In 1841, he opened his own shop adjacent to the B. & O.'s new Mount Clare Shops, along West Pratt Street, between Arlington and Schroeder Streets in southwest Baltimore, with that railroad as his primary customer. He was a pioneer in the development of substituting coal-burning steam locomotives, for the less efficient wood-burners. He was eccentric, and his locomotive business made him independently wealthy. His customer relations were simple—he built engines his way, and you bought them. Bored with the business, and having a design disagreement with the B. & O., he closed his shops, which were later leased to the Hayward, Bartlett, and Co. iron and steel foundries. He went on to do significant work for the Czar's railroad from the new imperial capital St. Petersburg on the Baltic Sea to the old traditional medieval capital of Moscow in central Russia. All of the listed engines are type 0-8-0, called the "Camel." They were all acquired from predecessor roads. Engine sales to the Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad (C. & P.) were recorded in 1863. James Millholland, the C. & P. Master Mechanic, was familiar with keeping these "Camel" engines running, and making improvements to them.
