shop was 80 feet square, the blacksmith shop 250 by 45 feet, and 

 the boiler shop 200 by 60 feet. A large yard and several smaller 

 shops for brass founding and tin work completed the establishment. 

 It was certainly a plant equal in size to any works west of 

 the Alleghenies. The last of several brief comments in the American 

 Railroad Journal concerning the opening of the Covington Works 

 appeared in the December 10, 1853, issue (p. 791). It stated that 

 the works would soon be in full operation. 



The Covington and Lexington Railroad gave Greer an order for 

 four locomotives. One was reported near completion in November 

 1853, but was not delivered until May of the next year. On Feb- 

 ruary 25, 1854, the Covington Journal stated that the works was still 

 not fully ecjuipped or in full operation. Nevertheless, it was claimed 

 that orders for ten locomotives were in hand. Four, as already 

 mentioned, were destined for the Covington and Lexington, two 

 for the Little Miami, and the other four for an unnamed road in 

 Indiana. No record has been found that any engines were delivered 

 other than the four for the Covington and Lexington. It is probable 

 that the financial panic of 1854 caused the other roads to cancel 

 their orders or that they were discouraged by Greer's slow delivery 

 and transferred their orders to another builder. It is also possible 

 that these six engines, if built, were sold to other buyers. 



Greer had hardly started to build locomotives when it was an- 

 nounced that he was opening a car plant. ^'^ Several months 

 earlier the Hart & Dryer Car Works of Covington had been re- 

 ported in operation. Greer also had to face competition from the 

 Fulton Car Works, established in Cincinnati several years before. 

 Little is known of Greer's car-building activities, but it can be 

 assumed that with the several builders of good reputation in the 

 area his prospects were not good. 



The first locomotive to be completed, the Covington, was many 

 months in the building. An interesting account of its first trip 

 appeared in the Railroad Record of May 4, 1854 (p. 146): 



"cOVINGTON" locomotive TRIP TO "bOYD's." 



It is known to our readers that the Covington and Lexington Rail- 

 road is now opened 55 miles — within 5 miles of Cynthiana, the county- 



'"■^ Covington Journal, February 25, 1854. 



118 



