WESTINGHOUSE in Tinicum
1916 to 1986
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Tinicum Township has a long history. For 70 Years WESTINGHOUSE was a part of that history. There are still many places in the area that share some history with Westinghouse. This geocache is a small reminder for some of the things the company touched.
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Below is from the Book:
The History of Tinicum Township
Property of the Tinicum Twp. Historical Society
Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company
The Westinghouse Electric Company faculities were located on 53 acres of land in East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with virtually no real estate available for expansion. This caused the company to search extensively for a new location where they could expand their operations and meet their need for increased steam turbine manufacturing capacity. After a careful comparison was made of advantages and disadvantages offered by different sections of the country, Tinicum Township, Delaware County, was selected because of its accessibility to various sources of transportation, the most important being water.
In 1916, a 20-acre farm known as the "Hill Farm" was purchased. This property was co-owned by Harry Beaston and others. A transaction was consummated between Harry Beaston and Henry Shutte, who appears to have been a straw buyer for Westinghouse. This is evidenced by two deeds that exist on the property. One deed conveyed the land from Harry Beaston to Henry Shutte and the second deed conveyed the same piece of land from Henry Shutte to the Westinghouse Electric Company. There were also a number of lots adjacent to the main tract of the Hill Farm that were acquired about the same time. These were later sold or deeded to Tinicum Township to provide for recreational, municipal and school usage. Although Westinghouse's expansion was started as a peace time enterprise, the building of the South Philadelphia Works, or "South Works" as it was called, could hardly have been better timed.
Before the building construction was completed, the entire output of South Works for the World War I period was purchased by the United States government. This was for the production of steam turbine reduction gears and auxiliary equipment for naval and merchant ships, most of which were built at Hog Island Shipyard. From 1917 to 1919, the Division outfitted 240 ships with propulsion equipment.
In February 1918, employment at South Works totaled 770 employees, however, within six months the employment figure had risen to 2,950. After a slight decline at the end of World War I, there was an increase to a high of 3,750 by February 1921. In the post-war years, however, a steady decline began. reaching a low of 1,150 by July 1933.
During the Depression of the late 1920's and 1930's, many products were made in an effort to keep the plant operating and the employees working. Gas turbines for use in the Oklahoma oil fields were manufactured in the 1920's. In the early 1930's, diesel locomotives were manufactured until 1937. Following the phase-out of the diesel locomotive, a giant structure was manufactured that would be used to hold and position the massive mirror for the Mount Palomar telescope. A few gun turrets were machined as well on an experimental basis.
Two other ventures that took place during this period were the building of stationary and automotive gasoline engines for use in railcars, which were sold under the name of the J. G. Brill Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the manufacture of Number 4 switcher engines. The car body was built in East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and the engine truck frame was built at Baldwin Locomotive Company in Eddystone, Pennsylvania.
During the middle 1930's, the foundry at South Works was closed and the stoker operation was transferred to Attica, New York. The operation was eventually sold to the Detroit Stoker Company, an organization that is still in operation today.
In 1940, the Merchant Marine Plant, an extension of South Works, was constructed by the Defense Plant Corporation, a United States government agency. With the establishment of the Merchant Marine Division, South Works had the ability to contribute to World War II's effort to manufacture propulsion equipment For naval and cargo ships. The Merchant Marine Division's activities were concluded at the end of World War II, however, not before 329 naval vessels and 595 cargo ships and tankers, totaling 21 million horsepower, had been produced.
The highest level of employment ever attained at South Works was reached with just over 13,000 employees. The Aviation Gas Turbine (AGT) activity was organized during World War II. A gas turbine engine was designed and built for installation in United States Navy aircraft. AGT was transferred to Kansas City, Missouri.
South Works had complete facilities for the design and manufacture of steam and combustion turbines. Electric utility companies used them to drive boiler-feed pumps. A complete line of air-cooled, generator-driven steam turbines was built at this facility, including condensing, non condensing and automatic extraction types which were sold to industries and municipalities.
The Combustion Turbine Division had proven itself a leader in the combustion turbine industry. Continuous research, improved technology and simplicity of design had made the combustion turbine one of the division's most successful developments. Approximately 80 percent of all the electricity used in the United States daily came from precision-built steam turbine generators. Steam turbine generators were the backbone of our nalion's electric power generation system.
The Large Turbine Division's leadership in developing and manufacturing more efficient equipment for the generation of electric power made possible a new era of comfort and convenience for our homes. Electric power, combined with new products, is accelerating the use of labor-saving devices in the home. Electric appliances cook food, wash and dry clothes and perform numerous other household tasks. People are entertained by television, radio and computers.
Construction of buildings to meet the Division's ever changing requirements had been continuous. For example, the "G" Building office was constructed during the 1940's; the Salvage building in 1942; and "E" building (which, because of war time shortages, was constructed with all wood beams) in 1943. In 1953, the AGT test cells were built, as well as the "M" building for engineering and drafting. The Development Lab was constructed in 1955. A newer development lab was constructed in 1970.
South Works was a complete community within itself, with its own fire, police, medical departments, ambulance and food service. The Westinghouse Company was considered the leader in the field with such accomplishments as the four-geared turbine, which, in 1962, drove the s.s. United States to all time speed records for the Atlantic crossings in both directions and won her the title of "Fastest Ship in the World." This was the most powerful propulsion equipment ever built for a ship at that time.
In 1951, the Newport News Shipbuilding Company of Newport News, Virginia contracted with the Steam Division to build four main propulsion turbines and gears for the world's largest aircraft carrier, the James V Forrestal. The Steam Division also built the steam propulsion equipment for the
U.S.S. Nautilus, the nation's first atomic-powered submarine. Water desalinization was expected to be a major source of water supply, particularly in the state of California. In order to bid on a 150,000,000 gallon-per-day plant and meet contractual requirements, a plant was built in Orange, California.
Although Westinghouse was not awarded this contract, the Orange plant later built several desalination plants and reverse osmosis equipment, together with low-pressure heaters and condensers. In 1975, the reverse-osmosis business was sold to the Union Carbide Company.
Throughout the 1960's, South Works was a major supplier of nuclear steam generators to the United States Navy for their nuclear program. Due to the increase in commercial nuclear business, there emerged a definite need for additional manufacturing capacity for steam generators. It was this situation that triggered the start of construction of the Tampa, Florida plant in early 1967. The Tampa operation was transferred to NES in 1968. The Heat Transfer Division sold the pump business to Canadian Babcock & Wilcox Company in 1967.
In the same year, planning commenced for construction of a nuclear turbine plant in Charlotte, North Carolina, and a year later the planning phase for the Winston-Salem, North Carolina Turbine Components plant.
In 1971, the Field Service Department became a Division and the charter for selling, manufacturing and design of the W191 Gas Turbine and earlier vintage frames was transferred to Canadian Babcock and Wilcox. Once again, small steam turbine design and manufacturing became the responsibility of Large Turbine Division in 1972. It was during this year that the Gas Turbine Division expanded its facilities by constructing a manufacturing plant in Round Rock, Texas for the manufacture of W501 gas turbines. Unfortunately, the bottom fell out of the gas turbine market soon after the Texas plant's completion, forcing the closing of the facilities in 1975.
In August 1975, the Heavy Industrial Motor Division assumed responsibility of the Round Rock, Texas building for the manufacture of large motors. The Power Systems Cooling Tower Department was also established in 1972 for the design, marketing and installation of cooling towers. The department was short-lived and closed in mid-1974.
In October 1978, the Condenser and Feedwater Heater portion of Heat Transfer business was sold to Marley Company, including most of the machine tools in "U" building and the entire Orange, California plant. There were some physical changes made to the South Works plant site including the dismantling of the Hammer Shop in 1977 and the Blade Shop in 1980. The application of insulation and siding to the "A" and "B" building complex was started in 1979 and completed in 1980. The results of this program were considerable conservation of energy as well as beautification of the buildings.
In the 1970's and early 1980's, structural changes occurred in the United States' economy. Doubledigit inflation skyrocketed costs in all corporations. Corporation budgets and employment costs created serious problems. Eventually different manufacturing locations were sold or moved in an effort to decentralize, reduce overhead costs and give each location more self-reliance to adapt to conditions for profit contribution.
The Large Turbine Division at South Works in Lester, Pennsylvania was one of the Westinghouse Company's locations that became subject to this concept. The dismantling process and transfer of manufacturing capability to Sunnyvale, California, Charlotte and Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and Orlando, Florida reduced South Works at Lester, Pennsylvania to empty buildings and real estate. These were sold and it is now Tinicum Industrial Park, thus ending the 70-year local partnership with Westinghouse Electric Company from 1916 to 1986.