MAKING LORRIES

Last time we saw how Kahn’s Model Daylight Factories revolutionised the way in which lorries were built. Continuing this theme, we have Mack commissioning a Kahn factory in Long Island, NY in 1925 for expansion beyond its Plainfield plant (originally home to American Saurer) and Allentown, Pennsylvania where Mack had originated. At the same time, it bought its own centres in numerous American states to handle sales and service. Paying rates in all these areas was said to bring it closer to local officialdom which benefitted sales of municipal vehicles, fire trucks and buses.

Amongst numerous other expanding US truck firms was Republic, which had sold the impressive total of seventy thousand between 1913 and 1921, and was adding to them with the help of a moving production line consisting of trolleys on flanged wheels moving down tracks on the floor. Like many American and indeed British firms, Republic used proprietary engines, in its case by Lycoming, Waukesha and Continental. In one year alone (1917) Continental had made seventy thousand six cylinder engines for its numerous truck customers. The 420,000 annealed piston castings required were rough turned on automatic lathes before being finished on manned turret lathes and then ground and balanced. As an adjoining photograph shows, the engines were assembled in cradles on a moving track.

Another Continental user was Federal, founded