Lima Locomotive Works
The Lima Machine Works in Lima (Ohio) , USA , were a manufacturer of steam locomotives .
history
Lima was founded in 1869 as a factory for agricultural machinery and sawmills. In 1878 Lima was commissioned to recreate a locomotive based on a concept of a geared locomotive, later called the Shay type, designed by the sawmill owner Ephraim Shay . This first locomotive was delivered from Lima in 1880. In 1881, Shay gave all rights to his design concept to the Lima Machine Works, which subsequently became one of the most important locomotive factories in the USA.
The first Shay machines still had a standing boiler, which resulted in further developments with a horizontal boiler. In 1884 a Shay locomotive was given a third motorized bogie for the first time, and three-cylinder steam engines were also installed to ensure that the side drive shaft ran more smoothly. Around 1900 a Shay locomotive with four motor bogies was delivered, two of which were placed under the tender.
In 1891 the company was reorganized into the Lima Locomotive & Machine Company and in 1912 into the Lima Locomotive Corporation , bought by Joel Coffin in 1916 and renamed Lima Locomotive Works .
During the Second World War , the M4 Sherman was produced near Lima .
Along with Baldwin and ALCO , LIMA became the third largest locomotive manufacturer in the world. With the advent of diesel locomotives at the beginning of the 1940s, neither Lima nor Baldwin and ALCO could use its market power to get started with this technology. In 1945 Lima delivered the last Shay locomotive for the Western Maryland Railway , it had three motor bogies with a weight of 147 tons and a length of 20 meters.
Lima merged in 1947 with the General Machinery Corporation from Hamilton (Ohio) to form the Lima-Hamilton Corporation and in 1951 with the Baldwin Locomotive Works to form the Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton Corporation . The company switched to crane construction in 1968 and was bought by Clark in 1968.
