Alco Products got its start in Schenectady, NY in 1848 when John Ellis and Platt Potter and others of that city invited the Norris brothers of Philadelphia to establish a locomotive factory there. The needed $50,000 was raised by subscription, and the Schenectady Locomotive Engine Manufactury was built on land near the Erie Canal and the Mohawk River.

Somewhat more than a year after the company's founding, its first locomotive, "Lightning", was out shopped for delivery to the Utica and Schenectady Railroad. The "Lightning", though powerful and fast, had insufficient steaming capacity and was too heavy for the rails of the time. It was pronounced a failure. With no more orders forthcoming, the Norrises withdrew from the venture, and the enterprise was sold for taxes in February 1851.

However, the company's principals felt that the manufacture of locomotives in the early and important railroad centre bounded by the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers could flourish, and in May 1851, the Schenectady Locomotive Works was formed and significant production soon began. More than two hundred locomotives were manufactured over the next six years

During the Civil War, Schenectady supplied at least eighty-four locomotives for the U.S. Military Railroad. Between the War and 1870 fire and flood ravaged the facility, resulting in much reconstruction and modernization. During this period Schenectady produced the famous 4-4-0, "Jupiter", which figured in the Promontory Point celebration of the first transcontinental railroad. Most of the Schenectady locomotives were, like the "Jupiter", of a conventional design marketed to satisfy growing domestic needs.

As railroads multiplied throughout the seventies and eighties, so did the Schenectady Works expand yearly in both manpower and manufacturing capacity. Another notable locomotive designer, A.J. Pitkin, joined the firm during this period. He was to earn particular fame as the creator of the high speed 4-4-0's of the NYC&HR RR. Also he was later destined to head the firm of consolidated companies that became American Locomotive.

On June 24, 1901, Schenectady's "Big Shop" was merged with seven other locomotive manufactures in other cities, forming the American Locomotive Company. Its composition, in addition to Schenectady, included the Brooks Locomotive works in Dunkirk, NY, Cooke Locomotive & Machine Co. in Paterson NJ, Dickson Mfg. Co. in Scranton, PA. and the Manchester, Pittsburgh, Rhode Island and Richmond Locomotive Works. In 1905 the Rogers Locomotive Works, also in Paterson, was acquired. Through Rogers the new consolidation could trace its locomotive building activities back to 1837. However, it was customary to regard the Schenectady Works as the senior component due to its role as headquarters.

Credits of the history and to see more about the history of the American Locomotive Company, please visit

http://www.trainweb.org/loggingz/builders_1.html.

http://www.steamlocomotive.com