Business Magnate. Inventor. Philantropist. He started working as a shop foreman at Baldwin Locomotive Works, and eventually became the company's president and board chairman. He developed the four-cylinder compound steam engine which increased the fuel efficiency of the locomotive. During World War I, he chaired both the Locomotive and Car Committee on the Council of National Defense and the Special Advisory Committee on Plants and Munitions of the War Industries Board. During the war, Baldwin built locomotives for war effort and oversaw the Remington Rifle Company which produced munitions in Eddystone, Pennsylvania. In 1919, as president of the Baldwin Locomotive Works, he sent nearly $7 million in locomotives to postwar Poland; they were sent on credit. His board of directors considered the action a bad business deal. Baldwin, itself, could be in financial trouble, because the end of World War I, brought an end to Baldwin's market for munitions and wartime locomotives. To the directors' surprise, Poland repaid the debt with its last payment in August of 1929. During the course of the loan, principal and interest were paid on or before the payment date. Vauclain believed that "to be a good businessman is to be an optimist." It was during Vauclain's tenure as preseident that Baldwin moved its facilities from Broad and Spring Garden Streets in Philadelphia to the Eddystone plant. He was a founding member of the Kosciuszko Foundation. He was married to Ann Kearney. The S.M. Vauclain Fire Company in Ridley Township, Pennsylvania was named in recognition of Vauclain's support and donations of equipment. In 1920 he was named an honorary member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
Business Magnate. Inventor. Philantropist. He started working as a shop foreman at Baldwin Locomotive Works, and eventually became the company's president and board chairman. He developed the four-cylinder compound steam engine which increased the fuel efficiency of the locomotive. During World War I, he chaired both the Locomotive and Car Committee on the Council of National Defense and the Special Advisory Committee on Plants and Munitions of the War Industries Board. During the war, Baldwin built locomotives for war effort and oversaw the Remington Rifle Company which produced munitions in Eddystone, Pennsylvania. In 1919, as president of the Baldwin Locomotive Works, he sent nearly $7 million in locomotives to postwar Poland; they were sent on credit. His board of directors considered the action a bad business deal. Baldwin, itself, could be in financial trouble, because the end of World War I, brought an end to Baldwin's market for munitions and wartime locomotives. To the directors' surprise, Poland repaid the debt with its last payment in August of 1929. During the course of the loan, principal and interest were paid on or before the payment date. Vauclain believed that "to be a good businessman is to be an optimist." It was during Vauclain's tenure as preseident that Baldwin moved its facilities from Broad and Spring Garden Streets in Philadelphia to the Eddystone plant. He was a founding member of the Kosciuszko Foundation. He was married to Ann Kearney. The S.M. Vauclain Fire Company in Ridley Township, Pennsylvania was named in recognition of Vauclain's support and donations of equipment. In 1920 he was named an honorary member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
Bio by: rjschatz
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