Samuel Matthews Vauclain (1856–1940) was an American engineer, locomotive manufacturer, industrialist, and international businessman. He was the inventor of the Vauclain compound steam locomotive and president of the Baldwin Locomotive Works.
Born in Port Richmond, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Vauclain was 16 when he started apprenticing with his father, Andrew Constant Vauclain, in the machine shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad. When he was 24, Vauclain was sent to study locomotives at the Baldwin Locomotive Works, becoming the general supervisor of a factory in just three years. Vauclain quickly moved up through the company as plant superintendent in 1886, member of the board of directors in 1896, vice-president in 1911, vice-president in 1917, president in 1919, and chairman of the board in 1929, serving until death.
Vauclain was the inventor of the Vauclain compound locomotive. His sales skills generated lucrative production deals with the United States and Russia, France and Britain, and other World War I allies. Combining his vision for Baldwin with his support of post-war rehabilitation in Europe, Vauclain expanded Baldwin into 12 countries, transforming it into one of the world’s largest locomotive producers.
Vauclain’s Autobiography is Steaming Up (1930.) Marvin W. Smith wrote the biography Courageous Pioneer, Believer in America! (1952.) The University of Texas hosts Samuel M. Vauclain Papers, a collection of business and personal notebooks, business correspondence, newspaper clippings, photographs, charts, and sketches.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Samuel M. Vauclain
If you don’t get a kick out of the job you’re doing you’d better hunt for another one.
—Samuel M. Vauclain
Topics: Jobs, Enjoyment
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