The American Automobile Industry in World War Two
An American Auto Industry Heritage Tribute by David D Jackson

Overview      Lansing Michigan in World War Two   The U.S. Auto Industry at the Normandy Invasion, June 6, 1944    The U.S. Auto Industry and the B-29 Bomber   U.S. Auto Industry Army-Navy "E" Award Winners   The Complete listing of All Army-Navy "E" Award Winners   Sherman Tanks of the American Auto Industry   Tank Destroyers of the American Auto Industry    M26 Pershing Tanks of the American Auto Industry   M36 Tank Destroyers of the American Auto Industry   Serial Numbers for WWII Tanks built by the American Auto Industry   Surviving LCVP Landing Craft    WWII Landing Craft Hull Numbers   Airborne Extra-Light Jeep Photos  The American Auto Industry vs. the German V-1 in WWII   American Auto Industry-Built Anti-Aircraft Guns in WWII   VT Proximity Manufacturers of WWII   World War One Era Motor Vehicles   National Museum of Military Vehicles  
Revisions   Links

 Automobile and Body Manufacturers:  American Bantam Car Company   Briggs Manufacturing Company   Checker Car Company   Chrysler Corporation   Crosley Corporation   Ford Motor Car Company   General Motors Corporation   Graham-Paige Motors Corporation   Hudson
Motor Car Company   Murray Corporation of America   Nash-Kelvinator   Packard Motor Car Company      Studebaker    Willys-Overland Motors

General Motors Divisions:  AC Spark Plug   Aeroproducts   Allison   Brown-Lipe-Chapin   Buick   Cadillac   Chevrolet   Cleveland Diesel   Delco Appliance   Delco Products   Delco Radio   Delco-Remy   Detroit Diesel   Detroit Transmission   Electro-Motive   Fisher Body   Frigidaire   GM Proving Grounds   GM of Canada   GMC   GMI   Guide Lamp   Harrison Radiator   Hyatt Bearings   Inland   Moraine Products   New Departure   Oldsmobile   Packard Electric   Pontiac   Saginaw Malleable Iron   Saginaw Steering Gear   Southern California Division   Rochester Products   Ternstedt Manufacturing Division   United Motors Service   Vauxhall Motors

 Indiana Companies:  Bailey Products Corporation   Chrysler Kokomo Plant   Continental Steel Corporation  Converto Manufacturing    Cummins Engine Company   Diamond Chain and Manufacturing Company   Delta Electric Company   Durham Manufacturing Company   Farnsworth Television and Radio Corporation   Haynes Stellite Company   Hercules Body Company   Horton Manufacturing Company   Howe Fire Apparatus   J.D. Adams Company   Kokomo Spring Company   Magnavox  
Muncie Gear Works   Pierce Governor Company   Portland Forge and Foundry   Reliance Manufacturing Company   Republic Aviation Corporation - Indiana Division   Ross Gear and Tool Company   S.F. Bowser & Co.   Sherrill Research Corporation   Tokheim Oil Tank and Pump Company   Warner Gear   Wayne Pump Company   Wayne Works

Commercial Truck and Fire Apparatus Manufacturers:  American LaFrance   Autocar  
Biederman Motors Corporation   Brockway Motor Company   Detroit General   Diamond T   Duplex Truck Company   Federal Motor Truck   Four Wheel Drive Auto Company(FWD)   International Harvester   John Bean   Mack Truck   Marmon-Herrington Company   Michigan Power Shovel Company   Oshkosh Motor Truck Corporation   Pacific Car and Foundry   "Quick-Way" Truck Shovel Company   Reo Motor Car Company  Seagrave Fire Apparatus   Sterling Motor Truck Company    Ward LaFrance Truck Corporation   White Motor Company

Aviation Companies:  Abrams Instrument Corporation   Hughes Aircraft Company   Kellett Aviation Corporation   Laister-Kauffman Aircraft Corporation   Naval Aircraft Factory   P-V Engineering Forum, Inc.    Rudolf Wurlitzer Company-DeKalb Division  Schweizer Aircraft Corporation   Sikorsky Division of United Aircraft Corporation   St. Louis Aircraft Corporation   Timm Aircraft Corporation

Other World War Two Manufacturers: 
Air King Products   Allis-Chalmers   American Car and Foundry   American Locomotive   American Stove Company   Annapolis Yacht Yard  
Andover Motors Company   B.F. Goodrich   Baker War Industries   Baldwin Locomotive Works   Blood Brothers Machine Company   Boyertown Auto Body Works   Briggs & Stratton   Caterpillar   Cheney Bigelow Wire Works   Centrifugal Fusing   Chris-Craft   Clark Equipment Company   Cleaver-Brooks Company   Cleveland Tractor Company   Continental Motors   Cushman Motor Works   Crocker-Wheeler   Dail Steel Products   Detroit Wax Paper Company   Detrola   Engineering & Research Corporation   Farrand Optical Company   Federal Telephone and Radio Corp.   Firestone Tire and Rubber Company   Fruehauf Trailer Company   Fuller Manufacturing   Galvin Manufacturing   Gemmer Manufacturing Company   General Railway Signal Company   Gibson Guitar   Gibson Refrigerator Company   Goodyear   Hall-Scott   Hanson Clutch and Machinery Company   Harley-Davidson   Harris-Seybold-Potter   Herreshoff Manufacturing Company   Higgins Industries    Highway Trailer   Hill Diesel Company   Holland Hitch Company   Homelite Company   Horace E. Dodge Boat and Plane Corporation   Huffman Manufacturing   Indian Motorcycle   Ingersoll Steel and Disk   John Deere   Johnson Automatics Manufacturing Company   Kimberly-Clark   Kohler Company   Kold-Hold Company   Landers, Frary & Clark  Lima Locomotive Works   Lundberg Screw Products   MacKenzie Muffler Company   Massey-Harris   Matthews Company   McCord Radiator & Mfg. Company   Metal Mouldings Corporation   Miller Printing Machinery Company   Morse Instrument Company   Motor Products Corporation   Motor Wheel Corporation   National Cash Resgister Company   Novo Engine Company   O'Keefe & Merritt Company   Olofsson Tool and Die Company   Oneida Ltd   Otis Elevator   Owens Yacht   Pressed Steel Car Company   Queen City Manufacturing Company   R.G. LeTourneau   R.L. Drake Company   St. Clair Rubber Company   Samson United Corporation   Shakespeare Company   Sight Feed Generator Company   Simplex Manufacturing Company   Steel Products Engineering Company   St. Louis Car Company   Twin Disc Company   Victor Adding Machine Company   Vilter Manufacturing Company   Wells-Gardner   W.L. Maxson Corporation   W.W. Boes Company   Westfield Manufacturing Company   York-Hoover Body Company   Youngstown Steel Door Company  
   

 Lima Locomotive Works in World War Two
Lima, OH
1877-1956

This page added 10-29-2019.

An American Auto Industry in World War Two Special Edition
The Lima Locomotive Works, like several other American manufacturers of steam locomotives, was picked by the U.S. Army to produce tanks and self-propelled guns during World War Two.  Because the tanks it produced were similar to those produced by Chrysler, Fisher Body, and Ford, and were used by many American tankers, Lima is being added to this website.

The Lima Locomotive Works was a manufacturer of locomotives originally named the Lima Machine Works.  It later became the Lima Locomotive Works.  During World War Two, it continued to build steam locomotives for the domestic use, as railroads were the prime means of transportation in the United States during World War Two.  The company also build 1,000 locomotives for the American military during the war.

  Originally designated to build the M3 Lee/Grant medium tank, Lima Locomotive Works could not tool up in time.  Therefore its efforts were directed to tool for the newer M4 Sherman tank.  The company was the first manufacturer to produce a Sherman tank, building one M4A1 in February 1942.  It would go on to build another 1,654 M4A1 Sherman tanks, until it stopped production in September 1943.

Like several other manufacturers of steam locomotives, it could not compete in the new diesel-electric locomotive business after World War Two and went out of business in 1956. 


The photo from April 1941 show an addition being added to the Lima Locomotive Works plant for the production of medium tanks during World War Two.  Photo courtesy of the Sherman Minutia Website.


This is the Lima Locomotive Works plant in Lima, OH in its prime.  It was located on the south side of Lima.  


This satellite view of the same area as show above today.  Everything that was once the Lima Locomotive Works is gone.  Photo courtesy of Google Maps.

Lima Locomotive Works World War Two Production:  1,655 M4A1VVSS(75) Sherman tanks, 26 M32B2 and 20 M32B3 tank recovery vehicle conversions.  The company built 1,000 steam locomotives for the war effort.

Lima Locomotive Works Tanks Accepted by Detroit Ordnance, US Army
The information below comes from "Summary Report of Acceptances, Tank-Automotive Material, 1940-1945."
Published by Army Services Forces, Office, Chief of Ordnance-Detroit, Production Division, Requirements and Progress Branch
January 21, 1946.

Type 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 Total
M4A1, 75mm     820 835     1,655
M32B2 Tank Recovery - Conversion       14 12   26
M32B3 Tank Recovery - Conversion         20   20

Author's Note and Disclaimer:  The Detroit Office of Ordnance of the U.S. Army was the primary purchasing entity for vehicles for the U.S. Army during WWII.  It also purchased vehicles for the USMC, US Navy, and for Lend-Lease.  However, there were other organizations that also purchased vehicles including the Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army Air Force, U.S. Army Signal Corps, Navy Bureau of Ordnance, Navy Bureau of Aeronautics, and foreign countries making direct purchases.


Inside the new building are M4A1 Sherman tank hulls in the foreground and a tank retriever conversion in front of the open doors in the background.  Photo courtesy of the Sherman Minutia Website.


Of the 1,655 M4A1 Sherman tanks that Lima built, only nine are known to still exist.  This is one of three that are in the United States.  It is believed to be Serial Number 7321, which was built in February 1943.  It was converted to a flamethrower tank and is on display at the Fort Leonard, MO museum complex.  Author's photo.


Author's photo.


Author's photo.


Author's photo.


This is an example of a M32B3.  This was converted to this configuration by another company but shows to some extent how the Ford-built M4A3(75)s looked after the conversion.  The American Legion in Circleville, OH has done its own post war conversion by placing a flagpole through the middle of the tank and adding a false barrel.  Author's photo.


Lima Locomotive Works is well known for being the builder the Shay Locomotive, which is a geared locomotive.  This one is on display at the Allen County Historical Museum in Lima, OH, not far from where it was built.  It is serial number 3288 and was built in August 1925.  Author's photo.


Author's photo.


The next three photos show the pistons, drive train, and gearing of the Lima built Shay engine.  Author's photo.


Author's photo.


The gears that transfer the power from the drive shaft to the wheels can be seen in this photo. Author's photo.


Author's photo.


Author's photo.

 

 

 

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