Eddystone, PA: 1906-1954 Baldwin Locomotive Plant And 760mw Power Plant

Baldwin: (Satellite, the east, industrial, side)

Power: (Satellite)

Baldwin started building locomotives in the early 1830s in Philadelphia, PA. In 1906, he built an expansion in Eddystone. The last locomotive, estimated to be number 70,541, was built in 1954. The factory was then used to produce construction tools, but it was closed down for good in 1971. [pabook]

 

explorepahistory
BaldwinParkPhilly

"Aerial view of Eddystone in 1949.

"Steam locomotives were being replaced with diesel and then diesel-electric locomotives starting in the 1930's. BLW never made the transition successfully. The Eddystone plant even at its maximum production had only used a third of its capacity, and after military contracts faded after World War II BLW closed its Philadelphia area factories in 1956.

The Eddystone buildings were demolished except for two: the four-winged Baldwin Tower in the foreground of this photo; and the two-story manufactory seen on the middle left of this photo which now serves Aero Aggregates of North America."

 

BaldwinParkPhilly
"By 1907, BLW had maximized its use of the buildings it then had in our neighborhood. Adding extra floors to buildings still did not allow enough room for turning out six locomotives per day. Construction in Eddystone, just south of the current airport, began on 564 acres of land. The view here from 1918 shows access by rail and ships."

The plant was obviously served by Pennsy and Reading. And then I saw the connector from the B&O that goes down along the Crum River to the plant.

1944/44 Bridgeport Quad @ 31,680

Allan C Wirkkala posted
At Baldwin Locomotive Factory. Shared.

51:57 video @ 0:22llll
The Dark Story of the Baldwin Locomotive Factory: The Steam Giant That Once Ruled America
In 1925, they built the first diesel locomotive. But executives refused to pursue it.
[I quit watching at 16:15. The ratio of information to platitudes was too low.]

Power Plant

Street View, Jul 2024

They evidently don't need much of a smokestack to burn natural gas and oil.

Mining #Shorts posted
Pennsylvania’s Eddystone Generating Station was supposed to be winding down.

Instead, two of its aging units are being kept available into 2026, as reported by Reuters on May 21, 2026.

The U.S. Department of Energy has ordered Constellation Energy and PJM Interconnection to keep Eddystone Units 3 and 4 operating through August 22, 2026.

The units total 760 megawatts and can run on natural gas or oil.

They were originally scheduled to retire on May 31, 2025, but federal officials have now extended their life more than once.

The reason is grid reliability.

PJM, the nation’s largest power grid operator, has been dealing with rising demand, tighter reserve margins and concerns over power plant retirements.

Eddystone is old, but it still sits near one of America’s most important load centers, outside Philadelphia.

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Photo: Google Earth