Lima: The History by Eric Hirsimaki

Abstract

Technology and culture Book Reviews 469 Lima: The History. By Eric Hirsimaki. Edmonds, Wash.: Hundman, 1986. Pp. 351; illustrations, tables. $38.50. Although Eric Hirsimaki’s study of the smallest of the Big Three steam locomotive builders is heavily involved with locomotives as such, there is a marvelous wealth of information in it that has never been covered in its complete context before. From this book, the reader can get a very clear idea of the entire process—financial, engineering, estimating, supply, fabrication, assembly, delivery—of manufacturing steam locomotives. There is also a great deal of information on the impact that such a complex manufacturing activity has on a relatively small community through good times and bad. Although it would not be fair to say that the “Lima” of the title could just as well be the Ohio town as the locomotive builder, there is a great deal of local history wrapped up in these pages. Lima Locomotive Works began as a ven­ ture by local entrepreneurs, and even after the center of ownership had shifted to New York, “the loco” kept much of its character as a (relatively) small builder whose employees took more than ordinary pride in their work and workmanship. As would be expected in a history of a locomotive builder, this book contains a listing of the output of the works, both steam and diesel, with the latter somewhat confusingly listed serially along with steam under the general heading of “rod locomotives.” Unfortunately, Lima entered the diesel age too late to make much impact. Hirsimaki’s contribution to that closing chapter in Lima’s history is his account of the development work that went into making the Hamilton diesel engine viable for locomotive service, work that has not been docu­ mented in much detail hitherto. His account of the aborted diesel production is not otherwise very clear and seems not to take into account those items published over the past twenty years or so cov­ ering the same ground. Unfortunately, there is no index and no bib­ liography so it is impossible to say whether he overlooked previous publications or is quietly taking exception to them. Apart from the lack of an index or a bibliography, there are a couple of peculiarities about an otherwise fine book that would have made it better had they not intruded. The first is an evident lack of careful proofreading. One can become accustomed to finding “principle” for “principal” or vice versa; but there are some very tricky misprints that do not instantly appear to be such, and one must be alert not to be misled. One example must suffice as a caveat. In discussing problems with counterbalancing the H-10 Class 2-8-2s built for the New York Central, it is observed that a set of new “alloy rods not only reduced their weight, but they increased the H-10’s dynamic augment by 28 to 52 percent” (p. 123; italics mine). Of course what is meant is exactly the opposite—the new rods were intended to decrease dynamic aug­ ment. Many of the slips seem to be the result of a proofreading by someone wholly unfamiliar with the subject and hence prone to great 470 Book Reviews TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE confusion of technical description. It can only be hoped that a sub­ sequent printing will remove some of the more subtle errors. For such as “the boiler should generate about 8.9 pounds of water per pound of coal,” common sense must be our guide. The rewards of reading the book as a continuous narrative far outweigh the irritation of the many errors. I am aware of no other modern account of the whole business of buying a locomotive—from scratch pad notes to builder’s photo and delivery. The section on estimating costs, the section on the profit margins obtained on 1923 orders, or the section dealing with construction techniques for the modern steam locomotives—any one of these is worth the price of the book. Before the whole complex business of building steam lo­ comotives becomes as esoteric as heraldry, we are fortunate to have this work on how it was done in Lima, by...