6-0, built 1881, White Pass & Yukon #52; Skagway, AK
- (s/n unknown) – 2-6-0, built 1881, Pacific & Arctic Railway & Navigation Company #51; Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada
- 1535 – 2-6-0, built May 1889, Quincy & Torch Lake #1 Thomas F. Mason; Quincy Mine, Hancock, MI
- 2475 – 2-6-0, built October 1894, Quincy & Torch Lake #3; Huckleberry Railroad, Flint, MI
- 2951 – 2-8-0, built June 1898, Colorado & Southern #74, Rio Grande Southern #74; Central Park, Boulder, CO
- 3687 – 4-6-0, built November 1900, Soo Line #2645; North Freedom, WI
- 3697 – 2-6-0, built December 1900, Illinois Central #3706; Illinois Railway Museum, Union, IL
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