Industrial Railroad

The Plymouth Cordage Company had it's own industrial railroad for rapid transportation of raw materials, supplies and finished goods. The railroad linked all the furthermost points of the Cordage Company Plant. The railroad ran four and one eighth miles of track through the entire plant and ran above ground and through tunnels. The tracks ran to such points as the wharf warehouses, both ends of the ropewalk, the tar house at the rear of the laboratory, the three manufacturing mills, the other eight warehouses (also the warehouse basements) and the picker houses. The railroad roster was complete with 8 locomotives and 27 cars. In it's heyday, it transported more than half a million pounds of goods a day. The small bright orange engines, which worked off of compressed air, were a familiar site to plant employees and always fascinated visitors. The engines were refueled via compressed air refilling stations throughout the plant. The first 4 of the 8 locomotives in the roster had names: #1 "Unique", #2 "Airy", #3 "Breeze", #4 "Alert". These trains were powered by 0-4-0 compressed air locomotives built by Baldwin. The locomotives were designed to operate in the tunnels and basements under the Cordage Company on a 3-foot gauge track.

Plymouth Cordage Company 0-4-0 no. 1 was built by Baldwin in 1877	Plymouth Cordage Company 0-4-0 no. 5 was built in the 1920's.

Both of these locomotives pictured above are on display at the
Edaville Railroad Museum in Carver Massachusetts.
Special thanks to Richard Jenkins for providing the two pictures above.
Visit his web site at http://parkengines.railfan.net/.