Wayne County, North Carolina: Articles

Dewey Brothers, Inc.

Reprinted with permission of the Mt. Olive Tribune and cannot be reproduced without permission.

Dewey Brothers Made Locomotives
"Our Heritage"
By Claude Moore

In 1985, the Dewey Brothers, Inc., of Goldsboro, observed its 100th
anniversary of operation & at that time, I attempted to gather data on the
history of the company. After sifting through newspapers & other sources
I was able to get enough information to compile a booklet of which I could
be proud. I did find much information & one of the findings was that the
company had at one time built locomotives.

During their 100 years the company has built steam engines, boilers, saw
mills, cotton gins, grist mills, cotton presses, shingle machines & wood
working machinery. They made parts for all kinds of machinery.

Dewey Brothers built bridges in the 1920's & during World War II they
furnished materials for military bases & ship building. Since World War II
they have made castings for utilities & other projects.

It was after 1900 that Dewey Brothers began to make small locomotives for
the logging & lumber business. They could be used on iron rails or on wood
rails. The first were built with funnel stacks & were wood burning & later
they made several types which could use coal. During this period the lumber
industry was flourishing from North Carolina to Florida.

There were stands of long leaf pines & virgin cypress. Large saw mill
operations had tram roads which used this type of steam locomotive. After
World War I, many of these operations were closed. The Roller Lumber
Company at Bowden in Duplin County used the Dewey Brothers locomotives.
They had a tram road from Giddensville to Bowden to Warsaw.

Dewey Brothers made most of their own castings for these locomotives. Some
were built for a 36 inch gauge track & others for 56 1/2 inch gauge track.
One advertisement stated that the 56 1/2 inch gauge locomotives had the
following specifications: diameter of wheels, 33 inches; water capacity,
400 gallons; length of boiler, 12 feet 3 inches; fuel capacity, one ton
of coal, one cord of wood; weight, 12 ton hauling capacity, four to six
loaded boxes or flat cars.

During the 100 years, Dewey Brothers has survived & thrived because of its
excellent managerial leadership & the fact that as times changed, they were
able to meet the new challenges & needs of progressive business & industry.

Dewey Brothers has been an important part of our past & still contributes
valuable resources for our present & future..

Contributed by Guy Potts of Raleigh, NC August 2000

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