the demand for them fi'om that quarter shall justify such an under- 

 taking, providing a continuous railroad from this city to that valley is 

 not previously constructed. When that is done, we can transport 

 engines from here to roads west of the Ohio for a comparatively small 

 sum. . . . 



Baldwin ended with the request that Harkness make an offer for 

 the right to manufacture engines after the flexible-beam patent. 

 His letter apparently dampened Harkness' interest, for no counter 

 offer was inade. The matter was reopened a month later by a 

 visit of William H. CUements, Superintendent of the Little Miami 

 Railroad, to the Baldwin works. Clements was apparently con- 

 vinced of the superiority of the flexible-beam locomotive for freight 

 service and, realizing that Baldwin could not furnish sufficient 

 numbers of these machines, was desirous of seeing a Cincinnati 

 supplier undertake their manufacture. Baldwin wrote to Harkness 

 again on February 7, 1846, offering to sell a license for the manu- 

 facture of from 12 to 20 locomotives at $800 each,-' and adding that 

 he would not make such terms to an eastern competitor. He also 

 commented that since the $;8oo fee amounted to the usual transpor- 

 tation cost of shipping an engine west, Harkness would have an 

 opportunity to make the same profit that an eastern builder could 

 expect. Again Harkness showed no interest and no agreement was 

 reached. Needless to say, Baldwin did not open a locomotive plant 

 outside the Philadelphia area. 



After Latta left Harkness in 1846 he founded the Buckeye Works 

 with his brothers, Edmundson -» and Findlay. Several years later, 

 in 1852, he built, in conjunction with Abel Shawk, a steam fire engine 

 which in error has been popularly called his invention and also 

 cited as the first steam fire engine. He returned to locomotive design 

 in 1 856 and induced the Boston Locomotive W^orks to build a coal- 

 burning locomotive after his design. This machine proved a total 

 failure; however, the boiler was salvaged for stationary use at the 

 builder's shop.29 The next year Latta issued a catalog advocating 

 several improvements for locomotives, including the articulated 



2' Ibid. 



28 Edmundson's name appeared in the city directories as Edminston; G.E. Sellers 

 knew him as A.B. Latta's crippled brother, Eben. 

 ^^ Railroad Advocate (December 13, 1856), vol. 3, p. 4. 



17 



