locomotive patented by M. \V. Baldwin in 1842. Designed for 

 freight service, the flexible-beam locomotive was so constructed 

 that the front two driving wheels could shift laterally, thus allowing 

 a 6- or 8-couple engine to pass around sharp curves with greater 

 ease than would be possible with an engine of the usual construction. 

 Harkness' letter is reproduced below. 



Cincinnati Dec. 24th 1845 

 Messrs. Baldwin & Whitney 

 Gent 



I take the liberty to write to know from you, if I could make an 

 arrangement with you to Build those Six Wheel freight Engines of the 

 same constructions as those you furnished for the Little Miami Road, 

 and what you would Charge for the privilege on each Engine. I now 

 have two heavy Eight Wheel Engines in hand for that Road, and they 

 will, together with the other Roads in this Section of the Country use 

 the Eight Wheel Engines for freight, unless those freight Engines can 

 be built here, owing to the great Expence Delay and trouble in getting 

 them out, and Difficulty in making the Repairs to them here, without 

 any of the Patterns being here that they were built from, if you have 

 any Doubt about making the Arrangement, you had better write Mr. 

 W. H. Clements the Superintendent of the Little Miami Rail Road 

 on the subject, your early reply to the above Communication is desired. 



Yours with Respect, 

 Anthony Harkness ^^ 



Baldwin's reply, dated January 17, 1846, stated that they had no 

 interest in selling the patent, but that a licensing arrangement might 

 be possible. 26 Baldwin went on to say that they had experienced no 

 difficulty in selling the flexible-beam engines and expected them to 

 capture a larger portion of the locomotive market in future years 

 (the flexible-beam engine has been said to be the basis of Baldwin's 

 fortune; several hundred were built between 1842 and about 1866). 

 His letter continued: 



We should not therefore be willing to sell the right for others to make 

 them for a less sum than we should deem a fair profit for the manufac- 

 ture and we should not be willing to sell at that price, only for a limited 

 number, as we have it in contemplation to start an establishment for 

 the manufacture of engines somewhere in the Ohio \'alley as soon as 



-^ M.W. Baldwin papers (MSS., Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Pliiladelphia). 



26 Ibid. 



16 



