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Lima Locomotive Works (LLW) was an American firm that manufactured railroad locomotives from the 1870s through the 1950s. The company's name is derived from the location of its main manufacturing plant in
Lima, Ohio Lima ( ) is a city in Allen County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 35,579. It is located in northwest Ohio along Interstate 75 in Ohio, Interstate 75, appr ...
( ). The shops were located between the
Erie Railroad The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Northeastern United States, originally connecting Pavonia Terminal in Jersey City, New Jersey, with Lake Erie at Dunkirk, New York. The railroad expanded west to Chicago following its 1865 ...
main line, the Baltimore & Ohio's Cincinnati-Toledo main line and the
Nickel Plate Road The New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad , abbreviated NYC&St.L, was a railroad that operated in the mid-central United States from 1881 to 1964. Commonly referred to as the "Nickel Plate Road", the railroad served parts of the states of ...
main line and shops. The company produced the Shay geared logging
steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...
, developed by
Ephraim Shay Ephraim Shay (July 17, 1839 – April 19, 1916) was an American merchant, entrepreneur and self-taught railroad engineer who worked in the state of Michigan. He designed the Shay locomotive and patented the type. He licensed it for manufacture ...
, and for William E. Woodard's "Super Power" advanced steam locomotive concept – exemplified by the prototype 2-8-4 Berkshire, Lima demonstrator A-1. In World War II the Lima plant produced the M4A1 version of the
M4 Sherman The M4 Sherman, officially medium tank, M4, was the medium tank most widely used by the United States and Western Allies in World War II. The M4 Sherman proved to be reliable, relatively cheap to produce, and available in great numbers. I ...
tank.


History

In 1878, James Alley contracted the Lima Machine Works to build a steam locomotive that Ephraim Shay had designed. In April 1880, Lima rebuilt Ephraim Shay's original design, using vertically side-mounted pistons mounted on the right, connected to a drive line on the outside of the trucks. The Shay was geared down to provide more slow-moving, pulling ability for use in the lumber industry. The first Shay locomotive was built in 1880; it 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 lumbermen 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. Then, with initial demand for low-speed geared locomotives well on the way to being sated, and the new facilities in place, Lima moved into the heavy locomotive field.


Super Power

Success returned to Lima in the 1920s with the new concept of "Super Power" developed by Lima's mechanical engineer William E. Woodard. By making a number of significant changes to maximize a steam locomotive's capacity to generate and utilize steam, Woodard was able to make such locomotives significantly more powerful and faster. He did this by starting in 1922 with the H-10 experimental heavy
2-8-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles and two trailing wh ...
design for the
New York Central The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...
(Michigan Central 8000) and applying both relatively new science (the Cole ratios), and every efficiency-enhancing tool available – a larger firebox, increased superheat, a feedwater heater, improved drafting, higher boiler pressure, streamlined steam passages and a trailing-truck booster engine, and by applying limited cutoff (the range of steam valve admission settings) to prevent locomotive engineers from using excessive steam at starting. The 2-8-2 thus produced was demonstrated to be 26% more efficient overall than its immediate predecessor, and the NYC bought 301 locomotives. A large increase in firebox area (from on the H-10 to on the A-1), characteristic of his work, necessitated adding another axle to the
trailing truck On a steam locomotive, a trailing wheel or trailing axle is generally an unpowered wheel or axle (Wheelset (rail transport), wheelset) located behind the driving wheels. The axle of the trailing wheels is usually located in a trailing Bogie, t ...
, thus creating the
2-8-4 Under the Whyte notation, a 2-8-4 is a steam locomotive that has two unpowered leading wheels, followed by eight coupled and powered driving wheels, and four trailing wheels. This locomotive type is most often referred to as a Berkshire, thoug ...
wheel arrangement. Built in the spring of 1925, the demonstrator owned by Lima was dubbed the A-1. In addition to supporting the very large firebox and grate, the four-wheeled trailing truck carried the ash pan. For this purpose, the truck was redesigned as an articulated extension of the locomotive frame. The result was an ash pan that could hold more ash, allowing the locomotive to travel farther between cleanings. For roads that burned coal, this was a significant innovation. But it was not without tradeoffs. The articulated frame reduced weight on the driving wheels, which did not aid tractive effort (pulling ability). The locomotives so configured also had more difficulty staying on the rails in reverse, particularly through yard trackwork like switch frogs. The locomotive quickly proved to be 26-30% more efficient than the New York Central H-10. After a highly successful series of tests in the mid-1920s it was sent around the country to make the idea of "Super Power" known. The first forty-five were purchased by New York Central's subsidiary Boston & Albany following initial road testing across the summit of the Berkshire Hills, and so the
2-8-4 Under the Whyte notation, a 2-8-4 is a steam locomotive that has two unpowered leading wheels, followed by eight coupled and powered driving wheels, and four trailing wheels. This locomotive type is most often referred to as a Berkshire, thoug ...
wheel arrangement came to be known as the "
Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...
" on most railroads. The prototype itself was later sold to the
Illinois Central The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, is a railroad in the Central United States. Its primary routes connected Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama, and thus, the Great Lak ...
as part of an order for 50 similar locomotives. Woodard summed up "Super Power" by defining it as "horsepower at speed". Previous design principles emphasized tractive effort (pulling ability) rather than speed. By 1949 some 613 Berkshires had been constructed for North American service, of which 20 are preserved – at least two in operating condition ( Nickel Plate Road 765 and Pere Marquette 1225), both Lima products. There were at least three successive waves of "Super Power". The first began with the New York Central 8000 and the A-1, and included
Missouri Pacific The Missouri Pacific Railroad , commonly abbreviated as MoPac, was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the Mississippi River. MoPac was a Class I railroad growing from dozens of predecessors and mergers. In 1967, the railroad ...
2-8-4s and
Texas & Pacific The Texas and Pacific Railway Company (known as the T&P) was created by federal charter in 1871 with the purpose of building a southern transcontinental railroad between Marshall, Texas, and San Diego, California. However its lines never went we ...
2-10-4 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, a locomotive has two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a Bissel truck, ten coupled driving wheels on five axles, and four trailing wheels on two axles, usually in a bog ...
s. These locomotives had conventional 63" driving wheels. In 1927, the
Erie Railroad The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Northeastern United States, originally connecting Pavonia Terminal in Jersey City, New Jersey, with Lake Erie at Dunkirk, New York. The railroad expanded west to Chicago following its 1865 ...
took delivery of a "second-phase" Berkshire with 70" driving wheels, capable not only of great power but higher speed; in turn, this design evolved into the Chesapeake & Ohio T-1
2-10-4 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, a locomotive has two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a Bissel truck, ten coupled driving wheels on five axles, and four trailing wheels on two axles, usually in a bog ...
s of 1930, with 69" driving wheels. The "third-phase" of the later 1930s and war years can be identified with locomotives such as the homebuilt N&W
2-6-6-4 In the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotive wheel arrangement, a 2-6-6-4 is a locomotive with a two-wheel leading truck, two sets of six driving wheels, and a four-wheel trailing truck. All 2-6-6-4s are simple articulated loco ...
s, C&O/Virginian 2-6-6-6 and virtually all American 4-8-4s. Boiler pressures rose as high as 310 lbs/sq.in.;
thermic siphon Thermic siphons (alt. thermic syphons) are Heat-exchanger, heat-exchanging elements in the Firebox (steam engine), firebox or Combustion chamber#Steam engine, combustion chamber of some steam boiler and steam locomotive designs. As they are dire ...
s added to the firebox and combustion chamber added 8% to the efficiency of the boiler; roller bearings appeared on main axle boxes and sometimes on running gear. And the "Super Power" concept had extended to other builders such as
Alco The American Locomotive Company (often shortened to ALCO, ALCo or Alco) was an American manufacturer that operated from 1901 to 1969, initially specializing in the production of locomotives but later diversifying and fabricating at various time ...
(the
Union Pacific Big Boy The Union Pacific Big Boy is a type of simple articulated locomotive, articulated 4-8-8-4 steam locomotive manufactured by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) between 1941 and 1944 and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad in revenue service ...
) and Baldwin (the Santa Fe 5001- and 5011-class
2-10-4 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, a locomotive has two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a Bissel truck, ten coupled driving wheels on five axles, and four trailing wheels on two axles, usually in a bog ...
s). The four-wheel trailing truck became the standard for large locomotives (i.e.,
4-8-4 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles and four trailing wheels on two axles. The type wa ...
,
2-10-4 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, a locomotive has two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a Bissel truck, ten coupled driving wheels on five axles, and four trailing wheels on two axles, usually in a bog ...
,
4-6-6-4 In the Whyte notation for classifying steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, a 4-6-6-4 is a railroad steam locomotive that has four leading wheels followed by two sets of six coupled driving wheels and four trailing wheels. 4-6-6-4's are comm ...
,
2-8-8-4 A 2-8-8-4 steam locomotive, under the Whyte notation, has two leading wheels, two sets of eight driving wheels, and a four-wheel trailing truck. The type was generally named the ''Yellowstone'', a name given it by the first owner, the Northern Pa ...
), though the articulated main frame did not. Many railroads, particularly roads like the Santa Fe (which favored oil-burning locomotives and, therefore, did not need the oversized ash pan), adopted many of the "Super Power" features but utilized a conventional full frame and separate trailing truck. The construction of the first 2-8-4 locomotive is documented in David Weitzman's book, Superpower: Making of a steam locomotive. David also explains some of the innovations it made at the time.


Decline

While delivering the first group of 2-6-6-6 locomotives in 1941, Lima miscalculated and misrepresented the locomotives' weight. Maintenance crews recalculated the weight, and discovered that the H-8s weighed , which was thousands of pounds heavier than Lima first claimed. The train crews that worked with the H-8s, who were getting paid based on the locomotives' weight on the
driving wheels On a steam locomotive, a driving wheel is a powered wheel which is driven by the locomotive's pistons (or turbine, in the case of a steam turbine locomotive). On a conventional, non-articulated locomotive, the driving wheels are all coupled tog ...
at the time, started seeing this misrepresentation as an attack on their livelihood. The C&O was forced to pay their crews thousands of dollars to make up for lost payment, and they subsequently sued Lima for over $3 million in 1944. Lima also lost their pride in building fine machinery, and they would subsequently lose more money within the following years. In April 1947, the firm merged with General Machinery Corporation of
Hamilton, Ohio Hamilton is a city in Butler County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Located north of Cincinnati along the Great Miami River, Hamilton is the second-most populous city in the Cincinnati metropolitan area and the List of municipaliti ...
, to form the Lima-Hamilton Corporation. Lima-Hamilton’s last steam locomotive was
Nickel Plate Road The New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad , abbreviated NYC&St.L, was a railroad that operated in the mid-central United States from 1881 to 1964. Commonly referred to as the "Nickel Plate Road", the railroad served parts of the states of ...
No.
779 __NOTOC__ Year 779 ( DCCLXXIX) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 779 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europ ...
, a 2-8-4 "Berkshire", which left the erecting halls in May 1949. That same year, Lima promoted a new wheel arrangement, the 4-8-6. This would have allowed an even larger firebox than the 4-8-4. No example of the type was built, however. From 1949 to 1951, Lima-Hamilton produced a total of 175 diesel locomotives, in 7 different
models A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided int ...
. In 1951, Lima-Hamilton merged with
Baldwin Locomotive Works The Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) was an American manufacturer of railway locomotives from 1825 to 1951. Originally located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, it moved to nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania, Eddystone in the early 20th century. The com ...
to form Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton (BLH). The Lima-Hamilton line of diesels was discontinued, in favor of Baldwin's existing line. Though Lima and Baldwin had been known for high-quality steam locomotives, their line of
diesel-electric locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the power source is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving whee ...
s was unable to compete with EMD,
Alco The American Locomotive Company (often shortened to ALCO, ALCo or Alco) was an American manufacturer that operated from 1901 to 1969, initially specializing in the production of locomotives but later diversifying and fabricating at various time ...
, and GE. BLH left the locomotive business in 1956. For a time,
Clark Equipment Company Clark Equipment Company was an American designer, manufacturer, and seller of industrial and construction machinery and equipment. History Clark's predecessor was the George R. Rich Manufacturing Company, founded in 1903 in Chicago, Illinoi ...
manufactured Lima-brand construction cranes in the old plant. Most of the company's records and builder's drawings have been transferred and are housed in the
California State Railroad Museum The California State Railroad Museum is a museum in the California State Parks system that interprets the role of railroads in the Western U.S. It is located in Old Sacramento State Historic Park at 111 I Street, Sacramento, California. Featu ...
's library in
Sacramento, California Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...
.


Preserved steam locomotives

Many Lima-built steam locomotives have been preserved across the United States and around the world. Numerous Lima-built engines are still operational, especially Shay-type locomotives, examples of which operate at the
Colorado Railroad Museum The Colorado Railroad Museum is a non-profit railway museum, railroad museum. The museum is located along the former Colorado and Southern Railway line on at a point where Clear Creek (Colorado), Clear Creek flows between North and South Table ...
, the
Cass Scenic Railroad Cass Scenic Railroad State Park is a state park and heritage railroad located in Cass, Pocahontas County, West Virginia. It consists of the Cass Scenic Railroad, a long 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge heritage railway owned by the ...
, the Georgetown Loop Railroad, the Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad, and the Roaring Camp and Big Trees Narrow Gauge Railroad. Other widely known preserved Lima-built steam locomotives include
Southern Pacific 4449 Southern Pacific 4449, also known as the Daylight, is the only surviving example of the Southern Pacific Railroad's GS-4 class of 4-8-4 ''Northern'' type steam locomotives and one of only two streamlined GS class locomotives preserved, the oth ...
, Nickel Plate Road 765, Pere Marquette 1225, Chesapeake and Ohio 614,
Texas and Pacific 610 Texas and Pacific 610, also known as ''Will Rogers'', is a I-1AR class 2-10-4 "Texas" type steam locomotive. It is the only surviving example of the Texas and Pacific Railway's (T&P) class I-1AR 2-10-4 locomotives. Built by the Lima Locomotive W ...
, Atlanta and West Point 290, Boston and Maine 3713, Tioga Lumber Company Shay C/N 1568 in Harrod, Ohio, and Chesapeake & Ohio 1601 - an Allegheny locomotive displayed indoors at
The Henry Ford The Henry Ford (also known as the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation and Greenfield Village, and as the Edison Institute) is a history museum complex in Dearborn, Michigan, United States, within Metro Detroit. The museum collection contai ...
Museum in
Dearborn, Michigan Dearborn is a city in Wayne County, Michigan, Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring Metro Detroit, suburb of Detroit, Dearborn borders Detroit to the south and west, roughly west of downtown Detroit. In the 2020 United States ...
. Examples of preserved Lima-built locomotives outside of the U.S. include the
USATC S160 Class The United States Army Transportation Corps S160 Class is a class of 2-8-0, 2-8-0 Consolidation steam locomotive, designed for heavy freight work in Europe during World War II. A total of 2,120 were built and they worked on railroads across much ...
5197 at the Churnet Valley Railway in Staffordshire, UK, as well as a former US Army 0-6-0 switcher no. 4076 built in 1944 that resides at the Heritage Park Historical Village in Calgary, Alberta.


Timeline

* 1877: Lima Machine Works is established to produce agricultural and sawmill equipment. * 1878: Lima Machine Works builds the first Shay type locomotive. * 1892: Lima Machine Works reorganizes and emerges as Lima Locomotive & Machine Company. * 1911: Lima begins manufacturing locomotives for
Class I railroad Railroad classes are the system by which Rail freight transport, freight railroads are designated in the United States. Railroads are assigned to Class I, II or III according to annual revenue criteria originally set by the Surface Transportatio ...
s. * 1912: Another reorganization and Lima emerges as Lima Locomotive Corporation. * 1916: Joel Coffin and Samuel G. Allen purchase Lima; the company is renamed Lima Locomotive Works. * 1922: Woodard's 2-8-2 NYC 8000, ancestor of "Super Power", is delivered. * 1925: Woodard's A-1, the prototype "Super Power" Berkshire type, takes to the rails. * 1942: Lima Locomotive Works was first company that started manufacturing M4A1 Sherman in February 1942 for British use.R. P. Hunnicutt, Sherman - A History of the American Medium Tank, pg. 124 *1944: Lima was sued for over 3 million dollars by the C&O. This lawsuit would kickstart Lima’s decline. * 1947: Lima is merged with General Machinery Corporation of
Hamilton, Ohio Hamilton is a city in Butler County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Located north of Cincinnati along the Great Miami River, Hamilton is the second-most populous city in the Cincinnati metropolitan area and the List of municipaliti ...
. The new company is named Lima-Hamilton Corporation on July 30, 1947. * 1949: L-H’s last steam locomotive ( NKP 779) is completed on May 13, 1949. Lima-Hamilton begins production of Diesel locomotives. Unsuccessful promotion of the 4-8-6. Production of Cranes and other construction equipment continues at the Lima plant. * 1951: Lima-Hamilton is merged with
Baldwin Locomotive Works The Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) was an American manufacturer of railway locomotives from 1825 to 1951. Originally located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, it moved to nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania, Eddystone in the early 20th century. The com ...
on September 11, 1951. The new company is named Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton Corporation. L-H completes its last diesel,
Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy," was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its ...
A-3177 #5683 on September 12, 1951. * 1956: Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton exits the locomotive market on May 5, 1956, BLH completes its last diesel, Kaiser Bauxite Company RS-12 #104, exported to Jamaica. *1972: Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton goes bankrupt in April, its assets are acquired by the Greyhound Corporation. * 1980: Production of cranes and construction equipment ends, Lima factory closed and sold. * 1998: The former Lima erecting shed and heavy Shay shops are torn down and broken up.


See also

* List of Lima-Hamilton diesel locomotives


References


''Steam Locomotive Builders''

''Lima Locomotive Works and Super Power steam''
''Trains'' Magazine

* * Neil L. Carlson, "Super-Power: Building a Mighty Mikado", Trains Magazine, May 2000. * Neil L. Carlson, "Super-Power: From Berkshire to Big Boy", Trains Magazine, June 2000. * David Weitzman, SUPERPOWER: The making of a steam locomotive. Lincoln, Massachusetts, 1987.


External links


Preserved Lima steam locomotive list

Shay locomotives
{{Coord, 40.71714, N, 84.10961, W, display=title Lima, Ohio Industrial buildings and structures in Ohio Defunct locomotive manufacturers of the United States