Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-06-02
LOCAL PLANT TO RESUME
LOCOMOTIVE BUILDING
American Company Announces Rich
inond Branch Will Stop
Making Shrnpnel.
FINISH CONTRACTS ON July 10
Most Men Now Employed Will BE
Retained, as 1t Is Believed That
Natural business Now Will jus
tify 1t.

Formal confirmation of "A report that
had been current in Richmond rail-
road and business circles for more than
week was made yesterday by George
curry, manager OF the local plant OF
the American Locomotive Company, in
announcing that the Richmond plant
would resume locomotivc-building at
the completion OF munition orders
within the next sixty days The shrap-
mel orders are expected to he com
pleted by July 49, and work of dis
mantiing the plant and of Installing
locomotive machinery viii be started
at cree
statement:
1T has been decided to discontinue
munition work ut this plant as soon
aS present contracts are completed and
10 resume the manufacture Of loco
motives Locomotive orders have al
ready heea hooked in the general Of
ices OF the American Locomotive Com
pany liz New York for this plant"
The following statement was made
to The Times dispatch last night from
the general Offices OF the company In
New York City:
Will recover, .ts works at Richmond
into Il ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS plant
az soon as its shell orders are com
pleted unless additional orders are re-
cei"ed II was learned to-day that the
shell business IN hand should be
! finished by midsummer No contracts
for furthr sheil-makine nave been re-
/ ceived, and none are in negotiate ion
with any Of the allied powers.
KEEP LOCAL PLANT
BUSY MAKING ENGINES
/ The company Is receiving excellent
/ locomotive orders, and IL Is expected
/ that the Richmond plant will be kept
busy when the natural business of the
concern is renewed there. All shells
made by the company arc being turned
out at the Richmond and DuRkirk. y.
/ Y, plants"
/ Previous to this week, II was stated
! in New York financial circles that sew
/ cral large war orders were pending,
and that practically all details for
! their contamination had been closed.
/ Disagreement over prices developed.
/ however later, II was said.
The announcement yesterday, how
ever, sets at rest all speculation as
Ia the future of the Richmond plant.
which has caused considerable discus
/ sion in commercial circles. based on
the probable duration of the European
war.
Officers of the local plant could not
I state Yesterday the extent of the loco
! motive orders booked for Richmond,
/ but the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
! Company only last week placed orders
: with the company for twenty-five Mall
l let tyne engines. and the Seaboard Air
( Line Railway ordered five of the noun
tain type. While II is stated that the
! company quoted the railroads just as
good prices on the engines when they
F. were built at some plant other than
, Richmond. IL has been known for some
( time that officials OF all the Southern
railroads were partial to having their
goods made in the South.
RETAIN MOST MEN
WHO ARE NOW At PLANT
There are now about $500 men en-
| plOyed at the local plant and most
! OF these. IL was stated at the plant.
| would probably be retained as the force
for building locomotives. Some of the
| unskilled workmen 1T the plant. how
| ever, Will be laid off, II is said, out
| Of necessity, as locomot olive building re-
quires more skilled workmen than
! does munition-ma king. Only cx-
, pericnced mechanics are employed In
! manufacturing delicate parts of rail-
! way engines.
! II is expected that additional skilled
I workmen will he taken on at the
plant when work starts on the rail-
/ road contracts, and il is believed that
! there will he no material reduction in
the working force at the Richmond
plant by the discontinuance of shell
! manufacturing.
The Richmond plant has been en-
| gagged for nearly two years in manu-
featuring exclusively ammunition for
! the allied powers. In recent months
the rush at the plant was so great
as to necessitate its operation on day
midnight shifts, and 1t has more than
met the requirements in the contracts
for delivery. The recent order Of
| fered the company was for six and
nine inch shells, but this would have
made new equipment necessary, and
is believed to have led to the refusal
| OF the 6rder