Automotive Manufacturing

World War One was a war of many firsts, most notably one of the first wars to involve motorized vehicles. While its most well known for the first use of the tank, armored cars and transports were also used to great effect for the first time in the war. At the Locomotive Company plant in Bridgeport, Connecticut the assembly lines were pumping out Riker engines to be used at home and abroad in transportation, along with full Locomotive vehicles for domestic consumption. In the first picture you can see workers putting the finishing touches on some engines before being put on the block for testing.

Along with motors the company produced other parts for their automotive vehicles. Seen here are workers in the balancing room where crankshafts and flywheels are brought to an exact running balance, that is they are calibrated to rotate smoothly when the engine turns them. The man in the center of the photo is testing a truck flywheel for balance and marking the heavy spots. The worker on the right then bores out portions of the wheel marked by the first worker to achieve the proper balance necessary.