Lima builder's plate, 1918 Lima Locomotive Works manufactured railroad locomotives from the 1870s through the 1950s. The company took the most distinctive part of its name from its main shops location in Lima, OH. The shops were located between the Baltimore & Ohio's Cincinnati-Toledo mainline and the Nickel Plate Road mainline and shops. The company is best known for producing the Shay type of locomotive.
In 1878 Ephraim Shay contacted the Lima Machine Works to build a new steam locomotive that he had designed. Instead of using rods like the current locomotives the Shay was geared to provide more pulling ability for use in the lumber industry. The first Shay locomotive was built in 1878 and was such a success that many people in the lumber industry wanted one. To accommodate the new demand for the locomotive Shay licensed the right to build his locomotive to the Lima Machine Works, which expanded and began to ship Shay locomotives to lumberman across the frontier. Two years later locomotives were the main product being produced by the Lima Machine Works, which would produce over 300 locomotives during the next ten years.
After a serious fire, a new shop was opened in 1902 and Shay production continued. However, as railroads began to recognize that speed was as important as efficiency in freight service, the Shay was rendered obsolete. With no option, Lima began constructing conventional steam locomotives.
What did bring success back to Lima was the new concept of "superpower" developed by Lima's mechanical engineer William E. Woodard. By making significant changes to the boiler system by increasing the bolier's capacity to generate steam, he was able to make the locomotives more powerful. He did this by adding another axle to the trailing truck to support a 100-square-foot grate, creating the 2-8-4 wheel arrangement, which came to be known as the Berkshire on most railroads. He summed up superpower by defining it as "horsepower at speed." It was named the A-1 locomotive and after a highly successful series of tests it was sent around the country to make the idea of superpower known.
The A-1 was a pioneering locomotive in what became known as the Super Power movement, which revolutionized steam locomotive design. The other two builders ultimately embraced many of Lima's principles; four-wheel trailing truck became standard for large locomotives. Although there were many successful Super Power designs, perhaps the most famous were Lima's 2-8-4's for Nickel Plate, streamlined 4-8-4s for Southern Pacific and mammoth 2-6-6-6 Alleghenies for the Chesapeake & Ohio and the Virginian.
In 1947, the firm merged with General Machinery Corporation of Hamilton, Ohio, to form Lima-Hamilton.
Lima's last locomotive was Nickel Plate No. 779, a 2-8-4 "Berkshire," which left the erecting halls in 1949.
In 1951, Lima Hamilton merged with Baldwin Locomotive Works to form Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton.
For a time, Clark Equipment Company manufactured Lima-brand construction cranes in the old plant. Most of the company's records and builder's drawings are now housed in the California State Railroad Museum's library in Sacramento, CA.
Timeline
- 1869: Lima Machine Works is established to produce agricultural and sawmill equipment.
- 1878: Lima Machine Works builds the first Shay type locomotive.
- 1891: Lima Machine Works reorganizes and emerges as Lima Locomotive & Machine Company.
- 1911: Lima begins manufacturing locomotives for Class 1 railroads.
- 1912: Another reorganization and Lima emerges as Lima Locomotive Corporation.
- 1916: Joel Coffin purchases Lima; the company is renamed Lima Locomotive Works.
- 1947: Lima is merged with General Machinery Corporation of Hamilton, OH. The new company is named Lima-Hamilton.
- 1951: Lima-Hamilton is merged with Baldwin Locomotive Works. The new company is named Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton.
- 1998: The former Lima erecting shed and heavy Shay shops are razed.
References
Lima Locomotive Works
External links
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