The lower
plank sections, about four feet tall, may have been reused parts barrier that
originally surrounded the steam engine pit (see figure 99). This partition not
indicated the 1916 floor plan, although may have been too insignificant to
note. was the General Electric archives Nela Park, Cleveland, OH.
Two 1914 photographs, figures 108 and 109, show low wood and wire-cloth
partition, running between columns the northeast end the shop. very large
Lucas No.638
638 James Cox, Century ofLight (NY: The Benjamin Company, 1979) 58. The paint looks sufficiently dingy have been there for while, but no
visual documentary evidence has been found indicate when the columns were
first painted, other than sometime between 1914 and 1929. Surviving 1906 and 1914 images
show faceplates, chucks, steady rests, indexing heads, and change gears next or
under almost every machine.around the shop accommodate different jobs, yet most survive. The foreman’s
desk, which appears 1914 photos, now stored the second floor.
Machine tool accessories are more problem.
The shop’s brick walls received their first coat paint whitewash sometime
between 1890 and 1906, but the columns, crane beams, and other woodwork
remain unpainted the April 1914 photographs. The original this
photograph has not been located.
Therefore, the assumption this plan that accessory was associated with
a particular machine 1939, was probably there 1914, even not
visible the photographs. horizontal boring mill was installed the east end the central
aisle sometime between 1920 and 1939, but had been removed 1942.
Eleven machines were removed between 1920 and 1939: three engine lathes, a
speed lathe, precision bench lathe, three drill presses, shaper, and punch
press.
Fortunately, Edison Company employees working the late 1930s, assigned
numbers and typed E-cards for these accessories well for the machines. clearly gone 1929. published photo the north
side the shop, reportedly taken 1929, shows the existing white and gray color
scheme. The divider and shelves that were attached it
are shown the perspective drawing the main shop that accompanies this
report but the furnishings plan does not recommend that replicated. One drill press was replaced different model. Four lathes, a
keysetting machine, and two grinders were added during this period. That
collection has since been moved General Electric’s Hall History Schenectady, New York, and the image
was lost along the way. Smaller accessories are lost the general clutter.
Many these items are machine specific; they are not interchangeable with
anything other than the same model machine the same manufacturer.
271
