Friday, July 29, 2022

East Pittsburgh, PA: and Wilmerding, PA: Westinghouse Electric and Air Brake Companies

Holtec/Electric: (Satellite)
Wabtec/Air Brake: (Satellite)

Westinghouse Electric


3D Satellite

onview

Jackson-Township historical preservation posted
Western Electric Corporation Plant in East Pittsburgh, Allegheny County in the 1950's. This view is from the Westinghouse Bridge on Route 30, East of Pittsburgh. The Plant employs over 15,000 people, engaged in the manufacture of heavy electrical equipment such as big electric turbine generators. In addition to other achievements, this plant has produced the world's largest electric motors.
Ray Wuslich: Western electric was in East Liberty. All ATT and Bell Telephone equipment was manufactured there. This is Westinghouse Electrics East Pittsburgh plant.
Joseph Bailey: Ray Wuslich Yeah it was...right there at the corner of Penn Avenue and Washington Blvd. But I don't think they made their equipment there just refurbish phones and other equipment.
Ron Walko: No such thing as an electric turbine generators. Westinghouse produced the generators and exciters for large steam turbines . Erroneous information all around.
Westinghouse’s large steam turbine’s were manufactured by their Steam Turbine Division in Philadelphia.
[I've seen a lot of posts from "Jackson-Township historical preservation," and this is the first time I've seen such significant errors in a description from that outfit. Talk about a bad day. Some comments basically said it is not AI because AI is not that stupid. I don't understand why humans are not correcting the description.]

The plant was just Northeast of the George Westinghouse Bridge.
1933 Photo from U of Michigan Lincoln Highway Collection via BridgeHunter via Dennis DeBruler
 
Jackson-Township historical preservation posted
Westinghouse Works located at Trafford Park in East Pittsburgh, Allegheny County.
(Photo from Linda Dacierno)
Michael Andrew Odorisio: Trafford Park is in the UK, not Allegheny County. Westinghouse had identical office buildings in East Pittsburgh and Trafford Park. Interesting enough for that fact, though.
 
Brian Olson posted
Here is to my grandma's former employer, Westinghouse East Pittsburgh.  Prior to 1973 many a large horsepower mill motors were supplied from this location  Today this work is done by Teco Westinghouse in Round Rock, TX.

Jeff Yinzer Wood posted three photos with the comment: "Inside the old Westinghouse air brake mill that is now Holtec. That's the original crane from its start."
Andrew Stewart: Actually that was Westinghouse Electric in East Pittsburgh, Westinghouse Air Brake is still in operation in Wilmerding.
Bill Aguilera: Riveted fish belly. Ours in the department were installed in 1912 and running also.
Linda Hudson: We used to load MPC units (tanks) that went to nuclear power plants out of there Holtec ...the power plants put the nuclear waste in them.
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Jackson-Township historical preservation posted
Electric locomotives under construction at the Westinghouse Electric Works Corporation at East Pittsburgh, Allegheny County around 1920. After introducing the alternating current locomotive, first demonstrated in the East Pittsburgh Railway Yards in 1905, Westinghouse manufactured electric locomotives in Pittsburgh and set up a division for the electrification of the nation's railroad lines. (Photo from http://explorepahistory.com/)
History's Mirror posted a different exposure
Electric locomotives under construction at the Westinghouse Electric Works Corporation in East Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, circa 1920. Following the groundbreaking introduction of the alternating current (AC) locomotive, demonstrated in the East Pittsburgh Railway Yards in 1905, Westinghouse became a pioneer in rail electrification. The facility not only produced state-of-the-art electric locomotives but also played a key role in modernizing the nation's railroad infrastructure. This image captures the scale and innovation of the factory floor, where skilled workers assembled locomotives that would revolutionize rail transport across the United States.
 
History's Mirror posted
The Main Works of the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company in East Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, stood as a testament to American industrial ingenuity between 1918 and 1939. This aisle view captures the heart of locomotive production, where massive electric engines were meticulously assembled. Rows of heavy machinery and towering components underscore the scale of operations, while workers focused on their tasks highlight the human element driving this innovation. These locomotives were vital to the electrification of railroads, symbolizing progress and efficiency during a transformative era in transportation history.

Jackson-Township historical preservation posted
View of aisle in the main works of Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company in East Pittsburgh, Allegheny County around 1918-1939. This is where rotary converters, turbo generators and large motors are machined and assembled.
Jack Davis shared
Where some of the steel ended up.
Jennifer Onaitis Legler: After World War II, my dad worked there that was when they created generators for large electrical generating dams. They were so big you could walk through them. We would see them on family day. They were called LRA or large rotating apparatus.

Jackson-Township historical preservation posted
Women operating machines in Section E at the Westinghouse Electric Manufacturing Company in East Pittsburgh, Allegheny County around 1900s-1920s.
[Note the line shafts that ran along the front of the operating stations.]


Westinghouse Air Brake


3D Satellite

Jackson-Township historical preservation posted
View of the Westinghouse Air Brake Works in Wilmerding, Allegheny County in 1891. In 1890, George Westinghouse built a plant at Wilmerding, thirteen miles east of Pittsburgh along the Pennsylvania Railroad's Philadelphia-Pittsburgh main line. Soon, the Wilmerding plant sprawled across thirty acres. By 1905, it employed about 3,000 workers who produced 1,000 sets of brakes every day. William Rau took this photograph of the Westinghouse Air-brake works plant in 1891.
(Photo and text from http://explorepahistory.com/)
Jackson-Township historical preservation posted again with the same comment
Derrick Parfitt: Wilmerding Station at the left. [Pennsy]
Daniel C Carroll Jr. shared
Wilderding

Two different people colorized the second posting of the above photo.
Mark Griffith commented on the second post of the above photo.

Brandon Peck commented on the second post of the above photo.

Fort Frick Photography posted
The current day Wabtec (Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies) plant in Wilmerding, Pennsylvania.  
Wilmerding was one of the countries first planned towns as it was established to house workers after George Westinghouse moved his Air Brake plant to the area in 1889.  
Late last year I heard the announcement the plant was set to close by July (it may have already as I haven't heard update), and have been meaning to get back out there since I read the announcement.    I've photographed the historic Machine Shop before (far left), but the last time I was in Wilmerding a few years ago, the General Office Building "Westinghouse Castle' was under construction and couldn't get a photo of it without the scaffolding etc.  I'll hopefully get to those photos soon, and might even go again to redo one angle that I know didn't come out how I wanted.  
Out of all of the "Captains of Industry' of that age, George Westinghouse is one of my favorites the more I read about him.  He was a pioneer in many fields, and generally treated his workers well by all accounts.

Google Maps offered this as the signature photo for the town. I presume that is a likeness of George Westinghouse on the sign.
I.E Xam, Jun 2016

safe_image for Photo
1905 - Machine Shop
Westinghouse Air Brake

safe_house for Photo
Westinghouse Air Brake - 1905
Zoom in on this Masterpiece!  Turtle Creek Valley 

Jackson-Township historical preservation posted
Plant workers at a rally for full production at the Westinghouse plant located in East Pittsburgh, Allegheny County in 1944. With close to 125,000 workers at the height of the war, the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Co. in Pittsburgh was one of the state's largest and most innovative companies. Boasting that it manufactured more that 100,000 products, Westinghouse produced everything from gun mounts to electric power plants for aircraft carriers powerful enough to light a city of 250,000 people. Contributions by engineers in Westinghouse's fabled Research Laboratories included critical breakthroughs in plastics, radar, x-rays, bombsights, and atomic energy. This photo is from the UE News Photograph Collection, Archives Service Center at the University of Pittsburgh.
(Photo and text from http://explorepahistory.com/)


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