Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Guide to the Lima Locomotive Works, Inc., Service Department Records

Summary

Collection ID:
NMAH.AC.1180
Creators:
Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton Corporation
Lima Railroad, Inc.
Dates:
1919-1949
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
3 Cubic feet
17 boxes
Repository:
The Service Department Records document the activity of the service and sales department of Lima Locomotive Works. Lima Locomotive Works manufactured Shay Locomotives in Lima, Ohio, from 1879 to 1980 when production ended. This collection contains cards describing the purchasing and selling of Shay Locomotives, maintenance of the locomotives, and sales calls made by the company.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The Lima Locomotive Works, Inc., Service Department Records document the activity of the service and sales department of Lima Locomotive Works. The records consist of 5" x 7" cards.
Scope and Contents
The Lima Locomotive Works, Inc., Service Department Records document the activity of the service and sales department of Lima Locomotive Works. The records consist of 5" x 7" cards.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The collection is one series with sixteen subseries.
Series 1, Service Department Records, 1919-1949
Subseries 1.1, Locomotive Number, undated
Subseries 1.2, Town Cards, 1919-1949
Subseries 1.3, Shay Locomotives in the United States, 1919-1949
Subseries 1.4, Shay Locomotives in Canada, 1919-1949
Subseries 1.5, Shay Locomotives in Foreign Countries, 1919-1949
Subseries 1.6, Direct Locomotives in the United States, 1919-1949
Subseries 1.7, United States Dead Files, 1919-1949
Subseries 1.8, Foreign Dead Files, 1919-1949
Subseries 1.9, Locomotive by United States Location, 1919-1949
Subseries 1.10, Locomotive by Canadian Location, 1919-1949
Subseries 1.11, Locomotive by Foreign Location, 1919-1949
Subseries 1.12, Inactive Shay Locomotive Owners, 1919-1949
Subseries 1.13, Visit Records, 1919-1949
Subseries 1.14, Dead Shay Ownership Cards, 1919-1949
Subseries 1.15, Road Repairs in the United States, 1919-1949
Subseries 1.16, Road Repairs in Canada, 1919-1949

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Founded in 1879, Lima Locomotive Works manufactured locomotives in Lima, Ohio. James Alley contracted the Lima Locomotive Works (then Lima Machine Works) to build the locomotive designed by Ephraim Shay. A few years later, the first Shay Geared Steam Locomotive was off the production line and on the rails. The Shay Geared Steam Locomotive became an especially popular mode of transporting lumber not only in the United States, but world wide. What made it different was the unusual cylinder arrangement. Two vertical cylinders drove a crankshaft, which in turn drove a pair of geared trucks through a system of universal joints and sliding shafts. By the 1940s, companies were seeking out a faster mode of rail transportation, and the Lima Locomotive Works ceased production of the Shay Geared Steam Locomotive and began its Diesel Locomotive line.
In 1947, General Machinery Corporation and Lima merged to form the Lima-Hamilton Corporation. By this time, the corporation focused solely on the Diesel Locomotives, but still faltered. The Lima-Hamilton Corporation merged with Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1950 to form Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton (BLH). Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton discontinued the production of the Lima-Hamilton's Diesel Locomotive, and only produced Baldwin's Diesel. Unable to keep up with its competitors, BLH stopped all locomotive production in 1956, and in 1980, BLH finally closed its operations.

Administration

Author
Rebecca Farris (intern) and Jennifer Burger (intern); supervised by Alison Oswald, archivist
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Unknown.
Processing Information
Processed by Rebecca Farris (intern) and Jennifer Burger (intern), December, 2009; supervised by Alison Oswald, archivist.
Custodial History
Transferred to the Archives Center from the Division of Work and Industry, October 2009.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research use.
Preferred Citation
Lima Locomotive Works, Inc., Service Department Records, 1919-1949, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Conditions Governing Use
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Railroad companies Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Locomotives Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Business records -- 20th century Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Card files Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ohio Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lima (Ohio) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Work and Industry Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

Archives Center, National Museum of American History
P.O. Box 37012
Suite 1100, MRC 601
Washington, D.C. 20013-7012
archivescenter@si.edu