General Electric Dan Patch Electric Locomotive

General Electric Erie Works and Dan Patch Electric Train postcard courtesy of Jim Peters.

The sprawling GE Transportation Systems Erie Works campus is shown in the top picture on this postcard. GE is bordered by Franklin Avenue, East Lake Road, Water Street and the Conrail railroad tracks on the south.

The center photo shows a gas electric motor car made by General Electric for the Dan Patch Electric Lines, run by the Minneapolis, St. Paul, Rochester & Dubuque Electric Traction Company.

The bottom photo, billed as the Largest Electric Locomotive in the World, shows the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway Company locomotive No. 10203. This 3,000 volt engine was GE locomotive No. 5028. Go train spotting for more C.M. & St. P engines in General Electric promotional photographs.

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General Electric Erie Locomotive Plant Philosophy

General Electric in Erie, Pennsylvania held an open house on June 12, 1960 to celebrate the company's 50th anniversary. Visitors to the plant at 2901 East Lake Road received a 24-page booklet which told the history of the Erie plant. What follows are excerpts from the document entitled Welcome Visitor.

"We at General Electric's Erie Plant are pleased to have you as our guest. As a consumer, you're probably already familiar with GE television sets, radios, appliances, and light bulbs. But General Electric at Erie also means locomotives and generators, ferrous and non-ferrous castings- products that are basic to transportation, industry and defense all over the world. 

The headquarters of the Company's Motor and Generator Division is at the Erie Plant. The Direct Current Motor and Generator Department, Locomotive and Car Equipment Department, and Erie Relations and Utilities Operation are assigned to the Motor and Generator Division. Two other GE operations at the Erie Plant are the Erie Foundries and Erie Reconditioning Shop...

We hope that we have given you a better idea of what we do at General Electric's Erie Plant- the products we make, and the philosophy we try to live by. In the interest of all of our five 'Partners in Progress,' we try:

To give EMPLOYEES a good job at a fair wage under capable and trained supervision- in return for their attendance, skill, care and effort.

To give CUSTOMERS a good product at a fair price- in return for their business and loyalty.

To give LOCAL SUPPLIERS all the business we can- in return for quality products and skilled services.

To give SHAREOWNERS an equitable return on their money- in return for their investment in the Company.

To give you, our COMMUNITY NEIGHBORS, our full cooperation as a corporate citizen- in return for your continuing efforts to keep the Erie area a good place in which to work and live."

Note: GE made howitzers for the Army during World War II. Read about the 75mm weapons here:  GE Howitzers

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GE Made Howitzers in Erie During WWII

General Electric made howitzers in Erie during World War II and chances are that someone in your family played a part in the wartime effort. Employment at the Erie Works of General Electric jumped from 5,675 people in 1940 to 9,544 persons during World War II. Between 1946 and 1951, employment averaged 15,031 workers per year.

Back to the howitzers. I remember hearing people talk about this, and I finally found proof in a GE pamphlet published in August of 1941. The text is as follows:

"On machines previously used for making electric motors for street cards and locomotives, skilled machinists at the General Electric Erie Plant are producing the latest 75-millimeter pack howitzers for the United States Army.

The size of the howitzer- it is only 47 inches long- permitted boring operations to be performed on turret lathes already in the plant, and with few changes, other tools on hand were adapted for the work. As production was stepped up it was necessary to add some new machines; special rifling equipment had to be installed. But assembly-line production has been underway for some months, with the men who formerly made motors now making howitzers.

Maximum portability and striking power for its weight and complete interchangeability of parts are features of the pack howitzer. It was originally designed for mule transport, but the new type of howitzer is now towed on pneumatic tires by motorized troops. Some batteries have even been carried by airplane on maneuvers.

This weapon hurls a 15-pound shell nearly three inches in diameter more than five miles. One of its special features is its ability to drop its projectiles accurately behind hills, buildings or other obstructions. It can be quickly disassembled and reassembled with interchangeable parts.

All through production, parts must be made to exact measurements, as the howitzers must be assembled in the field with few or no tools. Parts must be definite fits, and enormous stresses must be withstood in firing, thus providing a continuous job for the Army inspectors. These men see the individual parts as they are finished; they inspect them after they have been given their final polish; they are present at the last tests before the guns are put in packing cases.

At the final tests the individual parts are assembled and reassembled at random to prove their interchangeability, and three rounds of primers in empty shell cases are then fired in each howitzer to check the breech mechanism. The guns are then ready to be shipped out for their mountings, recoil mechanisms and other parts not made in Erie."

This leads to the next question...were the howitzers tested on the shores of Lake Erie?

Note: Click here to read about the philosophy of the Erie Plant here: GE circa 1960

Enjoy more historic facts and photos of Erie, PA at: Old Time Erie