Milwaukee Locomotive Manufacturing Company

Last updated
Milwaukee Locomotive Manufacturing Company
FoundedOctober 1907;117 years ago (1907-10) in Milwaukee
DefunctJuly 19, 1932 (1932-07-19)
FateAcquired
Successor Geo D. Whitcomb Company
Headquarters
A type "A-2" gasoline locomotive at the North Pacific Lumber Company, Portland, Oregon, 1910 Milwaukee Locomotive Manufacturing Company, type "A-2" gasoline locomotive.png
A type "A-2" gasoline locomotive at the North Pacific Lumber Company, Portland, Oregon, 1910

The Milwaukee Locomotive Manufacturing Company was an American locomotive manufacturer founded in 1907. It specialized in locomotives for industrial railroads, and was one of the first builders of gasoline locomotives for use in the mining industry. [1]

Contents

History

A works photograph of a Milwaukee 5 ton mining locomotive, 1914 Milwaukee Locomotive Mfg. Co. 5 ton locomotive.png
A works photograph of a Milwaukee 5 ton mining locomotive, 1914

The company was founded in October 1907, in Milwaukee, [2] by F.P. Cook, Adolph N. Miller and William W. Plankinton. [3] In 1908, the company leased a new factory in North Milwaukee. [4] The company's first product was the Vanguard, a standard gauge 30 hp yard switcher. [5]

In 1910, it supplied one of the first gasoline locomotives for use in a United States coal mine when it supplied the Midvalley Coal Company of Wilburton with one of its 9-ton Model M-4 locomotives. [6]

Just after the First World War the company produced at least one fire truck for the Walter Company of New York. [7]

Type H locomotive, introduced in 1924 Milwaukee Type H locomotive.png
Type H locomotive, introduced in 1924

In 1924, the company introduced its Type H locomotive. [8]

From at least 1919, [9] the company was operated as a subsidiary of the National Brake and Electric Company of Milwaukee, itself a subsidiary of Westinghouse Air Brake Company. [10] On 19 July 1932, the company was sold to the Geo D. Whitcomb Company where it operated as a subsidiary until 1935. [11]

Preservation

At least three Milwaukee locomotives are known to have been preserved: [2]

Construction numberModelWeightWheel arrangementBuild dateGaugeNotes
462L-306 tons 4 PM 3 ft 4 in (1,016 mm)Worked at Madrid, New Mexico, now in the ownership of the American Industrial Mining Company Museum
407L-30 4 PM 2 ft (610 mm)Worked at the Pacific Coast Borax Co.
L-306 tons 4 PM 3 ft (914 mm)Located in central Pennsylvania

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References

  1. "Gasoline Locomotives for Mines". Transactions. 9. Society of Automobile Engineers (U.S.): 264. 1914.
  2. 1 2 "Milwaukee Locomotive Mfg Co". American Industrial Mining Company Museum.
  3. "New Corporations". Wisconsin State Journal. 13 September 1907. p. 6.
  4. "Notes of the month". Railway Master Mechanic. February 1908. p. 56.
  5. "The Vanguard Gasoline Locomotive". The Iron Age. Vol. 81. 13 February 1908.
  6. "Gasoline Locomotive for Mine Use". Mines and Minerals. Vol. 31. April 1911. p. 542.
  7. Mutza, Wayne (15 October 2020). Engines and Other Apparatus of the Milwaukee Fire Department. McFarland. p. 62.
  8. "The new Milwaukee locomotive". Concrete. January 1924. p. 39.
  9. "West. Airbrake Annual Report". The Pittsburgh Post. 3 April 1920. p. 10.
  10. "Whitcomb Locomotive Co. Buys Milwaukee Concern". Rochelle News. November 17, 1935. p. 5. Archived from the original on 2022-02-26 via Facebook.
  11. "Milwaukee Locomotive in Luxembourg".