I know someone who owns a WW2 US tank destroyer built by ALCO as well.

ALCo probably made lots of weird things for the World War 2 effort. Pretty much everyone did. For little train fans, Lionel is well known for making J-36 radio telegraph keys ("bugs"), but it is not well known that they also made quite large peloruses (sp?) for the Navy.

--
Will

M10? or M36?

Jeff

I for one am still holding out for a Baldwin-built Sherman Tank...

How about a Pullman car that is not a Pullman car?

But named for a pullman car, and has a 'six-wheel truck'?

Huh?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pullman_automobile

Saw one of these at the antique automobile museum in Norwich, NY. Beautiful. Its a wonder they didn't get sued though. It would be like calling a computer a Mercedes today.

The Alco racing car sounds really impressive; all the Alcos I have seen at old-car shows have been restored luxury models. They are said to be very good cars.

If you every get aboard the B-17 that was seen over TrainFestival 2009 last weekend, at its home in Ypsilanti or elsewhere, you will see that it has waist-gun mounts with builder's plates reading, "Lionel, New York."

During WW2 US&S made Model 1911A1 .45 automatic pistols.

http://www.pbyrescue.com/weapons/US&S/US&S.htm

Richard Wikens

> re: Pullman Car: It's a wonder they didn't get sued though.

Companies were less protective of names like that back then, and "Pullman" entered everyday use. You can still buy a "Pullman" suitcase, which is a large suitcase, presumably intended for a long trip in a Pullman car.

> It would be like calling a computer a Mercedes today.

How about calling it a Ferrari?

Acer has a line of Ferrari laptops, though of course they're done with Ferrari's permission. They even have the Ferrari logo on them, and they feature the trademark Ferrari red coloring. (I would suspect that they also pretty much shout "STEAL ME!")

http://www.immworld.com/acer_ferrari_5000/

For some reason, a large loaf of packaged bread is called a 'Pullman.' Also recall seeing a Pullman brand vacuum cleaner.

DPK

Back about 30 years ago, I got the "VIP tour" of the Davis Dam power house (on the Colorado River near the southern end of Nevada), and noticed that the water turbines had been built by Baldwin Locomotive Works (might have been BLH by then). "VIP tour" was a result of my partner and I telling the plant operator that we were in the area working for the Edison Co. at the steam plant a few miles down-river. One of the units was turned off for maintenance, and we could look up at the turbine runner (rotor). I remember thinking "I hope the engineers who designed the shut-off valve at the top of the penstock knew what they were doing."

The Pullman loaf, a.k.a. "sandwich bread", is baked in a covered pan which gives it a flat, rather than curved, top and may have originated in railroad dining car kitchens, where the squared loaf was much easier to store than regular bread.

The Pullman suitcase, or "Pullman case", was designed in a size and shape for easy storage under the seats of Pullman sections.

Jim Tatum.

The Hays Antique Truck Museum of Woodland, California, has had on display a 1910 Alco flatbed truck. Woodland is near Sacramento and the Hays Antique Truck Museum shares a front lobby with the Heidrick Ag History Center.

The Alco truck is without a gas engine. It had been in the collection and was de-accessioned when the Museum realized it could not restore the truck as a Museum project. It was then sold to an individual associated with the Museum who restored the body -- this being done, the Museum accepted the truck on display loan.

See these links:
Hays Antique Truck Museum
and
Heidrick Ag History Center