Which builder made The General steam locomotive in December 1855?

Rogers, Ketchum & Grosvenor built The General steam locomotive in December 1855.

The locomotive was constructed in Paterson, New Jersey, for the Western & Atlantic Railroad. It was a 4-4-0 “American” type engine, a common configuration in the early railroad era because it balanced useful speed with the ability to handle relatively light track. The General was one of several locomotives produced by the young American locomotive industry before the Civil War.

Its builder’s name is sometimes shortened to Rogers Locomotive Works, but that later name can create a chronology problem. The company was founded by Thomas Rogers, and the December 1855 locomotive was produced under the Rogers, Ketchum & Grosvenor partnership. Rogers Locomotive Works became the better-known corporate identity afterward.

The General gained lasting fame not from its original construction but from its seizure during Andrews’ Raid in 1862. Mason Machine Works and Baldwin Locomotive Works were major locomotive builders, but neither built this particular engine. Lima Locomotive Works came much later and built Southern Pacific 4449.