1 9 0 3 - 2 0 0 3

Sandy Manners

Siemens Westinghouse

1 9 0 3 - 2 0 0 3

Sandy Manners

100 Yearsin Canada

Siemens Westinghouse

Appliances, Lighting and Consumer Products

Air Brakes and Electrical Apparatus

Entertainment Products,Electronics and Communications

Equipment for Power Generation and Industrial Applications

Copyright © 2003 Siemens WestinghouseA division of Siemens Canada Limited

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of the publisher.First EditionPublished by:Siemens WestinghouseA division of Siemens Canada Limited30 Milton Avenue, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8N 3K2Telephone: 905-528-8811E-mail: inquiries@swpc.siemens.comwww.siemenswestinghouse.com

ISBN 0-9734202-0-0

Book design: Palmese Photodesign Group, Hamilton, Ontario

Printed and bound in Canada

Westinghouse logos and “You can be SURE … if it’s Westinghouse™” are trademarks of Westinghouse Electric Corporation and are used with permission.

The CBS and CBS Eye Design are registered trademarks of CBS Broadcasting Inc.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to the many thousands of people who worked for

Westinghouse / Siemens Westinghouse in Canada from 1903 to 2003. Their talents

and contributions are what enabled the organization to survive and prosper.

In recognition of their service to the company, this commemorative book entitled

Westinghouse / Siemens Westinghouse — 100 Years in Canada will be distributed

to retirees of the Westinghouse and Siemens Westinghouse organizations

in Canada and to current employees of the Siemens Westinghouse facility

in Hamilton, Ontario, during our centennial year.

AcknowledgementsI would like to gratefully acknowledge the following people who made this work possible: Gary Sparks, Director

of Human Resources for Siemens Westinghouse, for allowing me the time to work on this book — despite the fact

that it turned into a much larger undertaking than either one of us had anticipated — and for choosing to distribute

a copy not only to all Siemens Westinghouse employees in Hamilton, but also to all Westinghouse retirees in

Canada; Craig Laviolette and Steve Welhoelter of Siemens Westinghouse for their sponsorship of the project;

Dr. Wolf-Dietrich Krüger of Siemens Power Generation for his unwavering respect of our Westinghouse history

and keen support of all our 100-year anniversary activities; and Lindsay Scott of Siemens Westinghouse for

his many entertaining and intriguing stories about our past that fi red my imagination and instilled in me

the desire to attempt to write a comprehensive history of our organization in honour of our 100-year anniversary.

It is not possible to compile a book of this sort without a great deal of assistance. I would like to thank everyone

who took the time to review and critique the draft manuscript to ensure the details contained in this history are as

accurate as possible; in particular, Aiden Allum, Douglas I.W. Bruce, Janis Cain, Rodger Chillingsworth, Nancy Cifani,

Rob Darwen, Stephan Feldhaus, Melanie Forbrick, Martin Gosling, Gary Graham, Birgit Jantschke, Lawrence Kaempffer,

Heidemarie Leidig-Schmidt, D.L. Leslie, Jack Manners, Steven Manners, Brian Maragno, Gerhard Neubert, Joanne Sankey,

Ron Schramm, Lindsay Scott, Robert Taud, Rick Ward, Garry Weimer, Steve Welhoelter and Dan Whitley.

I would also like to thank the following individuals for their help on this project: Robert Palmese, Perry Bisutti,

John Vanrooy, Jr. and Craig Stainton of Palmese Photodesign Group of Hamilton, for their uncompromising attention

to detail and their ability to magically create a stunning design from reams of text, collections of handwritten

sticky notes and piles of old photographs; Carl Spadoni, Librarian–William Ready Division of Archives and Research

Collections at McMaster University Mills Memorial Library in Hamilton, Ontario, for his devotion in caring for all the

Westinghouse archival materials that have been deposited with the library for safekeeping and use by the public;

Margaret Houghton, Archivist–Special Collections Department of the Hamilton Public Library, for her help in sourcing

old Westinghouse brochures and photographs of Hamilton at the turn of the century; Antony Pacey of the Canada

Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa, Ontario, and Ed Reis of the George Westinghouse Memorial Museum

in Wilmerding, Pennsylvania, for their support in providing electronic images of Westinghouse archival materials;

William Terbo, Executive Secretary of the Tesla Memorial Society, Inc., for supplying information about Nikola Tesla;

Doug Nagy, a volunteer with the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Mount Hope, Ontario, for his valuable

input on the subject of Westinghouse jet engines; and Archie McQueen, executor of the Paul J. Myler Trust, for his

kind donation that will enable us to donate one copy of this book to all the libraries in the Hamilton community.

Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to the many Westinghouse and Siemens Westinghouse employees

who were responsible for writing and editing the annual reports and various employee newsletters that were

published over the past 100 years. Their legacy provided me with a wealth of information from which to work

and the foundation on which to build the story of our fi rst century of operation.

Contents

Preface .................................................................................................................................... vii

I George Westinghouse – A Pioneer in Electrical Engineering .............. 1

II The Dawn of the Age of Electricity ................................................................. 7

III 1890–1903Hamilton at the Turn of the Century..................................................................................... 15

IV 1903–1912The Hamilton Plant Begins to Support the Booming Electrical Industry..................................... 23

V 1913–1922Business Slumps but Recovers Through the War Effort ........................................................... 31

VI 1923–1932Numerous Large Capital Projects Completed Before the Depression Hits .................................. 37

VII 1933–1942Depression Years Followed by Upswing in Orders for the Armed Forces.................................... 43

VIII 1943–1952End of the War and the Start of Post-War Development .......................................................... 47

IX 1953–196250 Years of Progress and the Start of a New Period of Prosperity ............................................. 55

X 1963–1972Consumer and Commercial Products Take on a Greater Importance ......................................... 65

XI 1973–1982Export Sales Increase and the Gas Turbine Business Takes Off................................................. 71

XII 1983–1992Diffi cult Times Brought on by the Global Recession................................................................ 79

XIII 1993–2003Siemens Westinghouse and the Boom Market for Gas Turbines ............................................... 89

Epilogue ................................................................................................................................ 100

Glossary................................................................................................................................. 101

Bibliography........................................................................................................................... 103

Photo Credits ......................................................................................................................... 104

Westinghouse Canada Inc. was purchased in August,1998 by Siemens AG.

Canadian Westinghouse Company, Limited

Westinghouse Canada Limited

Westinghouse Canada Inc.

George Westinghouse1903-1914

Henry H. Westinghouse1914-1917

Paul J. Myler1917-1939

John R. Read1939-1949

Harold A. Cooch1949-1950

Herbert H. Rogge1950-1955

George L. Wilcox1955-1961

John D. Campbell1961-1967

William J. Cheesman1967-1974

Douglas C. Marrs1974-1978

Franz H. Tyaack1978-1985

Edward B. Priestner1985-1991

Gary D. Graham1991-1995

Garry L. Weimer1995-1996

Len D. Sharpe1997-1998

Presidents

vii

Preface The history of Westinghouse / Siemens Westinghouse in Canada is a fascinating story of an organization that has

played a pivotal role in the progress of the nation and, in many ways, mirrored the development of Canadian society.

The company’s first products, air brakes for railroad cars, contributed to the growth of the country’s railways.

Soon after, the factory started manufacturing massive waterwheel generators, transformers and other electrical apparatus.

This equipment was installed in Canada’s first power stations at Niagara Falls, DeCew Falls and elsewhere across the

country, bringing electricity to Canadians and driving the country’s progress. By the 1950s, half of all the electricity

in Canada was produced on Westinghouse equipment. More recently, the plant has been supplying mechanical-drive

steam turbines for industry and gas turbines for major power projects across North America and in developing countries

around the world.

In addition to its industrial businesses, for many years the Canadian Westinghouse Company produced a wide array

of domestic appliances ranging from refrigerators, stoves, washers and dryers to portable appliances, such as irons,

fans and hair dryers. The company also played a leading role in the field of communications by manufacturing the

first all-Canadian radio receivers in the 1920s, the first Canadian-designed black-and-white television sets in 1948

and Canada’s first colour televisions in 1964.

Although the company became widely diversified with facilities across Canada, the plant located at the north end

of Sanford Avenue in Hamilton, Ontario, has always seemed to be the heart of the organization. It was the location

of the original Westinghouse works in Canada and was the manufacturing site for many key Westinghouse products.

Today, although now a proud member of the Siemens organization, the facility still bears the distinction of being

the oldest continually operating former Westinghouse plant in the world. For these reasons, the Sanford Avenue plant

will be the focus of this history.

In the course of doing the research for this book, I was surprised to discover the extent to which the organization

was continually being buffeted by forces that were largely unpredictable and beyond the company’s control. Throughout

its history, the Sanford Avenue plant has concentrated primarily on the manufacture and sale of major industrial

equipment and services. Unlike consumer goods, Westinghouse or Siemens Westinghouse products require organizations

to make large investments of capital. Wars in foreign countries, the ups and downs of the Canadian economy, oil embargoes,

changes in government regulations, global recessions and, most recently, the financial difficulties experienced by many

U.S. utility companies following the collapse of Enron Corporation, are all factors that influence investment decisions

and, as such, ultimately affect the lives of the people of the Sanford Avenue plant.

Change was the one constant over the years — as it remains to this day. Clearly, the fact that the workforce always

had the resilience to weather the cycles of growth, decline and renewed prosperity that repeated throughout the plant’s

history is a prime reason why the organization has survived. This ability should stand us in good stead as we transform

ourselves, once again, to face the challenges of our second century of operation.

Reaching the milestone of 100 years is a testament to the incredible skills, hard work and dedication of the

many people who worked for the company from 1903 to 2003. It is to them that this history of the Westinghouse

and Siemens Westinghouse organizations in Canada is dedicated.

Sandy Manners

Manager,

Strategic Communications and Public Relations

Siemens Westinghouse

July 2003

On July 9, 2003, employees of the Siemens Westinghouse Turbine Manufacturing

and Service Facility gathered together to celebrate an important milestone —

the centennial anniversary of the founding of the Canadian Westinghouse

Company, Limited and of the plant that has been a cultural cornerstone,

industrial pillar and economic engine of the Hamilton community for 100 years.

2

George Westinghouse A Pioneer in Electrical Engineering

The founder of the Canadian

Westinghouse operation,

George Westinghouse, was born

in Central Bridge, New York,

on October 6, 1846.

A pioneer in

electrical engineering,

he is remembered

as one of the greatest

inventors, engineers

and industrialists

of his era.

A man of vision and imagination,

his contributions in the fields

of transportation and power

changed economics, improved

social conditions and advanced

civilization.

In total, George Westinghouse

was granted 361 patents in the

United States alone. He started

60 companies that employed

more than 50,000 employees

around the world. At one point,

he was the largest private

employer in industrial history.

Westinghouse Air Brake Company, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – 1870.

4,000 horsepower Westinghouse direct current plate mill motor – 1907.

Westinghouse switchboard – circa 1889.

Truck equipped with a Westinghouse vehicle motor – 1907.

“If someday

they say of me

that in my work

I have contributed

something to

the welfare and

happiness of

my fellow men,

I shall be satisfied.”

– George Westinghouse

1846-1914

4

Page ornament from a company brochure – 1904.

Air Brakes Revolutionize Rail Transport

Before turning his attention to electricity and the

first alternating current systems, George Westinghouse

revolutionized the field of transportation with the invention

of the air brake for railroad cars.

Prior to the development of this device, railroad trains

were staffed by brakemen who risked their lives running

along the tops of freight cars, jumping from car to car,

tightening brake wheels with pick handles. On passenger

trains, they rushed through the passenger coaches to turn

the brake wheels on the open platforms.

This system worked reasonably well with a short train.

However, as locomotives became more powerful, speeds

increased and the trains became longer. This meant it could

take miles to bring a train to a stop. Emergency stops to

avoid collisions with cattle crossing the tracks, for example,

were impossible — hence the reason for installing

“cow-catchers” on the front of locomotives.

The Beginnings of the Westinghouse Empire

Over the next few years, a number of companies

were formed in the U.S. and abroad to handle George

Westinghouse’s growing business interests. These companies

included: Westinghouse European Brake Company, Compagnie

des Freins Westinghouse, Westinghouse Machine Company,

Westinghouse Foundry Company, Union Switch and Signal

Company and Westinghouse Bremsen Gesellschaft.

In 1894, George Westinghouse

and Benjamin G. Lamme, who

would later become Chief Engineer

of the Westinghouse Electric and

Manufacturing Company, tested an

electric trolley on an experimental

track. By 1902, Westinghouse had

become a leader in North America

in the electrification of trolleys,

street railways and railroads.

Meanwhile, in Europe, a German

engineer by the name of Werner von

Siemens demonstrated a half-mile

long, two-foot gauge electric railroad

at the Berlin Exhibition in 1879.

His company, Siemens & Halske, went on to build

electric tramways and electric railways for mining operations

and became a leader in the European market for

electrically powered trains.

Inventions for the Natural Gas Industry

Building on his experiences with compressed air for

air brakes, George Westinghouse then turned his attention

to natural gas. At the time, serious dangers were associated

with the distribution and use of this odourless,* colourless,

highly explosive gas.

Breaks in supply and service lines could leave industries

without power and homes without heat or light. Worse still

were the risks of explosion, fire and asphyxiation. It was

not uncommon for the supply of gas to be shut off or for

the pressure to fall to a point where the flame would go out.

Then when the pressure was renewed, gas would escape

from the open jets, dangerously filling the rooms with

the odourless vapour. Leakage from street mains was also

a problem that, all too frequently, led to entire houses

blowing up.

In 1884 and 1885, George Westinghouse patented 38

inventions related to the distribution

of natural gas. He devised a system

of escape pipes that ran parallel

to street mains and vented leakage

through corner lampposts.

His most important safety device,

however, was the automatic cut-off

regulator. This device cut off the flow

of natural gas if the pressure dropped

below four ounces per square inch,

the working pressure for household

use. He also invented meters for

residential and factory use, thereby

providing the natural gas industry

with a “cash register.”

One of George Westinghouse’s most noteworthy

contributions to the art of handling gas was his invention

of a system for natural gas distribution over long distances.

The pressure of gas at the well is much greater than the

pressure required by the consumer. Westinghouse utilized

this very high pressure at the source to drive the gas speedily

through a comparatively narrow pipe for four or five miles.

Then, by widening the pipe at intervals, he reduced the

pressure to a level appropriate for consumer use.

It was this same basic principle of distribution —

high pressure at source and reduced pressure at the

point of use — that would some day be the key concept

behind Westinghouse’s solution for the transmission

of electricity over long distances.

In 1869, at the age of 22, George Westinghouse patented

an “atmospheric brake system” that used compressed

air, hoses and brake cylinders to enable the engineer to

apply braking pressure to all the wheels of a train at the

same time. This milestone invention, which served as the

foundation for the establishment in 1870 of the Westinghouse

Air Brake Company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was followed

swiftly by the development of a series of innovative railway

signals and switches that also contributed greatly to the

safe operation of railways.

The WestinghouseAtmospheric Brake

BRAKECYLINDERS

ENGINEER'SBRAKE VALVE

MAINRESERVOIR

AIRPUMP

PASSENGERCAR

TENDER

HOSE

First regular service train equipped with Westinghouse air brakes – 1869.

Diagram of the Westinghouse air brake system.

*Today, the stenching agent, ethyl mercaptan, is added to natural gas to give it a distinctive smell so that users will be alerted to any leakage. Although efforts to add a scent to odourless vapours began in Germany in the 1880s, it was not until the 1940s that the odorization of natural gas began to be legislated in North America.

The Westinghouse air brake immeasurably increased the speed, safety and economy

of railway transportation throughout the world.

George Westinghouse formed the Westinghouse Machine Company in Pittsburgh in 1881.

5 6

Westinghouse-Parsons Steam Turbines First Produced in 1898

In 1895, George Westinghouse

acquired the rights to manufacture

the Parsons steam turbine generator

in the United States and Canada.

After extensive experimental work,

in 1898 the fi rst demonstration

machines (300 kW, 3,600 revolutions

per minute, 440 volts, 60 cycles,

polyphase*) were produced and

installed in the Westinghouse

Air Brake plant in Wilmerding,

Pennsylvania.

Westinghouse believed great

advantages could be realized by using

steam turbines to drive the large

electric generators that were then

in demand. In 1899, a 1,500-kW steam

turbine-generator was produced

Early Steam Turbine Development

The principles of the reaction

steam turbine, where expanding

steam is captured and turned into

energy, were described by Hero

of Alexandria around 100 B.C.

This basic design remained

essentially untouched until Siemens, De Laval and Parsons

all began developmental work on steam turbines in the 1880s.

Siemens Designs a Piston-Driven Steam Engine

Siemens & Halske designed a reciprocating or piston-driven

steam engine and generator as a single unit in 1880.

This was a much more reliable design than the belt-drive

confi guration that was in common use at that time.

De Laval Specializes inHigh-Speed Steam Turbines

In 1886, Dr. Carl Gustaf Patrik De Laval, a Swedish scientist,

engineer and inventor, built his fi rst impulse steam turbine

using an expanding nozzle to capture the pent-up energy

of high pressure steam and turn it into a high-velocity

jet of steam that could be used to turn a bladed wheel

at high speeds. Further advances followed, including a

fl exible shaft and a geared turbine, a reversible turbine

for marine use and a small, high-speed reaction turbine

that achieved 42,000 revolutions per minute.

In 1893, De Laval exhibited the fi rst commercial

10-kilowatt (kW) steam turbine in the U.S. at the

Columbian Exposition in Chicago. In 1896, the New York

Edison Company imported two 300-horsepower De Laval

steam turbines for use in its New York City power plant.

In 1901, the De Laval Steam Turbine Company was

founded in Trenton, New Jersey to manufacture high-speed

steam turbines, gears, centrifugal pumps and compressors

for the North American market. Today, the 102-year-old

Trenton plant is part of the Siemens Power Generation

Industrial Applications Division.

Parsons Revolutionizes Steam Turbine Engineering

In 1884 in England, Sir Charles Algernon Parsons

produced and patented his fi rst steam turbine that generated

10 horsepower (7.5 kW). Parsons’ turbine introduced the

revolutionary idea of expanding steam through successive

rings of moving blades on a shaft and fi xed blades in a

casing to produce rotary movement. He also designed

an electric generator to utilize the high-speed power

of his turbine.

By 1889, Parsons had built some 300 turbines with

up to a 75-kW capacity. In 1891, he manufactured the

fi rst condensing steam turbine with an output of 100 kW

for the Cambridge Electric Lighting Company in England.

Over the next 75 years, C.A. Parsons & Co. Ltd., based

in Newcastle upon Tyne in England, grew steadily and,

by 1966, was recognized as the largest turbine generator

manufacturer in the United Kingdom.

C.A. Parsons started selling steam turbine generators into

Canada in 1923 using a sales agent. In the mid-1940s,

a Canadian company was formed to handle Canadian sales.

By 1963, the company was manufacturing stationary

turbine components for Parsons machines in a factory

in Scarborough, Ontario.

Over the next 34 years, the Canadian operation

went through a number of mergers, fi nally becoming

part of Siemens AG in 1997.

The fi rst 1,500 kW Westinghouse-Parsons steam turbine generator was installed in a power plant of the Hartford Electric Light Company – 1900.

De Laval’s impulse-type turbine wheel with expanding nozzles was a technological breakthrough in 1886 and is still found in modern turbine designs.

By 1905, the fi rst Westinghouse-Parsons catalogue was in print.

Hero of Alexandria’s“aeolipile” demonstrated

the principles of the reaction steam turbine.

*See glossary.

The acquisitions by Siemens AG of Rolls-Royce’s Parsons operation in 1997,

Westinghouse Power Generation in 1998 and Demag De Laval in 2001,

have succeeded in bringing together, in one organization, the legacy companies

of all four of the early pioneers in steam turbine engineering —

Werner von Siemens, Sir Charles Algernon Parsons,

Dr. Carl Gustaf Patrik De Laval and George Westinghouse.

that could run at 1,200 revolutions per minute.

This fi rst commercial unit was installed in a power plant of

the Hartford Electric Light Company in 1900 and established

the value of steam turbines in the

production of electricity.

In the U.S., Westinghouse-Parsons

steam turbines were initially

manufactured in East Pittsburgh,

Pennsylvania and, subsequently,

in a new turbine plant located

in Lester, Pennsylvania.

Manufacturing of small and medium

mechanical-drive and generator-drive

steam turbines commenced in the

Sanford Avenue plant in Hamilton

in 1959 and manufacturing and

service of these products continues

to this day. Large low pressure

steam turbines for nuclear steam

generators were made in the Lester,

Pennsylvania plant until they were

transferred to a new plant in Charlotte,

North Carolina in 1970.

8

George Westinghouse and

Werner von Siemens were two

of many great pioneers in the

field of electrical engineering.

However, it can be said that

the existing North American

power system owes more

to the vision and efforts

of George Westinghouse

than to anyone else.

The First Generators and Transformers

In 1847, the year after George Westinghouse

was born, Werner von Siemens and

Johann Georg Halske formed the Siemens &

Halske Telegraph Construction Company.

Although their first products included

electromechanical pointer telegraphs

and other telegraph equipment, they soon

expanded into the manufacture of other

electrical apparatus.

Oil circuit breaker – circa 1905.

Lightning arrester – circa 1905.

First Westinghouse AC generator – 1893.

Arc Lamp – circa 1890.

The Dawn of the Age of Electricity

This giant spherical spark gap voltmeter, located in the Canadian Westinghouse Company’s High Voltage Test Bay in K-building, was used to test transformers, bushings and circuit breakers in the 1940s.

9 10

In 1866, Werner von Siemens fashioned a new device

that produced 29 watts of electricity. This invention,

which he called a “dynamo machine,” was the fi rst

electrical generator. The dynamo converted mechanical

energy into electrical energy, making the large-scale

generation of electricity possible.

In 1885, Lucien Gaulard, a French electrician, and

John Gibbs, a British engineer, invented a system of

distributing alternating current using a “secondary

generator” or “transformer” — a device that could

step up or step down the alternating current voltage.

Late that year, Westinghouse began experimenting

with the Gaulard and Gibbs transformers using a Siemens

& Halske alternating current generator that he had shipped

from England. Within a matter of weeks, Westinghouse

had concluded that an alternating current system was

the solution to the problem of economically transmitting

large quantities of electricity over long distances. Wasting

no time, he purchased patents from Gaulard and Gibbs,

and other inventors.

The Genius of Nikola Tesla

The visionary and somewhat eccentric electrical genius,

Nikola Tesla, was born in 1856 to Serbian parents living

in the Austro-Hungarian Military Frontier Province of Lika

(now part of Croatia). In 1884, after briefl y studying

mechanical and electrical engineering and working

for a time for Compagnie Continentale Edison in France,

Tesla immigrated to the U.S. and soon started work

at the Edison Electric Illuminating Company in New York.

Less than a year later, however, Tesla left Edison’s employ

after an argument over compensation.

Following a short stint working as a ditch-digger,

Tesla acquired some backers and started the Tesla Electric Light

and Manufacturing Company. By December of 1887,

Tesla had fi led for seven U.S. patents in the fi eld of polyphase*

AC motors and power transmission. These formed a complete

electrical system comprising generators, transformers,

transmission lines, motors and lighting.

In May 1888, Tesla made a presentation before the American

Institute of Electrical Engineers at Columbia University

entitled “A New System of Alternating Current Motors

and Transformers.” During the lecture, he demonstrated

a pair of two-phase one-half-horsepower induction motors.

When news of the lecture and demonstration reached

George Westinghouse, he immediately recognized

that these inventions were the missing link that he needed

to complete his AC system. According to legend, he visited

Tesla’s lab prepared to make an offer of $1 million USD for his

AC patents. Instead, Westinghouse paid the bargain price of

$60,000 USD. However, he also agreed to an ill-considered

royalty clause that would pay Tesla $2.50 USD per horsepower

of electrical capacity sold by Westinghouse Electric and

Manufacturing Company using Tesla’s patents. Neither

George Westinghouse nor Nikola Tesla realized at the time

that, as a result of the subsequent swift increase in the power

output of generating equipment, these royalty payments had

the potential not only to make Tesla one of the richest men in

the world, but also to drive Westinghouse’s fl edgling electrical

apparatus company into fi nancial ruin.

With the breakthrough provided by Tesla’s patents, a full-scale

industrial war broke out between Thomas Edison (DC) and

George Westinghouse (AC).

At stake in this “Battle of

the Currents” was nothing

less than the domination and

control of the technology

that would revolutionize

the world and form the

foundation of modern society.

The fi ght was fi erce, with

both sides using some rather

questionable tactics designed

to discredit the competition.

Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company is Founded

By the late 1880s, electricity was showing

great promise as a source of power.

Its usefulness for telegraphs and

telephones was already fi rmly

established. Direct current (DC) systems

were also beginning to be used for

residential and street lighting in Europe and

North America. However, since DC electricity could not

be effi ciently transmitted more than a mile, its use in industry

and for other purposes was seriously limited.

On December 23, 1885, George Westinghouse applied for

a charter to form the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing

Company. Only a few months later, in 1886, the company

successfully demonstrated an alternating current (AC) lighting

plant in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. A steam engine

drove a 500-volt generator; the electricity was transformed

to 3,000 volts for transmission over a distance of 4,000 feet;

then another transformer reduced it back to 100 volts so it

could be used to light a store. Witnesses marvelled at electric

lights that produced no odour, heat or danger of fi re.

Although AC provided the key to the long distance

transmission of electricity, it would have to be converted

to DC if it was to be used by the DC motors that were

then in common use.

In 1887, Charles S. Bradley fi led an application for

a U.S. patent on a rotary converter for this purpose.

This came as a surprise to Benjamin Lamme, Chief Engineer

of the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company,

when he attempted to patent a similar device a short while later.

Meanwhile, in Europe, Siemens & Halske were conducting

similar developmental work, demonstrating a rotary converter

at the Frankfurt Exposition in 1891.

The commercial availability of the rotary converter

meant there was no longer a need for large DC generators.

However, in order for AC to come into universal use, AC motors

and other electrical apparatus would have to be invented.

For these breakthroughs Westinghouse enlisted the help

of a penniless but brilliant young inventor, Nikola Tesla.

The fi rst dynamo with an H armature was developed in 1866 by Werner von Siemens. It produced 29 watts.

Gaulard and Gibbs AC transformer – 1885.

*See glossary.

Nikola Tesla – 1895.

Nikola Tesla’s AC motor was a key to the success of Westinghouse’s AC system of electricity – 1888.

Werner von Siemens – circa 1847.

Age of Electricity

Letterhead design for the Tesla Company, Inc. – circa 1920.

11

The First Electric Chair

Meanwhile, the DC camp was busy working on a leaflet

campaign designed to convince the public that AC electricity

posed a deadlier menace than DC.

Around the same time, Harald P. Brown, a shadowy figure

supposedly associated with the Edison Electric Company,

began conducting so-called “research experiments.” Using an

AC system, he electrocuted dogs and cats brought to him

by neighbourhood children who were paid 25 cents per pet.

He carefully charted and graphed the voltage and current

required to kill animals of

various sizes, “proving”

how dangerous AC was.

Brown made sure members

of the press witnessed his

dramatic demonstrations.

Even the government got

involved when New York State

passed a law in 1889 to abandon

hanging in favour of the more

“humane” method of “electricide.”

In 1890, Brown provided prison

officials with an electric chair

powered by a 2,000-volt Westinghouse AC generator.

William Kemmler, 28, a convicted killer, was the next

person scheduled for execution in New York State.

Kemmler’s lawyer, reportedly backed by the Westinghouse

Electric and Manufacturing Company, tried to stop the

execution, arguing that using electricity would constitute

“cruel and unusual punishment.” Thomas Edison testified

for the State, assuring the judge that electrocution would

be instantaneous. The judge ruled that the execution could

proceed as planned.

Although a number of terms were suggested for this

novel method of capital punishment, the DC proponents

referred to victims as having been “Westinghoused.”

Fortunately this term did not stick.

Early Dangers of Electricity

In the late 1880s, electricity for lights in homes and

businesses was transmitted over wires strung directly

from DC power plants. Since DC power could not be

transmitted over long distances, these power plants

only provided electricity for consumers located within

a one-mile radius. Small electric companies built their own

DC power plants, often in close proximity to each other.

Then they competed vigorously for customers, stringing

their wires wherever possible. This resulted in huge tangles

of wires hanging precariously overhead in many U.S. cities.

Since wire-insulating techniques had not yet been

perfected, it is not surprising that there was a constant

danger of electric shock or fire on city streets and

in buildings where electric lights were installed.

During the Great Blizzard of 1888, some of the 400

New Yorkers who died were reportedly electrocuted by

the writhing, sparking electric wires that had collapsed

on to the streets. This incident increased the credibility

of the “dangers of DC” case put forward by supporters

of the Westinghouse AC system. Lighting the Columbian ExpositionGE retaliated by forbidding Westinghouse to use

GE patented lamps. In time for the grand opening,

Westinghouse engineers designed a new “Stopper”

lamp that did not infringe on any Edison patents.

The dazzling spectacle of a

quarter of a million electric lights

stole the show and paved the

way for Westinghouse to win

the order for three AC generators

to harness the power of

Niagara Falls.

Westinghouse’s successes

at the Columbian Exposition

and the Niagara Falls power

project marked the turning point

of the fledgling electrical industry. With the last sale of an

Edison-patented DC generator for utility service in 1912,

AC systems achieved exclusive domination of the

power generation industry.

In 1893, Westinghouse Electric demonstrated the superiority of the AC system by providing light and power for the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois.

750 kW AC generator that supplied electricity for the Columbian Exposition – 1893.

Age of Electricity

The Columbian Exposition, held in Chicago in 1893

to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the arrival of

Christopher Columbus, was designed to be the first

all-electric world’s fair in history.

The General Electric Company

(formed after a takeover of the

Edison Electric Company and

a merger with other organiza-

tions) bid $1 million dollars USD

to provide two DC systems — one

for lights, the other for power.

In a bold and daring move,

the Westinghouse Electric and

Manufacturing Company won

the contract to provide lighting

and power for the Exposition by

proposing an AC system consisting of twelve 1,000-

horsepower generators producing 2,200 volts and

costing less than half the General Electric (GE) bid price.

Remarkably, the system required only a single operator.

Note the profusion of wires overhead in this photograph of a New York City street taken after the Great Blizzard of 1888.Collection of The New-York Historical Society - Image #54860

Early electric chair.

13 14

*See glossary

Visitors’ Day at the Niagara Falls Power Station – circa 1896.

Age of Electricity

Harnessing the Power of Niagara Falls

The Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company

proposal to harness the power of Niagara Falls called for

three 5,000-horsepower AC polyphase* electrical generators.

Although Westinghouse had demonstrated a complete

AC system at the Columbian Exposition, the equipment

for the Niagara Falls project had to be engineered largely

from the ground up. In just 18 months, Westinghouse

and his engineering team completed the first waterwheel

generator. It was installed at the Edward Dean Adams

Power Station in Niagara Falls, New York, on April 21, 1895.

On November 15, 1896, the switches were thrown

to transmit electric power 26 miles from Niagara Falls to a

large department store in downtown Buffalo, New York —

history’s first long-distance transmission of electricity.

The Buffalo Courier newspaper reported on the wondrous

event as follows:

“Out of the mystical world of mightiness, gliding

through the darkness silent as the sun, there came

to Buffalo at midnight, the most potent factor in

civilization — energy. Like a wild new broken colt

is this power. The reins that hold her head are

the long wires stretching from the power house …

her heart is the throbbing dynamos, out of

which comes the current of commercial life.

This morning, she made her first miles outside.

Swiftly she sped. The boon that she brings

bodes millions to men. Her power is practically

unlimited. Her resources measure the means

of mankind, and are still unfathomed …”

With a flick of a switch, the “Age of Electricity” was born

and the world was changed forever.

Thanks to the twin successes of the Columbian Exposition

and the Niagara Falls power project, the Westinghouse

Electric and Manufacturing Company was inundated

with orders. But despite the boom market for its products,

the company was in trouble. Stock market manipulations

reportedly masterminded by the renowned financier,

J.P. Morgan, combined with the royalty payments owed

to Tesla, forced the company to the edge of financial ruin.

Fortunately for Westinghouse, Tesla felt indebted to

“the only man on the globe who could take my AC system

and make it work.” In an act of supreme loyalty,

Tesla magnanimously tore up the royalty contract

and saved the company from takeover or bankruptcy.

DeCew Falls Power Station Provides Electricity for Hamilton

Two years later, in 1898, Ontario’s first generating station

went into operation at DeCew Falls near St. Catharines.

Although this generating station never received the same

attention as the Adams project at Niagara Falls, it was a

far more technically advanced and commercially innovative

undertaking. Its power was transmitted a greater distance

of 32 miles to the City of Hamilton, Ontario, at 11,000 volts.

The Royal Electric Company, which had been formed

in 1884 in Montreal and was responsible for providing

the first arc and incandescent street lighting systems

for Charlottetown, St. John’s, Ottawa and Montreal,

designed the plant and supplied four 1,000-kW waterwheel

generators. The Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing

Company in Pittsburgh was contracted to supply an

additional four 5,000-kW waterwheel generators during an

expansion in 1904 and 1905. Perhaps the greatest testimony

to the skill of the people who built this generating equipment

is the fact that these four Westinghouse generators are still in

operation in the year 2003, producing more than 20,000 kW

of electricity for Ontario Power Generation and the Ontario grid.

Turning Night into Day With the “Stopper” Lamp

George Westinghouse invented the “Stopper” lamp to light the Columbian

Exposition of 1893. The lamp consisted of a filament and a base inserted as one

into a glass bulb, similar to a stopper in a bottle. As the opening was sealed,

the air in the globe was removed, creating a vacuum. However, this new lamp

was far from perfect. The filaments were very fragile and the lamp was unable

to hold a vacuum for very long. Behind the scenes of the Columbian Exposition,

every day and night for the entire six-month duration of the fair, a team of

workers hired by Westinghouse walked the fairgrounds replacing burnt out lamps.

Each night, lamps were transported by train from Chicago to Pittsburgh to be

repaired and sent back the next day for reinstallation.

In addition to providing the lighting plant for the Columbian Exposition in 1893, the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company mounted an impressive company exhibit featuring a complete AC system consisting of generators, transformers, a short transmission line, motors, meters, a rotary converter and trolley motors.

16

1890-1903

Hamilton at the Turn of the Century

In the mid-1890s, perhaps

while visiting Ontario in

conjunction with his work

on the Niagara Falls project,

George Westinghouse

decided to set up a Canadian branch

of his thriving Pittsburgh-based

railroad air brake business.

In the United States, legislation passed in 1893

made it compulsory for all railroad trains to be equipped

with air brakes. Canada passed a similar law in 1896,

thereby creating a ready-made market for Westinghouse

air brakes.

The timing of this new venture in Canada

was auspicious for other reasons as well. The last decade

of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th

were periods of great industrial development

in the area of Ontario that became known as the

“Golden Horseshoe.”* This period saw the founding

of many of the great enterprises in manufacturing,

steel and transportation, which continue to play

an important role in the economy of Canada today.

*The phrase, “Golden Horseshoe” was reportedly first used by Canadian Westinghouse Company, Limited President, Herbert H. Rogge, in a speech to the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce on January 12, 1954. In his remarks he commented, “Hamilton in 50 years will be the forward cleat in a golden horseshoe of industrial development from Oshawa to the Niagara River.”

Looking south along James Street in Hamilton – 1899.By the mid-1890s, the bustling city of 50,000 inhabitants was firmly established as the industrial hub of south-central Ontario. Note the arc light in front of the Bank of Hamilton, the elaborate transmission line poles and the large street light on the left side of the photo near the woman riding a bicycle.

Gore Park – circa 1910.

Hamilton was a major terminal for the Great Western/Grand

Trunk Railway line. As a result, a large number of suppliers

to the railway industry were located in the area.Toronto, Hamilton

and Buffalo (TH&B) railway station located on the

northeast corner of Hunter Street East and

James Street South – 1895.

Wentworth Street incline railway looking down from the escarpment – circa 1890.

17

Paul Judson Myler was in a real sensethe “father” of the Canadian Westinghouse Company. He began his career in 1886, at the age of 17, as a bill clerk with Westinghouse Air Brake in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was appointed Secretary of the newly established Canadian Westinghouse operation in 1896 and was sent to Canada to conduct

negotiations with the City of Hamilton and purchase property. He became a permanent resident shortly there-after and married Lily Maude Lottridge of Hamilton in 1898.

In 1903, when the newly formed Canadian Westinghouse Company received its charter, George Westinghouse was named President with Myler as General Manager and Treasurer. Myler was appointed as President in 1917 and was elected Chairman of the Board in 1934, a position he held until his retirement in 1944. His association with

In 1896, WestinghouseAir Brake Establishes aBranch Plant in Canada

It is likely George Westinghouse recognized the Canadian

market would be a lucrative one for air brakes. However,

sales were hindered by a Canadian policy that levied import

duties on air brake equipment coming into Canada.

Up until this time, Westinghouse products manufactured

in Pittsburgh were distributed in Canada by Messrs. Ahearn and

Soper Limited. Thomas Ahearn and Warren Young Soper had

established the Chaudière Electric Light and Power Company

in 1887. This company, along with two others, merged in 1894

to form the Ottawa Electric Company. Both men strongly

supported the idea of a Canadian manufacturing site for

Westinghouse products and subsequently served as

Directors of the Westinghouse operation in Canada.

In addition, according to the Hamilton Herald, “The Dominion

Government is so anxious to encourage the use of air brakes

on railway trains, and have the Westinghouse Company locate

in Canada, that it has offered to bring in the machinery

necessary for the establishment of the Westinghouse Canadian

branch from the States free of duty.”

In 1896, George Westinghouse sent Paul J. Myler to Ontario

to negotiate with City of Hamilton representatives regarding

the establishment of a Canadian branch of the Westinghouse

Air Brake Manufacturing Company. “The negotiations

were conducted secretly for fear the Toronto people would

make an extra effort to get the company to locate in

the Queen City,” reported the Hamilton Herald.

Manufacturers who established operations in Hamilton

at that time were exempted from paying taxes on their

buildings, machinery, tools, income and personal property

for 10 years. During negotiations with Myler, the City

of Hamilton also agreed to supply water at cost.

The deal was signed and, in October 1896, the 3.5-acre

Robert McKechnie property on Princess Street at the eastern

outskirts of Hamilton was purchased for $16,500 CAD.

The land was ideally situated between the Grand Trunk

Railway line and Princess Street, where the Princess Street

parking lot is currently located.

At this time, Princess Street continued west to Sanford Avenue

with the bordering property to the south divided into lots.

From 1897 to 1906, the company acquired, in stages, most of

the property that makes up the current site.

the company covered the period from its inception through the Second World War, a span of nearly 50 years. After his retirement, he was President of the Westinghouse Retirees’ Association until his death in Hamilton in 1945.

In his obituary, the Hamilton Spectator wrote “he and the company were virtually synonymous, and had both grown up together, with the man becoming one of Hamilton’s foremost industrialists, and the plant itself expanding rapidly until it ranked among the largest in Canada.”

Myler Street, running from Sanford Avenue to Milton Avenue in front of the Hamilton factory, and Myler Hall, adjacent to Christ’s Church Cathedral in Hamilton, were named for Paul Myler. The Myler residence located at 61 Robinson Street in Hamilton became the site of the Royal Hamilton Military Institute until it was demolished in the 1990s. In 2000, Paul Myler was inducted into the Hamilton Gallery of Distinction.

Paul J. Myler

1890-1903

Westinghouse Works – 1897

In 1897, a small office building was constructed and a white picket fence was installed along Princess Street.

The factory included a machine shop, pumphouse, tool room, storeroom, packing area, warehouse and a small brass foundry.

The superintendent’s officefeatured fine wood craftsman-ship and a spiral staircase.

The Canadian Westinghouse Manufacturing Company Limited – 1897.When Paul Myler purchased the 3.5-acre Robert McKechnie property in 1896, it contained a single-floor, L-shaped factory building that backed onto the railway tracks. This became the Air Brake building (B-building).

Electric lighting made ledgers easier to read in the secretary’s office.

19

The Hamilton Plant Opens in 1897

On January 14, 1897, the Westinghouse Manufacturing

Company Limited of Hamilton, Ontario was incorporated

under the laws of Canada.

On the fi rst day of operation,

February 8, 1897, 53 men reported for work.

Daily wages were as follows: apprentices –

50 cents; machinists, inspectors and

engineers – $1.50; carpenters – $1.75;

and millwrights – $2.50.

The fi rst shipment of air brakes was made

on April 10, 1897. Two years later, in 1899,

the factory reported an annual production

level of 9,000 sets of air brakes for freight cars

and 300 sets for locomotives.

The Founding of the Canadian Westinghouse Company Limited - 1903

On July 9, 1903, the Canadian Westinghouse Company,

Limited was chartered and took over all the Westinghouse

interests and operations in Canada. Capital stock

in the company was issued for $2.5 million CAD

divided into 25,000 shares valued at $100 CAD each.

Of this, 75 percent of the stock was split between the

Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company

and the Westinghouse Air Brake Company in the United States.

The remaining 25 percent was made available for sale to the

Canadian public.

George Westinghouse was named President, his brother

Henry Herman Westinghouse and Frank Hendrickson Taylor

were made Vice Presidents and John H. Kerr

was elected Secretary. Paul Judson Myler was

appointed as General Manager and Treasurer

at an annual salary of $6,000 CAD.

The Charter of the Hamilton Plant

Ever the visionary, George Westinghouse

seems to have had bigger plans in mind for his

Canadian venture than simply the manufacture of air brakes.

In fact, this is refl ected in the wording of the charter for the

Canadian Westinghouse Company Limited. This document,

signed on July 9, 1903, granted the company the right:

1. To manufacture, sell and deal in all kinds of machinery, machines, apparatus, fi xtures, instruments, materials, engines, lamps, wires, meters, air brakes, all kinds of safety devices and appliances, implements and tools and all other goods, supplies or products useful and used in or about the manufacture of any of the foregoing things or in connection therewith; and to carry on the business of manufacturers and dealers in electrical and general machinery and of engineers and contractors and any business that may be conducted in connection therewith, or that may be incidental, necessary or useful thereto.

2. To make and enter into and to undertake and execute all or any contracts for works involving the supply or use of electrical or other machinery, or electrical or other power, and of all or any sort or kind, with any person, company, corporation or government, and in connection with said works, and for the purpose of carrying out the same, to acquire, maintain, operate and lease all necessary works, constructions and erections.

Construction of a New Factory

The fi rst order of business after being chartered was to build

a new factory to house the electrical apparatus business.

In 1902, 1903 and 1905, the purchase of additional properties

totalling approximately 12 acres expanded the site west

as far as Wentworth Street. In October 1903, a quarter of

a million dollar contract for the construction of a new factory

on Milton Avenue was awarded to the contracting fi rm of

Westinghouse, Church, Kerr and Company. The factory would

be designed along the same lines as the Westinghouse facility

in East Pittsburgh. Work commenced almost immediately and

the plant was completed and ready for service in May 1905.

The construction of the new buildings at the north end

of Milton Avenue attracted great interest in the daily and

engineering press. The factory was described as a “model” plant

comprising general and detail machine shops, pattern shops,

a foundry and a boiler house, all equipped with the latest

in manufacturing machinery, tools and equipment. It featured

an industrial railway, freight elevators, a number of cranes,

a compressed-air system and fi re protection equipment.

The Hamilton Cataract Power, Light and Traction Company

Limited was contracted to provide electric power from

DeCew Falls near St. Catharines. The 1,200 kW three-phase

AC 440-volt supply of electricity had an odd frequency

of 66 2/3 cycles per second but it powered the lights,

motors and testing equipment in the shops in a satisfactory

manner for many years before being converted to 60 cycles

per second (hertz) in the 1950s.

Westinghouse Avenue, formerly called Brant Avenue,

was named after completion of the factory in 1905.

Myler Street was named after Paul J. Myler in 1910.

West end of D-building* – April 16, 1904.

On February 4, 1897, the following note appeared in the Hamilton Herald: “Westinghouse Air Brake Company commences manufacture of air brakes on Monday.” The early workforce is pictured above with Paul J. Myler, General Manager and Treasurer, on the far right.

Inside of A-building* – May 13, 1904.

Front of A-building* – May 13, 1904.

Expanded Works Offi ce* – July 15, 1904.

Shift change at the Canadian Westinghouse Company, Limited – circa 1910.

Laying the foundation of A-building* – February 16, 1904.

D-building* looking north along what is now Westinghouse Avenue – September 21, 1904.

A stylized “W” and ”A,” standing for Westinghouse Air Brake, formed the company logo – 1897.

* Refer to map on page 21.

From the Ground Up

1890-1903

24

The Hamilton Plant Begins to Support the Booming Electrical Industry

By 1909, the Foundry Department in A-building was producing large castings for waterwheel generators.

The first order produced by the new electrical machine shop

in August 1905 consisted of 14 “type C” 75-horsepower motors

for the Grand Trunk Railway.

Horse clippers – circa 1905. Small motors were used to power a variety of devices

which previously had been manually operated.

The Canadian Westinghouse Company

began manufacturing motors, generators

and other electrical apparatus as soon

as the construction of the new factory

buildings was complete in 1905.

At a Managers’ Meeting in 1907,

Vice President Paul Myler

proudly announced that the

Windsor, Essex and Lake Shore

Railway in Ontario had

successfully begun operation

with a 13,200 volt, single-phase

electrical system, all designed

and built in Hamilton. Myler then reported that

in the four years since the company’s start up,

sales of the Hamilton works had grown from

$1.2 million CAD in 1903 to $3 million CAD

in 1907. Unfortunately, later that same year

a recession resulted in the suspension of orders

for street railway motors and the shop teetered

on the brink of closure. The employee workforce

that had grown to 1,687 by June of 1907

had dropped to 780 by March 1909. In addition,

the traditional 55-hour workweek (10 hours

a day, five days a week and five hours

on Saturday) was cut back to 40 hours

due to the lack of work.

Westinghouse fire brigade – circa 1912.

Electric fans, introduced in 1907,

appear dangerous by today’s safety standards. Since

wall sockets did not yet exist, appliances

were designed to screw into overhead

light sockets.

1903-1912

26

By 1910, the Canadian Westinghouse Company manufactured electrical apparatus ranging in size from small motors (foreground) to huge waterwheel generators for hydro-electric power plants (background).

Wattmeter

Early Electrical Apparatus

Voltmeter

1903-1912

Metering system

Oil circuit breaker

Synchronous motor and DC generator

AC motor

Sales started to recover in mid-1909 and hiring picked up.

By 1911, the workforce had topped the 2,000 mark.

Included in this number were 180 “workwomen.”

The Annual Report of 1909 stated that the plant had

the distinction of manufacturing “the only transforming

and switching apparatus yet produced in Canada for operation

in connection with lines transmitting electrical energy at a

pressure of 110,000 volts, the highest transmission voltage

attempted in any part of the world.” Other industrial products

included induction motors, switchgear, circuit breakers,

watt-hour meters, gas and water meters, AC and DC generators

and electric lamps. Only a small portion of products sold by

the Canadian Westinghouse Company was imported from

the Westinghouse factory in East Pittsburgh.

Following the success of the Niagara Falls project,

hydro-electric utility companies started springing up

across Canada. Large orders for waterwheel generators

were received from the Hydro-Electric Power Commission

of Ontario (now Ontario Power Generation), the Canadian

Power Company and the Shawinigan Water and Power

Company in Quebec.

Sales to heavy industries were also going well. In 1912,

the fi rst completely electrically operated steel mill in the world

was delivered to The Steel Company of Canada (later Stelco)

in Hamilton. In 1913, the factory manufactured the fi rst large

reversing mine hoist to be built in Canada.

Within the fi rst decade of operation, sales offi ces and

warehouses had been opened in Vancouver, Winnipeg,

Toronto and Montreal, providing outlets for Westinghouse

apparatus across the country. Competition increased as new

companies entered the market. Siemens, an important

player in the European electrical industry, was chartered

in Canada in 1912 and supplied a 500-kW motor generator

for the City of Winnipeg.

Advertising Materials

The Art Nouveau style, in use from the 1880s

to the eve of the First World War, was seen on

public buildings, residences, lamps, wallpaper,

carpeting, advertisements and even brochures

for industrial equipment. Common elements

included elegantly curving vines, floral motifs

and women with long flowing hair and dresses.

29

Making castings in the Foundry Department – circa 1907.

Heavy Production Load Results in a Plant Expansion

Company activities, both in volume and physical size

of projects undertaken, were soon exceeding the capacity

of facilities. Manufacturing space for the Air Brake Department

(B-building) doubled in 1907 to 48,000 square feet and

was increased again in 1912 to 90,000 square feet.

The new factory constructed in

1904-1905 to house the Electrical

Department originally comprised

238,000 square feet of manufacturing

space. At this time, electrical apparatus

accounted for only 43 percent of billings.

By 1912, the Electrical Department

had expanded to 408,000 square feet.

Business was booming, generating

85 to 90 percent of the company’s sales.

In 1911, the remaining north half

of A-building was constructed along

with the centre portion of P-building,

M-building, as well as the remaining

north parts of E-building and F-building.

A bridge connected F-building to the

Works Office. The Boiler House was enlarged

with a new smoke stack.

The foundry (A-building), built in 1903, also reached

the limit of its capacity mainly due to the high demand for

air brake castings. To rectify the situation, a 35-acre tract

of land, known as the Chedoke Hollow and located at

the western limit of Hamilton, was purchased in 1912 for

$38,000 CAD. A new iron foundry designed specifically

for air brake castings was constructed on the site. This was

the birth of the Longwood Road and Aberdeen Avenue plants

which came to be known as Plant 2 or the West Plant.

(The original factory was called Plant 1, the East Plant or

the Sanford Avenue plant. The workers, many of whom

had a Scottish background, simply

referred to the Westinghouse works

as “the ‘Hoose.”)

In mid-1913, after 10 years of success-

ful operation, the Canadian Westinghouse

Company, Limited suddenly experienced

a 40 percent drop in its sales brought

on by the general economic depression

that preceded the First World War.

Employment levels, which had risen

to 3,250 by July 1913, dropped to

1,600 by the end of 1916.

During its first decade of operation,

the company had already weathered

two cycles of growth and decline.

This pattern would be repeated throughout the entire

history of Westinghouse / Siemens Westinghouse in Canada.

This broken rotor bar, a common problem at this time, was sent back to the Hamilton plant for repair – 1905.

Early delivery truck.

Toronto Service Shop – 1943.

Montreal Service Shop – 1943.

After serving four years as an apprentice, an employee named Thomas Robertson became a Toolmaker in 1909.

Servicing Westinghouse Equipment

In the early days, major projects were installed under

the direction of engineers from the U.S. parent company.

By 1906, the Canadian Westinghouse Company, Limited

had established an Erecting Department. Engineers

located in each district office looked after local field

problems and installations. Foremen and workmen

were sent out by the factory in Hamilton to handle

the work. One armature winder/repair person was

eventually hired for each district and renewal parts

were stocked in each location. Basic repairs and motor

rewinds were completed on small workbenches set up

in the basement of each office. Larger repair jobs

were sent back to the Hamilton plant.

The goals in setting up local repair shops were to provide

prompt customer service, faster turnaround time and

convenient access to renewal parts; to eliminate the high

transportation costs of sending jobs to Hamilton; and

to reduce the disruption caused by pulling foremen and

workers out of the main factory to work at customer sites.

In 1918, with the volume of service work increasing, the Erecting Department, renamed as the Service Department, established repair shops in Toronto and Montreal using equipment discarded from the Hamilton factory. These two shops were the beginning of a chain of repair shops that would eventually stretch across Canada.

By 1922, repair shops located in Toronto, Montreal,

Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg and Regina employed

a total of 35 hourly employees. A repair shop was set up

near Kirkland Lake in 1936 specifically to provide service

to the mining operations in the area. By the 1990s,

the Westinghouse Service Division operated in 40 locations

across Canada and employed approximately 500 people.

1903-1912

32

Business Slumps but Recovers Through the War Effort

1913-1922

Aerial view of the Sanford Avenue plant in 1920. Note the Air Brake building in the foreground. K-building, L-building, R-building, S-building and X-building have not yet been built. The structure located where K-building is today was a maintenance shop. A bridge connects F-building to the Works Office. Woodlands Park has enough trees to actually be considered a “woodland.”

By the end of the war in 1918, a total of 777 Canadian Westinghouse employees had served overseas. Of these, 65 had been killed in action. In the aftermath of the war, the biggest problems facing the company were the shortages of labour, coal, fuel gas and electricity. As a result, the workweek was reduced to 50 hours.***

* Now Ontario Power Generation. ** Now Sir Adam Beck–Niagara Generating Station #1.*** Nine hours five days a week and five hours on Saturday.

In 1919, large orders were received from the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario* for 15,000 watt-hour meters, two 45,500-kilovolt ampere vertical waterwheel genera-tors and a bank of single pole 110,000-volt oil circuit breakers for the Queenston-Chippewa project in Niagara Falls.**

In 1909, the Canadian Westinghouse Company designed and manufactured a device that used electric heat to brown bread slices. The new product was called a “Toaster.” This initial model was followed in 1916 by the new and improved “Turnover Toaster.”

On March 12, 1914, George Westinghouse passed away. In his hands was a sketch of the begin-nings of a new invention — an electric wheelchair. He was buried in the National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. The George Westinghouse Memorial was unveiled in 1930 in Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania.

On August 4, 1914,

Great Britain declared

war on Germany. As a

member of the British

Commonwealth, this

meant Canada was also at war.

Canadian Westinghouse supplied

the armed forces with howitzer

and shrapnel shells and was

considered one of Canada’s

most important arsenals.

The company also assisted the

National Steel Car Company

by machining parts for

field kitchens and tramway

ammunition cars.

By 1915, electricity had become

increasingly important as the

country geared up to meet wartime

production needs. This meant the

company’s products were in demand

once more. Orders for electrical

apparatus that had been halted

by the outbreak of the war were

released and went into production.

33

1916-Era Generator is Still Running!

One notable project from this time period was a

rheostat generator set and control panels for the

Silversmith Hydro-Electric Power Station in Sandon,

British Columbia. This power station was built

around 1916 to provide power for the silver mining

operation as well as an aerial tramway and has been

in continuous operation since that time.

The Canadian Westinghouse Company provided

Silversmith with a 200-kW, three-phase AC water-

wheel generator, the generator end of the main shaft,

a 10-kW exciter, a rheostat used by the operator

to manually control the voltage of the generator

and two slate control panels and breakers.

Silversmith Power and Light Corporation has

calculated that the main shaft, manufactured

out of high-grade steel, has made approximately

17.5 billion revolutions. The Westinghouse generator,

complete with all its original parts, has been in

operation for approximately 806,000 hours.

According to the interpretive guide published by

the Silversmith Power and Light Corporation, “It is

reputedly the longest continuously running machine

in Canada.” Today, this unique hydro-electric

power station continues to proudly supply power

to the grid in western Canada and is open

to the public as a historic site.

Demand Increases for Domestic Appliances and Lamps

The continuing increase in the availability of electricity

to the general public made its application to household tasks

more feasible. The Canadian Westinghouse Company built

the new and improved “Turnover Toaster” in 1916, the first

low-priced Van-o-phone gramophone in 1917 and the first

electric range in 1921. These were the forerunners of a

complete line of household appliances that would appear

in the 1930s.

By the early 1920s, the iron foundry on Aberdeen Avenue

had been converted into the MAZDA* Incandescent Lamp Works.

The first products were 40-watt, 60-watt and 100-watt

tungsten lamps. By 1921, the factory was producing

8,000 lamps per day.

Early models of toasters were followed, in 1916, by the innovative “Turnover Toaster” that featured a mechanical method of flipping over the bread to toast the other side.

Early control panels for power stations combined beauty with functionality.

*In the early days, each light bulb manufacturer set his own specifications. Lamp bases and light output ratings varied greatly. In 1909, General Electric developed a set of standards for tungsten filament light bulbs. Other companies, including Westinghouse, licenced these new standards, marketed under the trademark of MAZDA, after Ahura Mazda, “Lord of Wisdom” and the supreme creator god of life and light in the Zoroastrian religion.

1913-1922

Main lobby

Executive dining room

Auditorium

Reception

Head OfficeCanadian Westinghouse Company, Limited

286 Sanford Avenue North, Hamilton, Ontario

In 1917, a luxurious five-storey office building

was built across the street from the factory to serve

as the head office of the Canadian Westinghouse

Company, Limited. A bridge connected the

Head Office to the factory.

Two additional floors were added in 1929.

The building was sold in 1987 and, sadly,

has remained empty since that time.

The tradition of holding a company

summer picnic started in 1901.

Ladies’ baseball team–circa 1920.

Ella Baird, who retired after 20 years of service in 1951

as Director of Nurses and Welfare Services at the West Plant,

was a pioneer in industrial nursing. Starting around 1917,

a staff of nurses, a secretary and a first aid man provided basic

medical care to employees at the East and West Plant locations.

A doctor visited the plants one morning a week in the early days.

By 1941, daily visits from the doctor had became the norm.

The company also created low-cost contributory medical and hospital-

ization plans as well as a disability plan for employees in the 1920s.

Canadian Westinghouse Baseball Club – 1919.

Canadian Westinghouse Company marching band

– circa 1922.

Men’s football team – 1912.

Tool Room picnic, Soper Park, Galt, Ontario – 1950.

Life At WestinghouseIn 1920, a group life assurance plan provided

every employee with a $1,000 life assurance policy.

That same year, a company-paid pension plan was

introduced. Since at this time

pensions were either privately

arranged or only available

to employees of banks

and financial institutions,

this was viewed as a major

milestone in industrial relations.

Recognizing the value of

education, an educational

assistance program was made

available to employees in 1924.

Although paid vacations were

unheard of in the early 1900s,

by 1926, Westinghouse companies were providing

employees who had 10 years of service with one week

of paid vacation and those with 20 years of service with

two weeks of paid vacation.

The high value George Westinghouse placed

on his employees was reflected in the company’s

progressive human relations policies

and employee benefit programs.

In fact, in the latter part of the

19th century when the six-day

workweek was the rule,

Westinghouse was one of the

first employers to introduce the

half-holiday on Saturday afternoon.

In Canada, Paul J. Myler,

President of the Canadian

Westinghouse Company from 1917

to 1934, continued the company

tradition and became a sponsor

of movements to better the lot

of employees.

In 1904, a lunchroom for office employees was

established at the works. By 1929, the company

was providing cafeteria services for employees

at both of the Hamilton plants.

Tug-of-war at the company picnic – circa 1950.

Through the years, the company has sponsored

a variety of sports activities for employees.

In 2003, employees have the opportunity to

participate in hockey, soccer and golf leagues.

38

The 1920s opened with a flurry

of activity as the company strived

to meet the most immediate

post-war needs. As the demand

for electricity increased steadily

throughout the decade, the terms

“first in the world” and “largest in

the world” were used to describe

many Westinghouse orders.

During this period the company

manufactured waterwheel generators

for many of the country’s

hydro-electric projects. In the 1930s

the company also supplied six

370,000-pound, 22,500-kilovolt ampere

transformers and switchgear for

the Hydro-Electric Power Commission

of Ontario’s Leaside Switching Station

in Toronto, Ontario. These transformers

stepped down the 220,000-volt

power supply that was being transmitted

230 miles from the Paugan Hydro-electric

Dam on the Gatineau River, northeast

of Hull, Quebec.

Machining a waterwheel generator component – circa 1925.

Cutaway view of a Westinghouse waterwheel generator. Waterwheels were supplied by companies such as Dominion Engineering in Montreal and mated to the generator at site.

In a hydro-electric power station, water from a dam travels through a penstock. As it flows past the waterwheel turbine blades, it causes them to spin. The blades are attached to a shaft. The rotating shaft drives a generator to produce electricity.

Notable generation projects in which the company figured prominently included

the Queenston-Chippewa Generating Station of the Hydro-Electric Power Commission

of Ontario at Niagara Falls, Ontario, the Western Power Company station

in Ruskin, British Columbia and the Alcoa Power Company Chute à Caron

plant near Arvida, Quebec.

1923-1932

Numerous Large Capital Projects Completed Before the Depression Hits

39

The Marketing of Domestic Appliances was Designed to Create Load

Recognizing that it would likely be some time before

the demand for new power plants returned, the company

made extensive preparations for the manufacture and

sale of a complete line of domestic appliances that

would make use of the cheap surplus power that was

now available. As the Depression dragged on, the wisdom

of entering the appliance business was to be justifi ed

many times over. This direct route to consumer spending

helped keep the company afl oat until 1938 when orders

involving large apparatus began to pick up.

The fi rst electric ranges to be manufactured in Canada

were produced in 1921. In 1931, the fi rst refrigerators,

featuring 5.5 cubic feet of food storage space, and the

fi rst washing machines were introduced. Families could

purchase these large appliances on credit with consumer

loans provided by the Westinghouse Acceptance Company.

A variety of portable appliances were also offered

for sale to the public. Some products were imported from

Westinghouse in the U.S., but many were manufactured

or assembled in Hamilton.

Important contributions by Westinghouse included lighting

and electrical equipment to operate 11 of the 18 highway

bridges that spanned the canal. Much of this electrical

apparatus is still in use in 2003.

By the end of 1931, strongly affected by the Depression,

the Canadian Westinghouse Company was suffering from

an extremely low volume of orders. Lack of confi dence in

the economy, coupled with the reduced demand for power

for industry, meant that the construction of new power

plants ceased. This eliminated the demand for generating

equipment. As unemployment reached unheard of levels

across Canada, consumer spending on radio receivers and

gramophones also decreased.

Early Radio Manufacturing

On November 2, 1920, in the fi rst scheduled radio

broadcast, Westinghouse’s KDKA radio station transmitted

the results of the Harding-Cox presidential election

from the roof of its building in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

KDKA became the fi rst commercial broadcasting station

and, with the sale of radio receivers to the general public,

a new industry was born.

The Canadian operation fi rst entered the radio business

in 1924 with the manufacture of R-3, R-3-A, Regenofl ex

and R-10 radio sets. These models were soon followed

by the Aeriola Jr., the fi rst all-Canadian commercial radio

receiver, and the Aeriola Sr., the fi rst model to contain

radio tubes. With the sale of radios booming, the demand

for radio tubes manufactured at the company’s facility

on Aberdeen Avenue increased from 273,000 radio tubes

in 1925 to 742,000 in 1928.

Subsequent models of radios contained new circuits

that provided greater sensitivity and selection between

stations. Short wave improved radio reception another

step and, by 1937, automatic tuning and push button

radios were commonplace.

Many pulp and paper mills were also established or expanded

during this time. Their demand for electrical apparatus

contributed greatly to the output of the Hamilton works.

By 1929, Canadian Westinghouse sales had reached

a record $19.5 million CAD and the company entered 1930

with a substantial backlog which would blunt, for a while,

the effect of the stock market collapse on Wall Street in

October 1929 and the Great Depression that followed.

In 1929, the world’s fi rst main line diesel-electric locomotive

went into service for Canadian National Railways with electrical

equipment designed and manufactured by employees at the

Sanford Avenue plant.

In 1930, construction of the new Welland Canal, which

connects Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, was completed.

Far North Broadcasts

One important phase of the Westinghouse Electric

and Manufacturing Company’s radio broadcasting

activities was its “Far North Broadcasts,” initiated

through the foresight of George A. Wendt, an employee

of the Canadian Westinghouse Company.

These programs consisted of letters, news reports

and information from employees, relatives and friends

to the people whose lives were spent in small habitations,

for the most part above the Arctic Circle. These Far North

Broadcasts began in the summer of 1923 when receivers

were distributed to the most northern stations of

the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, followed by

the Hudson’s Bay Company trading posts and the

missions of the Revillon Frères and the Oblate Fathers.

Transmissions were fi rst made by Westinghouse KDKA

and, subsequently, by other Westinghouse radio stations.

These broadcasts were often the only communication

the people of the far north would receive from the

outside world for six

months of the year.

Photo signed: “To Skipper G. Wendt,

With deep appreciation. (Admiral) Rich Byrd

New York City August 22, 1928.”

1 Electric clock – $18.00

2 Electric hotplate – Retail price unknown

3 The hand vacuum – $19.25

4 Refrigerator – $275.00

5 Whirl-dry vacuum-cup washing machine and damp dryer – $198.00

6 Electric waffl e maker – $13.00

7 Tea samovar – $9.25

8 Tumbler water heater – $9.00

9 Table stove – $12.25

10 Air-o-vac – $66.00

11 Electric ironer – $148.50

12 Vital-aire humidifi er – $129.50

13 Sunlamp – $47.50

14 Electric hair-drying comb – $4.20

15 Adjust-o-matic iron – $10.00

16 Vacuum-cup washing machine – $165.00

17 Panel pot percolator – $9.75

18 Flavor zone range – $180.00

The battery-powered Aeriola Sr., which sold for $75 CAD, had a wave length of 190 to 500 metres and could pick up signals from the majority of high-powered Canadian and American radio stations – 1925.

Designed to Create Load

Recognizing that it would likely be some time before

the demand for new power plants returned, the company

1923-1932

From the Westinghouse Store – 1930s

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

9

18

44

Depression Years Followed by Upswing in Orders for the Armed Forces

As diffi cult as times

were during the

Great Depression,

extraordinary measures

were put in place to

provide work for as many

employees as possible.

Pay-cuts were instituted

and the work that was

available was spread out

over short shifts. Unused

factory equipment was

preserved, ready to be

brought back into service

when sales improved.

Mine hoists built by Canadian Westinghouse could bring ore from almost a mile underground to the surface at a speed of approximately 23 miles per hour.

A 5,000-horsepower DC motor was installed to drive the giant rolling mill of the Algoma Steel Company, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario – circa 1940.

Canadian Westinghouse supplied a wide variety of products to support the war effort including 14 components for the Mosquito tactical bomber.

Manufacturing MAZDA tungsten lamps in the West Plant on Aberdeen Avenue

– circa 1935.

1933-1942

45

Orders for large apparatus recover

Finally, in 1938, large apparatus orders started to recover.

By the end of 1939, sales had improved to $11 million CAD.

Two 50,000-kilovolt ampere, 230,000-volt forced oil-cooled

transformers, the largest yet built in Canada, were manufactured

and shipped. A 7,000-horsepower DC mill motor, the largest

in Canada, was supplied to the Steel Company of Canada (Stelco).

Braking Systems for the “Red Rocket” Streetcars

In the late 1930s, conversion of all North American

rolling stock to a significantly improved braking system

developed by Westinghouse Air Brake Company provided

a needed boost to the air brake business.

In 1936, an important contract was obtained from

the Toronto Transportation Commission* for motors,

controls and braking equipment for the new President’s

Conference Committee (PCC) “Red Rocket” streetcars.

These standardized electric streetcars were designed to be

quieter, faster, better lit and more reliable than previous

models. By the 1950s, with 744 in operation, Toronto had

the largest fleet of PCC streetcars in the world. The last car was

withdrawn from active service in Toronto in December 1995.

With so many men in the armed forces, large numbers of women stepped in to staff the Westinghouse factories in Canada and the United States. To encourage women

to apply for factory positions, the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company produced the famous

“Rosie the Riveter” poster for the U.S. War Production Effort.

Equipping the Armed Forces

Canada entered the Second World War on September 10, 1939

and, once again, the Canadian Westinghouse Company had

an important role to play. In fact, for the next six years,

more than 95 percent of the company’s output went to

support the war effort. C.D. Howe, Head of Canada’s War

Supply Board and Department of Munitions and Supply,

reportedly referred to the Canadian Westinghouse Company

as “Canada’s number one war plant.” In order to segregate

work performed for the war effort, the company incorporated

a wholly owned subsidiary called Hamilton Munitions Limited.

War materiel produced included gun barrels, bomb racks,

bomb sights, tail elevators for Mosquito bombers, torpedo

engines, anti-aircraft guns, fuse-keeping clocks, radar

equipment as well as a host of aircraft and naval components.

Electrical products included giant hydro generators, trans-

formers and ignitron rectifiers for the Aluminum Company

of Canada. This equipment made possible the large-scale

production of aluminum needed for manufacturing aircraft

components. As a result, by the end of the war, Canada was

producing 40 percent of the world’s supply of aluminum.

The Lamp-Tube Division, which had started as the

Illumination Division in 1926 to supply street lighting, provided

airport lighting, spotlights, beacon lights, headlights and

electronic tubes for ocean-going vessels. In the midst of all

this activity, the manufacture of fluorescent lamps began.

More than 1,800 Canadian Westinghouse Company

employees went to war. Fifty-seven gave the ultimate sacrifice.

Vertical pump motors for Toronto pumping station – circa 1930.

On the home front, annual reports for the war years repeatedly referred to “acute short-ages of skilled tradesmen.” As a result, many unskilled workers were hired and trained on the job, pensioners were called back from retirement and women were employed in unprecedented numbers.

Toronto Transportation Commission “Red Rocket” streetcar.

3.7-inch anti-aircraft gun barrels manufacturedat the Aberdeen Avenue facility were tested

at the Beach Road proving range.

Burlington Power Station circuit breakers – 1941.

Recognizing that the workforce had changed, the Westinghouse employees’ magazine pictured women in overalls and provided instructions on how to tie a kerchief so that long hair would not be a safety hazard in the factory.

“Canada’s number one war plant.”

* Now the Toronto Transit Commission – TTC.

48

End of the War and the Start of Post-War Development

Like many other

manufacturing companies,

Canadian Westinghouse

experienced some diffi culties

immediately after the war as

the plant converted back to

peacetime production while

dealing with material shortages

and labour unrest. By 1947,

however, the country had

entered a period of rapid

expansion that would

carry the company to

never-before experienced

levels of achievement.

In total, between 1946 and 1950,

utility companies across Canada

added more than two million

horsepower of electrical generating

capacit y. This represented a 20%

increase in total installed horsepower

in just four years. As a result, shipments

of large waterwheel generators,

transformers and other electrical

apparatus from Canadian Westinghouse

exceeded all previous records.

Westinghouse had a large exhibit at the fi rst Canadian National Exhibition after World War II in 1947. Above the exhibit can be seen the new company logo that had been adopted in 1944.

In 1943, between 2,500 and 2,800 cheques were cashed each pay period at the Barton Street branch of the Bank of Montreal. Prior to 1940, wages were paid in cash.

Installing the rotor of a waterwheel generator at the Rapides-des-Joachims powerhouse in Quebec – 1950.

In the early 1950s, switchgear and control

manufacturing were moved from the

Sanford Avenue plant to buildings at the Aberdeen Avenue

facility.

1943-1952

In the Transcribing Department, 19 typists working at electric typewriters churned out 14,000 letters,orders and reports a month – 1943.

49 50

In 1949, the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario*

launched a decade-long program to standardize the frequency

of electricity delivery from 25 cycles per second to 60 cycles**

per second. This $352 million CAD program involved converting

an estimated seven million appliances and other electrical

devices to the new frequency. This created a large increase

in service work for the Sanford Avenue factory and service shops

across Canada. The real benefi t of this

standardization program was only realized

20 years later when Ontario Hydro was

able to join together all of the power

distribution systems in the province in

one synchronized provincial electrical grid

in 1970.

With the goal of accommodating

the increased workload, space at the

Sanford Avenue plant was increased

through a number of facility changes.

In 1951, a large manufacturing complex

for electric motors, naval auxiliary

turbines, rectifi ers, circuit breakers and

small power transformers was completed

on Beach Road. Growth of the electronics

business was refl ected in the building

of a major facility on Longwood Road the following year.

The completion of these construction projects marked

the last of the principal expansions in the Hamilton area.

Canada’s First Television Sets

In 1948, four years before the Canadian Broadcasting

Corporation (CBC) made the fi rst television broadcasts

in Canada, Westinghouse produced the fi rst Canadian-

designed television set in the Aberdeen Avenue plant.

This exciting new product was introduced with much

fanfare at the 1948 Canadian National Exhibition in

Toronto. Regular production of a television set with

a black-and-white, 10-inch picture tube started in 1949.

In an innovative move, Westinghouse maximized sales

of its household appliances by advertising during broadcasts

of Westinghouse productions. The fi rst broadcast of

the critically acclaimed Studio One live dramatic series

premiered in 1949 and ran for nearly 10 years.

Betty Furness, who appeared as an actress in an early episode

of Studio One, was hired to promote Westinghouse products

during live commercials. Audiences loved her, sending her

an average of 1,000 pieces of fan mail a week and buying

* Now Ontario Power Generation.** Frequency is now referred to as hertz.

S-building was constructed in 1949 to serve as a central warehouse for all the company’s goods. Windows were placed high up on each fl oor in order to provide room below for stacks of products. In later years, the Westinghouse employee store, stocked with major appliances, consumer products and electrical apparatus, was located on the ground fl oor. Over time, the top three fl oors were gradually converted to offi ce space.

the Westinghouse

appliances she

recommended.

Her tag line,

“You can be

SURE … if it’s

Westinghouse™”

turned into a

national catchphrase. In 1953,

Furness hosted a talk show called Meet Betty Furness and

later, Best of Broadway, both sponsored by Westinghouse.

She also made regular appearances on What’s My Line?

and I’ve Got a Secret. After ending her affi liation with

Westinghouse in 1960, she went on to become the Special

Assistant for Consumer Affairs for the Lyndon B. Johnson

administration in the White House and headed the

Consumer Affairs Departments of both New York City

and New York State.

Expanding Into International Markets

Recognizing that the post-war boom could not last forever,

the company wisely started to explore other markets,

particularly those in the British Commonwealth. In 1950,

the Canadian Westinghouse International Company was

formed for the express purpose of marketing the products

of Canadian Westinghouse to other countries. This venture

turned out to be a very successful one. Ten years later,

the organization reported that it had done business in

50 different countries and had taken part in major utility,

industrial and defence projects in Brazil, New Zealand,

Venezuela, Sweden, Bolivia and France.In addition to incandescent light bulbs, fl uorescent tubes and mercury vapour lamps, the Lamp and Lighting Division produced germ-destroying Steri-lamps, Bug-a-way outdoor lamps, Odour-out-lamps, sunlamps, Christmas tree lights, as well as miniature bulbs for fl ashlights and photofl ashes – 1951.

Residential Power Consumption Soars

In the years following World War II, two major factors were

to drive a dramatic increase in residential power consumption.

First, the electrifi cation of rural areas of Canada added

large numbers of new users. Secondly, as soldiers returned

and settled down to domestic life,

large numbers of new households

were created.

Babies started to be born at a

rapid rate, triggering an increase

in new home construction to

accommodate the expanding families.

The resulting increase in the number

of homes in Canada not only fed

the demand for power, but also

sparked a boom market in the

appliance industry.

For Canadian Westinghouse,

after having to curtail production

of household appliances in order

to concentrate on the war effort,

the pent-up and new demand for these products was so great,

the company was unable to keep up. In response, in 1946,

capacity was greatly increased with the purchase of the

gun factory on Longwood Road that Westinghouse

had built and operated for the government during the war.

Most appliance production activities were consolidated

in this location and, in 1948, the building was doubled

in length.

The fi rst black-and-white televisions came off the line in 1949.

Many “war brides” received Westinghouse appliances as wedding gifts in the late-1940s.

Television manufacturing at the West Plant – circa 1950. Demand was so strong for this “newfangled” device that the factory soon had trouble fi lling orders.

1943-1952

The “Laundromat,” the fi rst automatic washing machine that would operate througha complete fi ll, wash, rinse and empty cycle without the intervention of the homemaker, was manufac-tured at the Longwood Road facility in 1947. This was followed by the fi rst electric clothes dryers in 1952 and dishwashers in the late-1950s.

51 52

The Hours of Work section stipulated that the standard

workweek was 44 hours long: eight hours of work Monday

to Friday and four hours on Saturday. Female employees

were allowed a 10-minute rest period during each half

of the normal working day. There was no mention of a

rest period for male employees.

Paid specifi ed holidays included: New Year’s Day,

Good Friday, Victoria Day, Dominion Day, Civic Day,

Labour Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.

With regard to vacations, all employees were entitled to

one week of paid vacation each year provided they had

completed one year of service. Employees with 10 years

of service were entitled to two weeks of paid vacation

each year.

The First Strike

On July 5, 1946, the unionized workers of Canadian

Westinghouse went on strike for 155 days. Workers at many

other Hamilton industries were on strike at the same time.

The ensuing Collective Agreement of 1947 states that the

basic starting hourly rate for male employees was 85 cents,

for female employees 65 cents and for a boy employee

73 cents until they reached the age of 18 and one-quarter.

Jobs were classifi ed either as “male jobs” or “female jobs.”

It is worth noting that females were paid the males’ rate

of pay when performing “male jobs.” Men continued

to be paid the male rate of pay even if they were doing

Assembling radio components – 1943.

Assembling air brakes – 1944.

The First Collective Agreement

The war’s aftermath brought many changes to the Canadian

industrial scene, including the growth of industrial unions.

As early as 1913, individual employees in the Foundry

Department went on strike. In addition to demanding

more pay, these workers wanted to be granted the

right to be represented by a union committee that

would regulate piecework prices and shop conditions.

In 1916, 84 Canadian

Westinghouse employees

walked off the job as part of

a general strike of machinists

and toolmakers in the Hamilton

area. Hours of work seemed

to be the main issue. At this

time, employees at most

manufacturing companies

worked a 55-hour week (10

hours a day, fi ve days a week

and fi ve hours on Saturday).

In 1919, various labour organizations agitated to have

manufacturing companies in the Hamilton area reduce

the workweek to 44 hours. At Canadian Westinghouse,

after a conference with employees, the workweek was

reduced from 55 hours a week to 48 hours a week. Although

some employees were unhappy

with the resulting cut in wages,

these hours remained standard

until the Depression of the 1930s

when hours were cut back

dramatically in order to spread

the work out over as many

employees as possible.

Prior to World War II,

inequities in wages and benefi ts

became an issue for Canadian

Westinghouse employees.

According to an article in the Golden Anniversary Edition of

the UE Guide published by the United Electrical, Radio and

Machine Workers of Canada (UE), “On March 17th, 1937,

about fi fteen men, employees of Canadian Westinghouse,

gathered in a small room … They compared their wages —

for some 37 cents an hour, for others 41 cents. Three were

receiving 51 cents and another 60 cents. No payment for

statutory holidays. One week’s vacation after 10 years service

provided you paid $1 to the Veterans Association. No hospital

or medical insurance - $14 a week sick benefi t for married men,

$9 for single people, with the workers paying the full shot.

Shift bonus a laugh …” Following this historic meeting,

“The formal application for a

local union charter was made

on April 5, 1937, estimating

the number of eligible workers

to be approximately 3,000.

That was the beginning of

UE Local 504.”

With the outbreak of war

in 1939, union activities seem

to have been relegated to the

back burner as employees

rallied to support the

war effort. Around 1941

the company formed the Canadian Westinghouse Employees’

Association. The purpose of this association or “Works Council”

was to establish unity among employees so that questions

related to working conditions, health, safety, hours of work,

wages, recreation, as well as educational and personal

relations could be thoroughly studied and suggestions for

improvement brought to management. All employees were

eligible to join and membership fees were 25 cents per month.

On April 18, 1944, a vote was conducted and the United

Electrical Radio and Machine Workers of America became

the bargaining agent for the hourly rated employees at the

Hamilton plants of Westinghouse. Of the 4,673 employees

eligible to vote, 2,386 voted for the UE, 592 voted for the

Employees’ Association, 626 voted against both options,

58 spoiled their ballots and 1,011 did not vote.

The UE was certifi ed on June 16, 1944. The fi rst Collective

Agreement was signed on July 14, 1945 and would remain

in place for one year. This 24-page agreement contained

17 Articles, some of which covered: Hours of Work, Overtime

and Specifi ed Holidays, Grievance Procedure, Vacations

with Pay, Seniority and Representation.

Hand winding the electrical elements in toasters was just one of the many tasks performed by the employees of the small appliance and radio manufacturing and repair area that was located on the second fl oor of P-building in the early 1940s.

“female jobs.” The shift

bonus was fi ve cents per

hour on the second shift

and seven cents on the

third shift.

The 1947 Collective

Agreement reduced the

workweek to 42.5 hours

and brought improvements

to vacations with pay.

Employees received

two weeks’ vacation after fi ve years and three weeks’

after 25 years of service. The next contract, signed in 1952,

reduced the workweek to 40 hours.

The following list of departments and steward representation

as defi ned in the 1947 Collective Agreement provides some

insight regarding the relative sizes of the areas of business:

Air Brake Division - 7 stewards; Appliance Division - 11 stewards;

Electric Division - 40 stewards; Foundries Division - 7 stewards;

Lamp and Tube Division - 15 stewards.

Assembling an ignitron rectifi er – 1943.

Micarta, a plastic insulating material, was produced by heating and compressing resin impregnated paper – 1943.

1943-1952

Early I.D. BadgeUntil the late 1930s, instead of an I.D. badge, employees were issued

a “check,” which was a brass disc with the company name and employee

number engraved on it. Employees were required to show their check

to the watchman to gain entrance into the plant. When they arrived at

their department, employees hung their check on a rack and punched in.

When the whistle blew to signal the start of the shift, the timekeeper

closed a window over the checks and fi lled in the attendance cards.

53 54

axial flow compressors and turbines

as well as innovative thermodynamics,

mechanics and materials. The engines

ranged from the 10-inch diameter

J32 at 224 pounds of thrust; to the

20-inch diameter J30 with 1,125 pounds

of thrust; and the highly successful

24-inch diameter J34* reaching 3,600 pounds of thrust.

As development challenges mounted, the larger J34

derivatives, the J40 and J46 (with a target of 9,900 pounds

of thrust), were produced in modest numbers. Lastly the

experimental J54 at 6,070 pounds of thrust looked very

promising; however, no orders resulted.

Westinghouse jet engines were credited with several

major firsts including the first use of cast turbine airfoils,

specialized superalloys and afterburners.

Overall, Westinghouse supplied engines for approximately

1,200 U.S. Navy jets from its base of operations in Kansas City

before discontinuing this business in 1960. Many engineers

from the Kansas City jet engine plant went on to work on

gas turbines in the Lester, Pennsylvania plant.

Westinghouse and its licencees produced a total of 4,850

jet engines of all models. Refurbished vintage Westinghouse

jet engines are still being used today in jet car and truck racing.

Experience on Jet Engines Leads to Developmental Work on Gas Turbines

It wasn’t until the 1940s that Westinghouse gained

the experience it needed to build land-based gas turbines

through its work on jet engines.

With the war raging in Europe, the U.S. military turned to

the jet engine to provide the required higher levels of power

necessary to achieve air speeds far in excess of those capable

in propeller driven aircraft. Based upon Westinghouse’s

steam turbine experience, the U.S. Navy awarded a

development contract to Westinghouse Electric Corporation

in December 1941 which resulted in the first U.S.-designed

jet turbine engine. The engine had an axial compressor,

an annular combustor, a turbine and a jet exhaust nozzle.

Continuous improvements led to the definitive production

version, the J30, in 1944.

In all, Westinghouse produced a family of small- and

medium-sized military jet engines characterized by

Early Gas Turbines

From the perspective of the Sanford Avenue plant,

the late 1940s were particularly significant since they

marked the parent company’s entry into the field of

gas turbine manufacturing.

When Parsons patented his steam turbine in 1884,

he made reference to a gas turbine. He stated that the

steam turbine design could be converted into a compressor

by driving it in the reverse direction by external means.

The compressed air could be discharged into a furnace

where fuel could be injected and the resulting products

of combustion could then be expanded through a turbine.

At the time, Parsons was too busy concentrating on his

steam turbine designs to work on the idea of a gas turbine.

As a result, his firm did not begin work on the development

of a gas turbine until 1938. In 1945, the Parsons Company

produced the first industrial gas turbine in Great Britain.

Parsons gas turbines, producing up to 15 megawatts (MW)

for auxiliary and peak demand power, were manufactured

in the U.K. until the product line was discontinued

in the mid-1950s.

Engineers at the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing

Company in the U.S. studied a closed-cycle gas turbine system

for a 25,000-shaft horsepower ship drive in the early 1930s.

At the same time, developmental work on gas turbines

was taking place in Great Britain and Germany. However,

the gas turbine was not considered a practical device,

except in special cases where hot gases were already

available under pressure as a by-product of a process.

The First IndustrialGas Turbines

Westinghouse tested its first 2,000-horsepower,

1,350° Fahrenheit industrial gas turbine in 1946.

This engine was created with an eye to its possible use

either as a locomotive unit, or for industrial use in

pumping, pipeline compression or power generation.

Similar to the jet engine, it consisted of an in-line

arrangement of air intake, axial-flow compressor,

tubular-type combustor and turbine. The prototype units,

designed for locomotive use, included a reduction gear

and two DC generators on the same bedplate.

After many months of successful shop testing, much of it in

service simulating the frequent starting, stopping, idling, and

loading experienced by locomotives, the first industrial-use

gas turbine was placed in service in mid-1949 driving a

centrifugal compressor on a natural gas pipeline in Arkansas.

The gratifying results of the shop test on the first unit

resulted in the decision to construct two similar units

for installation in an experimental high-speed passenger

locomotive for railroad use. The locomotive was used

in demonstration service throughout the United States

for several years. The engines were later converted to drive

gas pipeline compressors and are still operational

in San Angelo, Texas.

The success of these initial engines led to the first

commercially available industrial gas turbine in 1948.

The first power generation unit, rated at 5,000 kW,

was installed at West Texas Utilities in 1952.

The J34, a 24-inch diameter engine, was the last production aero-engine built by Westinghouse. It was used extensively

by the U.S. Navy in the McDonnell FH-1 Phantom and F2H Banshee fighter planes. It was also used

in some experimental Douglas and Northrop designs to explore transonic flight.

The first 5,000-kW Westinghouse gas turbine for power generation

was installed at West Texas Utilities in 1952.

After World War II, Siemens resumed gas turbine development on the Junkers TL109-005 aircraft engine in Mülheim, Germany. The first Siemens gas turbine, the VM1, rated at 1,200 kW, was tested in Berlin in 1956.

In 1945, a pair of Westinghouse J30 jet engines provided 1,600 pounds of thrust each to power the McDonnell FH-1 Phantom (left), the U.S. Navy’s first jet fighter and the first Navy plane to reach the speed of 500 miles per hour. The McDonnell F2H-1 Banshee (right), powered by a pair of Westinghouse J34 jet engines, was used by the U.S. Navy in the Korean War. At the end of the war, 39 F2H-3 Banshees were transferred to the Canadian Navy, which operated the aircraft from November 1955 until September 1962.

*In honour of the 100-year anniversary of the Hamilton Plant, a J34 jet engine was donated to the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Mount Hope, Ontario. This engine will be refurbished by a team of volunteers and put on display when it is finished.1943-1952

56

50 Years of Progress and the Start of a New Period of Prosperity

In 1953, Canadian

Westinghouse celebrated

its 50th anniversary.

The Annual Report proudly

stated, “Canada’s great

progress and achievements

in the last 50 years were

to a large extent made

possible by abundant power,

provided at low cost

through magnificent

hydro-electric systems.

More than half of the

hydro-electric energy

used in this country is

produced on generators

manufactured by

Canadian Westinghouse.”

During the anniversary press conference, visitors were informed that ”Canadian Westinghouse has participated in almost all of Canada’s major electrical projects.”

Canadian Westinghouse produced a comic book to educate children about electricity – 1955.

In celebration of its 50th anniversary, the Canadian Westinghouse Company sponsored “Canada’s Tomorrow,” a conference with the goal of being “an attempt at sober prophecy as to what Canada may and should become in the next 50 years.” The conference brought together over 250 leaders in industry, government, education and the arts to listen to eight prestigious speakers present papers dealing with the principal phases of Canadian life, development and future growth.

In 1959, the largest private telephone operation of its kind in Ontario opened with a central switchboard to handle calls

for all Westinghouse locations in Hamilton, Stoney Creek and Grimsby. More than 1,000 Westinghouse telephones

were linked together under one number JA8-8811 (528-8811). Switchboard operators were able to handle 38,000 incoming

calls and 16,000 long distance calls per month.

1953-1962

58

During the company’s 50th anniversary year, extensive plant

tours were held for customers, suppliers, members of the press,

as well as the company’s employees and their families.

On display were a wide range of impressive products including:

a A 5,500-horsepower DC motor destined

for a paper mill on Vancouver Island.

a Huge synchronous condensers, turbines and

generator shafts for a multi-million dollar order

for the Forcacava development in Brazil.

*This device went on to be used for speed radar and in control systems for guided missiles.

Turbo generator – 1961.

View of M-bulding looking west – 1958.

a One of the largest waterwheel generators

ever made. This unit was for the

Aluminum Company of Canada’s (Alcan)

Kemano development in British Columbia.

a Massive waterwheel generators for the

Hydro-Electric Commission of Ontario

Sir Adam Beck Generating Station

at Niagara Falls and the Consolidated Mining

and Smelting Company in British Columbia.

a Lamps used for removing cooking

and smoking odours as well as

fluorescent sunlamps for improving health.

a An unnamed device that demonstrated how

microwaves could be bounced against a

moving object in order to determine its speed.*

a Fluorescent colour boxes that made

home decoration as easy as flicking a switch.

Advertising copy declared, “Wall tones

in entire rooms may be changed as often

as the homeowner desires merely by using

different coloured fluorescent lamps.”

Although 1953 was an unusually successful period

for the company, by year’s end there were indications

that the long post-war period of ever-increasing business

was waning. Foreign competition was also becoming

a serious threat, particularly since Canadian wage rates

were now three or four times higher than those in many

overseas countries. Great concern was expressed that

despite growing sales, costs were increasing and profits

were steadily declining.

In an effort to reduce costs, the company embarked

on a program of decentralization. Certain product lines

were moved to specially designed, modern facilities

where maximum

efficiencies could be

achieved. For example,

lamp manufacturing

was consolidated in

Trois Rivières, Quebec

and small motor

production was moved

to a new plant in

Stratford, Ontario. (This

plant was closed after

only three years of

operation when foreign

manufacturers flooded

the market with

low-priced motors.)

In the late 1950s, one of the biggest problems facing

the company was the general scarcity of skilled tradesmen

in Canada. To alleviate this situation, the Canadian

Westinghouse Company recruited overseas and launched

a retraining program to diversify and upgrade the skills

of selected employees.

At the same time, as the Canadian economy weathered

a recession, Westinghouse suffered a dramatic drop in sales

of heavy apparatus and began to feel the threat of overseas

competition in the waterwheel generator, consumer products

and appliance businesses. This situation steadily worsened,

bottoming out in 1961 with the company declaring a loss

of $2.6 million CAD. This low point was immediately

followed by a period of unprecedented growth and

prosperity through the balance of the 1960s.

Assembling stator coils – 1953.

1953-1962

By 1957, Canadian Westinghouse had 13 manufacturing

facilities located in: Hamilton (three sites), Brantford,

Galt, London, Stratford, Etobicoke, Stoney Creek,

Grimsby, Trois Rivières, Granby and Vancouver.

Nine service shops and 18 sales offices were also

in operation.

Canadian Westinghouse consisted of five groups,

17 operating divisions and a total of 11,466 employees.

Apparatus Group

Motor & Generator Division Power Transformer DivisionSwitchgear Products Division Apparatus Service Division

Industrial Products Group

Industrial Control Division Meter & Relay DivisionDistribution Apparatus Division Lighting DivisionB.F. Sturtevant Company of Canada Ltd.

Consumer Products Group

Appliance Division TV-Radio DivisionLamp Division Tube Division

Air Brake Products Group

Air Brake Division

Project Development Group

Electronics Division Defence Apparatus DivisionAtomic Energy Division

Assembling bushings for transformers

59 60

The fleet of 30-foot high, 100-ton transformers provided

for the St. Lawrence Seaway Project by the Transformer Division

were rated at 86,000-kilovolt amperes, making them

the largest single-phase power transformers in Canada.

Other divisions provided street lighting for canal locks

and approaches, “Bridge-o-matic” controls and motors

for the canal’s lift bridges and “Nofuz” circuit breakers.

The St. Lawrence Seaway Project provided the most

populated parts of Canada and northern U.S. states with

a surplus of electrical power. Although this monumental

project was responsible for sustaining many Westinghouse

businesses in Canada during the mid-1950s, its completion,

coupled with offshore competition, triggered an end to

the market for Westinghouse waterwheel generators.

The fact that goods would no longer have to be off-loaded

at New York or Montreal and shipped by rail to their final

inland destinations meant that this project also indirectly

affected the company’s sales of air brakes.

Faced with a drop in two key areas of its business,

the Canadian Westinghouse Company took steps to improve

facilities and source additional work for its factories by

venturing into new product lines including rapid-operation

mine hoists, large power transformers, medium-sized

steam turbines and gas turbines.

Large Transformers Make Possible the Transmission of Power From Remote Locations

By the late 1950s, only about one-quarter of Canada’s

available waterpower had been developed. The remaining

three-quarters was considered too remote to make the

long-distance transmission of electricity from these sites

economically viable. However, technological advances soon

resulted in higher voltage transformers that could transmit

power over ever-increasing distances. This prompted the

development of power stations in northern Ontario and Quebec.

Westinghouse made heavy expenditures in 1958 to provide

new high-capacity test equipment for large power transformers

to ensure the company’s ability to compete in this growing

market. A new 250-ton crane, reported to be the largest

of its type in North America and costing $200,000 CAD,

was installed in K-building in order to be able to move massive

power transformers into the test facility and onto railcars

for shipping.

In 1961, a 250-ton Canadian Westinghouse transformer

for the Lakeview Generating Station in Etobicoke, just west

of Toronto, had the distinction of being the largest load

ever transported on a Canadian railroad. The massive

transformer was shipped on a Schnabel railcar designed to

split in the middle and hook onto the ends of the transformer,

making the transformer an integral part of the railcar.*

The new crane proved to be a good investment since,

by 1963, the Sanford Avenue plant was building six huge

735-kilovolt transformers for Hydro-Quebec’s five million

kilowatt generation complex on the Manicouagan and

Outardes Rivers north of Baie Comeau in northern Quebec.

Transmission at 735,000 volts from this power station

to Montreal and Quebec City was considered the highest

planned for any power system in the world.

By 1965, large transformers were selling so well that

116,000 square feet of assembly, testing and office space

were constructed at a new plant on Beach Road in Hamilton

to house the very successful Power Transformer and

Circuit Breaker businesses all under one roof.

Circuit Breakers

In 1956, the first “Jetaire” circuit breakers were shipped

for installation in Ontario Hydro’s transformer station

in Cornwall. This completely new concept in high-voltage

circuit breaker design was developed and patented

by Canadian Westinghouse engineers to compete with

breakers from overseas manufacturers.

In 1959, the factory produced the first 15-kilovolt

air circuit breaker with the capability of interrupting

a 1,000,000-kilovolt ampere current. That same year,

six 230,000-volt oil circuit breakers with an interrupt capacity

of 20,000,000 kilovolt amperes had the highest rating

of any oil circuit breakers in the world.

The St. Lawrence Seaway Project

The 2,342-mile-long St. Lawrence Seaway, stretching

from the Gulf of the St. Lawrence to Duluth, Minnesota,

on Lake Superior and consisting of a system of canals,

dams and locks, is the world’s longest deep-water inland

waterway. The hydro-electric generating stations built

in conjunction with the St. Lawrence Seaway Project are

a key source of power for Ontario and New York State,

adding 912,000 kW to Ontario’s power supply alone.

In 1954, the legal impediments in both the U.S. and Canada

to the development of the St. Lawrence Seaway were removed.

Construction began almost immediately and the seaway

was completed in 1959, in time for the official opening

ceremonies presided over by Queen Elizabeth II and

President Eisenhower.

The Canadian Westinghouse Company justifiably took great

pride in the fact that the company supplied more electrical

equipment for the project than any other manufacturer.

For example, the Motor and Generator Division engineered,

manufactured and installed eight huge vertical waterwheel

generators, each capable of generating 80,000 horsepower,

for Ontario Hydro’s Robert L. Saunders Generating Station near

Cornwall. Another 15 waterwheel generators were installed

farther down the river at Hydro Quebec’s Beauharnois facility.

*Starting in 1998, Schnabel cars were used to ship W501G gas turbines weighing 267 tons from the Sanford Avenue plant to customers in North America.(See page 95.)

Cutaway view of a transformer.

The Canadian Westinghouse Company supplied waterwheel generators, transformers, control systems and a wide variety of other electronic apparatus for the hydro-electric power stations along the St. Lawrence.

Shipment of a transformer on a Schnabel car.

1953-1962

61

Gas Turbine Manufacturing Begins

Recognizing that the market for new waterwheel generators

was rapidly disappearing, in 1959, the Hamilton plant

started manufacturing gas turbines under licence from

the Westinghouse Electric Corporation in Lester, Pennsylvania.

This was a significant milestone for the Hamilton operation.

“For the last few decades, Canadian electrical manufacturers

have filled the needs for hydraulic generating equipment

(waterwheel generators) while the market for gas and

steam turbines was supplied from outside the country,”

explained A.A. McArthur, General Manager, Apparatus Products,

in a company newsletter. “With the market for hydraulic

generators substantially reduced because most major

water power sources within economical reach have been

harnessed, the future of thousands of people in our industry

will depend on our success in capturing a share of the

growing turbine market.”

Fortunately, the Canadian market for mechanical-drive

gas turbines was expanding at this time, stimulated largely

by the creation of TransCanada PipeLines and Westcoast

Transmission. These companies required compressor drive

gas turbines for use in pumping natural gas over long distances.

The Sanford Avenue plant was in an excellent position to

provide this growing market with high “Canadian content”

W62 and W92 mechanical-drive gas turbines as well as

Canadian-based field and factory service.

The first Canadian-made single-shaft gas turbine for power

generation was a 25,000-kW model W201G manufactured

in 1960 and sold for $2 million CAD to Canadian Utilities Limited

for their power plant at Vermilion, Alberta. The unit was subse-

quently upgraded to a W301G and, today, more than forty

years later, is reported to be still running. This was the only

W201G unit ever manufactured in the Sanford Avenue plant.

E125 steam turbines used to start W92 gas turbines – 1962.

Checking the fit of the blading on W62 and W92 gas turbine rotors – 1963.

OntarioOntario

During the 1960s, the Sanford Avenue plant provided 22 W62 and W92 compressor drive gas turbines for TransCanada PipeLine compressor stations.

The Start-Up of the Steam Turbine Business

Prior to 1958, all Westinghouse steam turbines were

manufactured in Lester, Pennsylvania. Recognition of

the growing market for industrial steam turbines

for the expanding Canadian petro-chemical industry

prompted the decision to establish the Motor and

Generator Division at the Sanford Avenue plant as the

Canadian manufacturing site for small steam turbines

(50 to 2,100 horsepower). In the early years, single-stage

E-line steam turbines proved to be very popular,

with 300 being built in Hamilton in the first five years.

Building on the success of this product line,

the company quickly expanded into medium-sized,

multi-stage steam turbines. The first order received

for the new 2,000-kW class “M” turbine generator

was from the Ernest Harman U.S. Air Force base

in Newfoundland in 1960.

1953-1962

The Newcomer – The Gas Turbine

It is interesting to consider how far the field of

power generation has come in just over a half-century

of gas turbine development. The following is excerpted

from an article entitled “The Newcomer - The Gas Turbine,”

written by W.R. Morgan and published in the January

1950 edition of the Westinghouse Engineer magazine.

“The task with the gas turbine in the immediate future is,

clearly, to develop it for long-continued operation with

gas temperatures beyond 1,300° Fahrenheit and to

obtain information as quickly as possible that will lead

to constructions suitable for temperatures up to 1,500°

Fahrenheit. Such programs are being aggressively pursued.

Both the central-station field and industry generally

have several attractive applications for the gas turbine

that await its development. There is little doubt that such

practical, long-life machines will become reality and that

machines of open-cycle form, and in capacities up to

about 10,000 kW, will be built in a few years. Closed-cycles

offer possibilities of machines several times this rating.

Now at mid-century, the gas turbine stands about

where the steam turbine stood at the beginning of

the century. The gas turbine inherits much experience

from its cousin. Its development, for all its obstacles,

should be rapid. What the next 50 years hold for

the gas turbine makes for interesting speculation.”

Judging by his comments, it is likely that W.R. Morgan

would have been surprised by the amount of progress

that has taken place in the fields of turbine design

and engineering in the last 50 years. The Westinghouse

501G gas turbine, rated at 253 MW or 253,000 kW,

is 25 times larger than the 10,000-kW capacity

he forecasted in the article.

Modern materials combined with internal cooling

systems and coatings allow the firing temperature

to exceed 2,500° Fahrenheit, which is well past the

melting point of blades. This fact, alone, would probably

have astonished Morgan.

Considering the amount of progress made over

the last 50 years, it is hard not to wonder where

turbine technology will be 50 years from now.

The first mechanical-drive gas turbines manufactured

in the Sanford Avenue plant were three W92RM,

8,500-horsepower gas turbines for TransCanada

PipeLines.

W62M compressor drive gas turbine for TransCanada PipeLine – 1963.

63

Entry Into the Atomic Age

By the mid-1950s, the company was actively expanding

into new technologies. A year before his death in 1914,

George Westinghouse uttered these prophetic words:

“There exists a form of energy of which we have as yet

no knowledge, but which may become available to us

as the result of further discoveries.” Forty years later

his legacy company would enter the atomic age and

go on to become a major player

in the nuclear industry — with

the help of a German company

named Siemens.

Immediately after the Second

World War, the Allies banned

research from being conducted

in Germany on such items

as power generating and other

high-technology equipment.

As soon as the ban was lifted

in 1955, Siemens and Westinghouse

combined forces in developing pressurized water reactors for

nuclear power plants. In 1956, the Canadian Westinghouse

Company hired scientists and engineers who specialized

in the fi eld of nuclear engineering and started an Atomic

Energy Division. In 1964, the company entered the fi eld

of nuclear fuel manufacture through the acquisition of

facilities in Port Hope, Ontario.

In the United States, Westinghouse nuclear reactors

powered six of the fi rst seven atomic submarines.

The company’s prestige rose in 1958 when two of these

vessels, Nautilus and Skate, were the fi rst submarines

to travel from Hawaii to the Atlantic Ocean by crossing

under the North Pole.

Defence Products for the Cold War

Throughout the decade, the company’s electronics

business located at the Longwood Road plant grew rapidly

as Westinghouse became an important supplier of defence

items, including propulsion steam turbines for Canadian

Navy ships, torpedoes, assorted products for the Korean War,

shipboard fi re control equipment, as well as the “Velvet Glove”

missile in 1958.

In 1957, the Electronic Division’s

engineering and manufacturing

advances in the fi eld of industrial

electronics and microwave com-

munication showed considerable

promise when a demonstration

of a long-range, high-frequency,

tropospheric communications

system (subsequently called

“Microscatter”) provided near-

perfect wireless communications

between the Sanford Avenue

plant and Kinmount, Ontario, located 130 miles away. In later

years, this division produced advanced anti-submarine systems

and ship detection sonar systems for the St. Lawrence Seaway.

In 1959, the company received orders from the Royal

Canadian Air Force and the U.S. Air Force for a Microscatter

system to provide ground control for the Bomarc supersonic

missile defence system located in the U.S. Subsequently,

a helicopter-transportable version of Microscatter was delivered

to the U.S. Air Force and a trailer-mounted model was sold

to the Swedish Air Force. In 1962, this technology was used

in its fi rst commercial application to provide a telephone link

between Fort Smith, Northwest Territories, and Uranium City

in Saskatchewan.

The ”Circle W“In 1961-1962, Canadian Westinghouse put on a new face with a modern-looking

"Circle W" logo and an updated logotype for the name "Westinghouse."

The artwork even used "Westinghouse blue," a special ink mix in tend ed to repre-

sent the blue corona visible during an electric arc. The new Westinghouse logo,

along with the slogan, "You can be SURE … if it’s Westinghouse™," would go on to

become two of the most easily-identifi able corporate symbols in North America.

Home Entertainment and Light Apparatus Products

Sales of television sets hit all-time highs in the early 1950s

due to the opening of a number of television stations

that broadcast signals to new areas of Canada. By 1958,

however, sales of televisions, radios and “high-fi delity

reproducing equipment” (record players) were dropping

as a result of low-cost Japanese and European models

fl ooding the market.

Fall season television-broadcasting programming created

much excitement in 1958 with the announcement of the

48-week season of Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse,

which served as the vehicle for Westinghouse’s merchan-

dising campaign for consumer products. This pioneering

series, starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, featured a line-up

that included comedies as well as dramas, adventures,

romances, musicals, mysteries and westerns. In Canada,

the program was transmitted over the CBC television network.

In 1960, the Light Apparatus Division landed a large order

for electrical apparatus, including heating and ventilating

systems, for Place Ville Marie in Montreal. Other major projects

included apparatus for a General Motors plant expansion,

the Ford Motor Company glass plant, the Malton International

Airport, the CFTO-TV television station in Toronto,

the London Postal Terminal, the Hamilton Sewage Plant,

the TD Centre in Toronto and the expansions of

McMaster University and the University of Waterloo.

The Electronics Division specialized in radar, sonar and advanced communication systems.

In order to keep up with the demand for television sets, Canadian Westinghouse transferred television production from Hamilton to a facility in Brantford, Ontario in 1954.

Thousands of people toured the Sanford Avenue factory during the fi rst Family Day held in 1961.

Many employees purchased Westinghouse appliances from the

company store. Payment could be made using a payroll deduction plan.

One small visitor was fascinated by a single-stage steam turbine rotor

at the Family Day – 1961.

1953-1962

66

Consumer and Commercial Products Take on a Greater Importance

In the 1960s, rising personal

incomes, increased housing

construction and the impact

of the first baby boomers

entering adulthood, all

contributed to a buoyant

market for Westinghouse

household appliances.

In 1966, the two millionth major appliance

came off the production line at the

Longwood Road plant. The company

was so well respected in the industry

for its innovative designs and high-quality

products that Westinghouse was named

“Appliance Manufacturer of the Year – 1968”

by retailers across Canada.

1963-1972

The rotor for a W62 mechanical-drive gas turbine for TransCanada PipeLines is gently lowered into the casing – 1963.

In 1971, company shareholders voted to adopt the name Westinghouse Canada Limited (Limitée). Ten years later, the Canadian operation changed its name to Westinghouse Canada Incorporated. When abbreviated to Westinghouse Canada Inc., the name was acceptable in both English and French.

Electric blanket advertisement – 1964.

Canada celebrated its 100th birthday in 1967. Westinghouse contributions

to Expo ’67 included the “Dancing Waters” multi-fountain and multi-coloured light display

and Expo Express trains powered by Westinghouse motors and controls.

The Lamp and Lighting business was doing so well that a new 86,000 square foot plant

was built in Galt, Ontario. New products included special fluorescent lights for the large supermarkets

that were springing up across the country. Exterior lighting products included street lighting, floodlights, automotive

lamps and airport runway lighting systems.

67 68

and freezer with a “carousel” icemaker — a precursor to the

refrigerator door-mounted icemaker. In tune with the trend

for more colourful living, a groovy new colour, “Poppy,”

was introduced in 1971 and was an immediate hit.

Dishwashers were so popular that two new dishwasher

production lines were put into operation at the Longwood

Road plant. Vending machines were added to the product line

in 1968. The first 100 were installed in the Hamilton factories

for use by Westinghouse employees.

In 1974, the Appliance Division expanded its operation

with the opening of a new 170,000 square foot Distribution

Centre across the street from the production plant on

Longwood Road. The new building was connected to the plant

by a bridge and conveyor. A computerized inventory

management system was installed to control the flow

of product across the country. Two years later the new

Distribution Centre was sold when the company withdrew

from the major appliance business.*

Westinghouse had been providing in-home service

for refrigerators and other major appliances since their

introduction in the 1930s. By 1967, the company had

equipped their easily recognizable fleet of “Blue Trucks”

with two-way radios to improve the promptness of

home service calls. “Wesplan,” one of the first extended

warranty plans, was introduced in 1973 and provided

owners of Westinghouse major appliances with protection

year after year.

Meanwhile, brisk sales of small domestic appliances led

to the expansion of the Consumer Products Division and

the construction of a modern plant in Orangeville, Ontario

in 1969. This plant was used for the manufacture of portable

appliances such as blenders, cordless electric carving knives,

the “Sesame” can opener, the “Galaxy” kettle, “Steam-n-Dry”

irons, electric frying pans, hair dryers, microwave ovens,

room air conditioners, dehumidifiers and radios. In 1972,

Westinghouse Electric Corporation in the U.S. withdrew

from the portable appliance and consumer electronics

businesses. Four years later, the Orangeville plant was sold

along with Westinghouse Canada’s

major appliance business.*

Canada’s First Colour Televisions

Colour televisions were developed in Westinghouse

laboratories in the United States in the late 1950s. With much

fanfare, the first colour television sets manufactured in

Canada rolled off the production line at the Brantford plant

in 1964. Colour telecasting was scheduled to take place

in Canada in 1966 so they quickly became a top-selling item.

In the U.S.,

Westinghouse made

broadcasting history

on July 20, 1969,

when astronaut Neil

Armstrong became the

first man to set foot

on the moon. The

image of this historic

event was captured

by a Westinghouse

television camera

and transmitted to

50 million television

viewers around the world.

Meanwhile, in Canada, the surge in demand for colour

televisions and stereos for domestic and export markets

created the need to double the Brantford plant’s capacity.

Three years later, however, in the face of mass production

of components and large-scale assembly in Asia, production

of radio tubes, television sets, radios and other home

entertainment products became unprofitable and

was discontinued.

Withdrawal From Traditional Businesses

By the mid-1960s, the company employed approximately

10,000 hourly and salaried employees in its various businesses.

In 1967, amidst celebrations of Canada’s Centennial,

Westinghouse experienced a six-week strike, the first at its

Hamilton plants in 21 years. In 1968, Local 555 was certified

as the bargaining agent for approximately 800 office and

clerical employees in Hamilton.

Although the company enjoyed a number of consecutive

years of growing sales, profits dropped by 20 percent

between 1964 and 1969. In an effort to increase profits,

the company withdrew from some of its under-performing

traditional businesses while focusing efforts on new,

more profitable, product lines.

Technological advances in manufacturing meant that

fabricated parts for air brakes could be used in place of many

foundry-produced components. As a result, after 57 years

of operation, the foundry at the Longwood Road plant

was closed in 1962.

Built-in dishwasher – 1962.Motorized, push-button controls eliminated the need to manually

set washing cycles and provided the maximum in ease of use.

In 1968, the company entered the stereo component market offering a complete line of tuners, amplifiers, turntables, eight-track tape decks and speakers.

The Westinghouse ESCORT – a purse-sized AM radio that incorporated a flashlight, clock, cigarette lighter and a plate for personalizing

sold for $36.35 CAD. “So, if you are lost in the woods at night without matches, you can find your way,

keep yourself entertained, tell the time and light up a smoke, all with the Westinghouse ESCORT.”

A wall-mounted oven was the latest in stylish design – 1962.

Innovations in Appliance Design

In 1967, the company launched its first self-cleaning oven.

High-end models also featured a “look-in” window.

By the 1970s, top-loading automatic washers and a

coin-operated laundry machine were available. Smaller sized

and stackable models were also designed to capture

the expanding apartment and mobile home markets.

Refrigerators with a 16-cubic-foot capacity and “Shape

of Tomorrow” styling were available with replaceable colour-

keyed door panels in avocado, gold-tone and wood grain.

The 1970 line-up included a “side-by-side” refrigerator

Colour televisions sold for about $400 CAD when they were launched in 1964.

By the early 1960s, the Westinghouse “laundry twins“ (a matched set of a “Laundromat” and dryer) were outselling all other laundry equipment in Canada.

* See page 74. 1963-1972

69 70

In 1969, the purchase of the parent Westinghouse

Air Brake Company (WABCO) in the United States by

American Standard Inc. was followed by the sale of the

73-year-old Canadian air brake business to the same company.

International markets became increasingly more important

throughout the 1960s. By 1969, export sales accounted

for 10 percent of the company’s sales. Major orders included:

power transformers for Thailand, Bolivia and Trinidad &

Tobago; switchgear for Brazil, Honduras and Dominica;

electronics for Japan, West Germany and Great Britain;

nuclear power station components for India; and gas turbines

and mine hoists for the United States. The company was also

very successful at selling 240-volt refrigerators, freezers

and washers to Great Britain, Mexico, Venezuela and the

West Indies. In 1972, in anticipation of closer trading

relationships with the rest of the world, the company created

the Metric Conversion Department.

Turbines and Transformers Replace Waterwheel Generators

In 1971, the waterwheel generator business succumbed

to offshore competition from companies including Mitsubishi,

Mitsui and Russian firms that had effectively sewn up

the Canadian market. As a result of the discontinuation

of the waterwheel generator business, the main aisles

in the Sanford Avenue plant were gradually converted

to the manufacture of steam and gas turbine components

and other electrical apparatus.

To respond to the growing market for high-voltage

power transformers, an 80,000 square foot assembly

and test building was added at the Beach Road plant

in 1964. In 1970, a 25,000 square foot office building

was added to the facility.

During this period, a major order was obtained for

735-kilovolt reactors and large generator transformers

for the Churchill Falls Hydro-Electric Generating Station

in Labrador, the largest hydro-electric installation of its kind

in the world. Power lines extended 1,100 miles from

Churchill Falls to Montreal. A large share of the balance

of the work on this project went to offshore competition.

The Canadian Government took action to investigate

possible injury to the domestic industry from the sale

of foreign-made transformers at “dump prices.”

Supplying Nuclear Power Stations

In 1965, the new Port Hope facility shipped its first order

of atomic fuel to a customer in India. In 1968 the division sold

$1.7 million CAD of calandria tubes to Ontario Hydro for its new

nuclear power station at Pickering, Ontario. This was followed

by a $4 million CAD order for nuclear fuel for the Bruce Nuclear

Power Station near Kincardine on Lake Huron in Ontario.

Electronics Division Expands Into Commercial Electronics Products

In 1971, the Electronics Division, which had branched

out into commercial electronics products, moved from

the Longwood Road

plant to a new facility

on Walkers Line in

Burlington, Ontario.

A new Solid State

Devices Department

manufactured hearing

aid amplifiers and

other integrated circuit

devices. In 1972,

the solid state devices

business was sold in

an employee buy-out.

Today, this very

successful high-

technology company

operates in Burlington,

Ontario under the

name of Gennum

Corporation.

In 1968, the Electronics Division was marketing “Wesscam,”*

a revolutionary stabilized camera platform for televising

or shooting film from a moving vehicle. This product,

still highly regarded and considered an industry standard

in 2003, formed the basis of a company that spun off in 1974

as Wescam* and is also located in Burlington, Ontario.

D-line steam turbine for a chemical company – 1964.

Westinghouse patented the first fully automatic operatorless elevator in 1949. This technological advance contributed to the widespread construction of high-rise apartment buildings. In 1968, Canadian Westinghouse formed the Elevator Division and established sales and service offices in Toronto and Vancouver to support the market for elevators and “electric stairways,” as escalators were then called.

In the early 1960s, engineers at Canadian Westinghouse developed a sophisticated electronic control device called LINATROL

for cutting intricate shapes out of metal at speeds up to 200 inches per minute.

LYNX was a subsequent model of this product line.

In the 1970s, the Electronic Division’s Industrial Electronics Department was producing graphical display devices for use in medical and process control applications and “Wand” video display terminals (VDTs).

Not all the Turbine and Generator Division’s turbines were for land use. In 1968, twin 4,400 horsepower W41G gas turbines were provided for the Canadian Coast Guard vessel, Norman McLeod Rogers, the first icebreaker in the world to use gas turbines for ship propulsion. The turbines were designed to provide a power boost for breaking through heavy ice.

Trimming shrouds on an EM25 steam turbine for Fish Engineering for use in Argentina – 1963.

*The original product name was spelled Wesscam. One S was dropped when the new company was named. 1963-1972

72

Export Sales Increase and the Gas TurbineBusiness Takes Off

In the period between 1970

and 1980, Westinghouse

Canada profits increased

steadily, driven largely

by export sales that soared

from approximately $60

million to $150 million CAD.

In recognition of the

company’s success in

selling Canadian products

into foreign countries,

Westinghouse Canada was

awarded the Canada Export

Award in 1983.

Meanwhile, in the domestic market,

WESCO and a number of Westinghouse

divisions were experiencing increased

sales to industrial customers and the

construction trade.

One of three CW352RMB mechanical-drive gas turbines sold to Dow Chemical Corporation in Louisiana in 1975.

Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) four-axis machining centre in the

Renfrew components plant – 1982.

Final assembly of an M32 steam turbine for Shell, Alberta – 1973.

Hourly Payroll Department in the Head Office Annex – 1977.

1973-1982

73

WESCO Responsible for a Large Portion of Westinghouse Sales

WESCO had originally been established in 1951 as the

Westinghouse Supply Company. Its mandate was the sale

and distribution of industrial and construction products

manufactured by Westinghouse as well as other suppliers.

In 1973, the Construction and Industrial Sales Division

became part of WESCO and the organization was chartered

as a separate legal entity within Westinghouse Canada Limited.

Headquartered in Don Mills, Ontario, WESCO expanded rapidly

over the next few years opening a network of sales outlets

across Canada.

By the early 1980s, WESCO generated approximately

40 percent of Westinghouse Canada’s total sales. Another

50 percent of the business was split almost equally between

the Power Systems Group (Atomic Power, Transformer and

Distribution Apparatus, Turbine and Generator) and the

Industrial Products Group (Industry Services, Industrial

Products, Motors, Switchgear and Control). The remaining

sales came from the Components and Construction Group

(Environmental Systems, Electronic Systems, Elevators

and Lamp/Lighting). Conspicuous by its absence

was the Consumer Products Division, which consisted

of portable products and major appliances. This business

had been sold in 1977.*

Progress in Other Businesses

Notable orders during this period included electrical apparatus

for North Sea oil rigs, network protectors for the Toronto

CN Tower, escalators for the Montreal Metro system, airline

reservation systems for the Toronto International Airport,

explosion-proof motors for coal mines and equipment

for the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.

The Nuclear Products Division booked a sale for

$60 million CAD of nuclear fuel for Ontario Hydro, one of

the largest orders in company history. Hydro-Quebec also

purchased nuclear fuel for its Gentilly-2 nuclear reactor.

This order was filled from the newly opened Westinghouse

plant in Varennes, Quebec.

Record production of power transformers at the Beach Road

plant in Hamilton included shipments to all provinces of Canada.

Key orders were received for Hydro-Quebec’s James Bay project,

Ontario Hydro’s Pickering and Bruce “B” projects, British Columbia

Hydro’s Portage Mountain development and Saskatchewan

Power’s interconnection with the U.S. utility system.

An era came to an end when the lamp and lighting

businesses were sold off to Philips Electronics and

Crouse Hinds respectively in 1982 and 1983.

Totally enclosed explosion-proof Life-Line motors.

By the early 1980s, data communications and video display terminals were the fastest growing segment of the company’s Electronics Division. More than 60 major airlines in 75 different countries were using Westinghouse terminals at their passenger check-in desks. In 1982, an order was recorded for 3,300 terminals for a new automated reservation system to be used by travel agents for Delta Airlines and United Airlines.

You Can Be SURE … If it’s Westinghouse™

In Canada, the Westinghouse Consumer Products

Division was sold in 1977 to General Steelwares Limited

(GSW) and the Canadian General Electric Company Limited

(GE). The entire division, including major appliances,

TV-stereo, portable products and

the consumer service business,

became the property of the

joint venture formed by these two

companies called the Canadian

Appliance Manufacturing Company

Limited (CAMCO).* CAMCO’s

products were marketed under

the brand names owned by

GSW and GE: Hotpoint, GE,

Moffat and McClary.

Today, major appliances

are sold by Electrolux under

the White-Westinghouse

trademark and small appliances

are marketed by Salton, Inc.,

under the Westinghouse

trademark, all under licence from Westinghouse

Electric Corporation.

Canadian Westinghouse Home Economist, Anna May Cornell, responded to inquiries from consumers and retailers

regarding the operation of Westinghouse appliances. She also created recipes using Westinghouse electric

frying pans, mixers, grills, etc. These recipes were published in employee newsletters and distributed to consumers.

*In the fall of 2003, as this book was going to press, CAMCO announced that their Hamilton appliance operation would be closed in 2004.

Westinghouse upright freezers provided 20 cubic feet of food storage and came with a three-year food spoilage warranty.

For over forty years, the widespread distribution

of home appliances was, perhaps, more responsible

than anything else for making the name of Westinghouse

known to the general public. The appliance business slogan,

“You can be SURE … if it’s

Westinghouse™,” introduced

in 1948, was one of the best-

known catchphrases in

North America. Even today,

the name “Westinghouse” is

synonymous with refrigerators

and washing machines, despite

the fact that the company stopped

making them in the 1970s.

In 1972, GE controlled

about 40 percent of the

major appliance market in

North America. Whirlpool

and Sears made up another

30 percent. The remainder

was divided between Frigidaire,

Westinghouse, White Consolidated Industries and various

other manufacturers.

Although Westinghouse appliances were known for

their robustness and the superior engineering of their

designs, the company did not have the advertising budget

to effectively market their products in the face of the

larger competitors.

In the 1970s, the entire major appliance market began

to feel the impact of an influx of cheaper-priced products

made by offshore manufacturers.

In 1974, after years of declining sales, the U.S.

Appliance Division was sold to White Consolidated

Industries. (White Consolidated Industries was

subsequently purchased by Electrolux.)

*See sidebar article.1973-1982

Westinghouse Waffles

2 cups pastry flour4 teaspoons baking powder1/4 teaspoon salt2 tablespoons sugar2 eggs1 1/4 cups milk6 tablespoons melted butter

Sift dry ingredients together. Beat egg yolks and add with milk into dry ingredients. Beat until batter is smooth. Add melted butter and fold in stiffly beaten egg whites. Pre-heat iron and bake 3 to 4 minutes.

This recipe makes 6 waffles.

75

Union Relations

In 1976, 32 Collective Agreements covering 4,400 employees

were successfully negotiated and, in 1977, the contract

for the employees of the Consumer Products Division was

transferred to CAMCO. On May 10, 1978, the 1,800 workers

at the three Westinghouse Canada plants in Hamilton went

on strike for four months, resulting in a loss of more than

half of the company’s manufacturing capacity.

Westinghouse Diversifies

In 1976, the face of the company

began to change when Westinghouse

Canada Limited branched out into

a new line of business with the

purchase of Longines-Wittnauer

Watch Company Inc. The U.S. parent

company of Longines-Wittnauer

had been previously purchased by

Westinghouse Electric Corporation.

Later that same year, Westinghouse Electric Corporation

in the U.S. purchased Teleprompter Corporation, one of the

country’s largest cable television operators. Although the

Group W Cable business, as it was named, would be sold

only four years later, it positioned Westinghouse as a major

player in the booming communications and entertainment

industries and foreshadowed its purchase of CBS® in 1995.

Roller-Coaster Ride for Turbine and Generator Division

The 1970s and early 1980s would prove to be a

roller-coaster ride for the Turbine and Generator Division.

Sales of new apparatus declined and recovered repeatedly.

By 1976, gas and steam turbine parts generated more than

30 percent of the division’s business and would continue

to account for large portions of the division’s sales right up

until the 1990s. Rapid swings of prosperity and decline took

their toll as the workforce was expanded and contracted

to respond to the constantly changing workload.

Small Steam Turbines and Boiler Feed Pump Turbinesadded to Product Line

In 1974, the Westinghouse Electric Corporation in the

United States granted the Sanford Avenue plant the world

product mandate for steam turbines under 60 MW.

This covered the entire line of steam turbines including

the D, E, EH, EL, EM and M models

used for industrial applications such as

pumping gas and oil and producing

power. Since work on this product

line was entirely discontinued in

the U.S., the Hamilton operation

expanded by hiring employees for

small steam turbine order service,

purchasing and engineering.

By 1976, sales of steam turbines

were breaking records. In the

10-year period from 1973 to 1983,

approximately 750 steam turbines

were churned out by employees

at the Sanford Avenue plant. Major

domestic industrial projects, including Stelco, Abitibi, Gulf,

British Petroleum and Texaco expansions in Ontario and

the Syncrude tar sands oil-extraction project in Alberta,

accounted for a large portion of these sales.

These products were also popular with industrial customers

around the world with units being sold to the U.S., Australia,

Chile, Venezuela, Brazil, England, Wales, Belgium, Spain,

Yugoslavia, Sweden, Saudi Arabia, Algeria and the Sudan.

As a result, field representatives sent out from the Hamilton

plant often spent months working in difficult conditions

in foreign climes.

An emergency order for Aramco in Saudi Arabia in 1978

boosted sales by $4 million CAD. According to an article in

the employee newsletter, Turbine Times, the world’s largest

oil refinery suffered a devastating blow when fire ripped

through its facility, effectively stopping production of seven

million barrels of oil a day. In an innovative move, initial

orders for 10 steam turbines plus support equipment

were transmitted by telex rather than letter, thus setting

“a precedent which could catch on as the demand for

speed in communication increases.”

In 1982, the Turbine and Generator Division was given

the world product mandate for the design, manufacture,

sale and service of boiler feed pump steam turbines.

These special-purpose steam turbines are used for pumping

water into boilers in large utility-operated power plants.

The first Canadian order was two units for Alberta Power

Limited for its Sheerness generating station. Central and

South West Services Inc., a Texas utility company, was

the first foreign customer to place an order. The sale for

the accompanying 600 MW main turbine generator set

for this customer was lost to a German competitor, Siemens.

New technology in both product and business systems was introduced into the switchgear and control operations in the 1970s. In 1980,the switchgear plant in Hamilton was closed, transferring the work to more modern facilities in Alliston, Perth and Mount Forest, Ontario.

M25 steam turbine forEmpaques Modernos in Mexico – 1979.

With Government of Canada funding, Westinghouse Canada developed the CE line of single stage turbines that featured standardized components and pre-designed options. The resulting Hamilton-designed CE116 steam turbine produced up to 2,000 horsepower from a frame size previously capable of producing only 600 horsepower. The success of the project led to subsequent funding for the development of the CW352 and CW182 model gas turbines later in the 1970s, as well as the CW251B10/12 in the 1980s.

Machining a three-stage integral rotor forging for an EM20 steam turbine for South America – 1971.

E125 steam turbine – 1974.

E125 steam turbine for Monenco Syncrude – 1976.

1973-1982

78

Mechanical-Drive Gas Turbines for Pipeline Use

By the early 1970s, oil prices, which had risen after the

founding of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries

(OPEC), resulted in Canada becoming optimistic about the future

development of its oil and gas industry. Because of this potential,

a new market for larger-sized mechanical-drive

gas turbines was predicted.

In 1973, Westinghouse Canada was

awarded the world product mandate for

mechanical-drive gas turbines up to 30,000

horsepower by the U.S. parent company.

This meant the Lester, Pennsylvania site

would stop making these model turbines

and all orders, from any part of the world,

would be filled from Hamilton.

Backed by funding received from the

Canadian government in 1974, Westinghouse Canada started

development of the rugged, high-efficiency, two-shaft,

35,000-horsepower CW352 industrial gas turbine engine,

designed specifically for gas pipeline compressor use.

Great excitement was generated in 1975 with the

announcement of the first sale of three CW352RMB units

for Dow Chemical Corporation in Plaquemine, Louisiana.

This sale was followed in 1977 with an order for two CW352MA

gas turbines for a Pacific Petroleums Limited (subsequently

Petro-Canada Exploration Inc.) site in Empress, Alberta.

*The prototype rotor for the CW182 was installed in the Visitor Display Area in the Sanford Avenue plant in the 1990s.

By 1978, development work was taking place on a prototype

model CW182 gas turbine. This product was designed

to meet customer needs for a high-efficiency turbine to drive

refrigerant compressors. The purpose of the compressors

was to cool the gas in pipelines so Arctic permafrost and

tundra would not be damaged. This model was ideally suited

for use in the compressor stations that were expected to

be built as part of the long-awaited

Alaska Highway Gas Pipeline Project.

The Alaska Highway Gas Pipeline Project

involved running a pipeline from the

Alaska gas fields, through Alberta and

Saskatchewan to Montana, to connect

to the U.S. natural gas distribution system.

This project seemed to hold much

promise for future sales of Westinghouse

compressor-drive turbines.

In 1980, the Turbine and Generator

Division announced that it had to increase its hourly workforce

from fewer than 400 to approximately 600 employees

to meet the demands of the expected increase in business.

Construction began that same year on a new 130,000

square foot turbine components plant on a 22-acre property

in Renfrew, Ontario, west of Ottawa. The plant was established

primarily to supply parts to assist in meeting the anticipated

surge in market demand for mechanical-drive turbines.

In 1981, while the Alaska Highway Gas Pipeline Project

underwent environmental assessment, the Sanford Avenue

plant manufactured a CW352RMAA for Foothills Pipelines

(Yukon) Limited for a pumping station that was part of a

short “pre-build” section of the pipeline. Unfortunately

the plant’s hopes for future sales were dashed when the

entire Alaska Highway Gas Pipeline Project was cancelled.

Although a lot of hard work and effort went into the CW352

and CW182 development projects, the Canadian oil and gas

sector did not develop as forecasted. Only seven CW352 units

were sold between 1979 and 1983. No CW182 units were

ever sold.* The Renfrew plant was closed in 1990 after only

10 years of operation.

Gas Turbines for Power Generation

In North America, gas turbines

for electricity generation were

initially used for peak load duty and

emergency stand-by. Westinghouse

took an important lead position

in this market with its family of

four gas turbines — the W101

and W191 introduced in 1959;

the W251 in 1967; and the W501

in 1968. An extensive power

blackout in the eastern U.S. in

October 1965 served as a catalyst leading to the increased

use of gas turbines for base load power generation in

installations around the world.

In 1972, Westinghouse Electric Corporation discontinued

the manufacture of the 17 MW W191 gas turbine-generator

package in the U.S., stating that its lower efficiency rating

made it uneconomical to operate. It had been on the

market for 13 years and the design had remained essentially

unchanged during the entire time. As a result, responsibility

for the sale, service and support of this line of gas turbines,

as well as for earlier product designs, was transferred to

the Turbine and Generator Division in Hamilton.

After some redesign work, the first W191 units made

in Hamilton were sold to Dome Petroleum for their

Model W101G gas turbine

1973-1982

Naming Westinghouse Gas TurbinesA standard naming convention was used until the

late 1990s to identify Westinghouse turbine models.

CW251B11/B12Manufacturedin Canada

Designed by Westinghouse

Approximate power rating of engine when it was first introduced to the market

One Shaft

Model number – 50-hertz machine

Model number – 60-hertz machine

gas processing plant at Empress, Alberta. The Turbine

and Generator Division also made the generators and

control systems for these units.

Over the next 15 years 76 W191 model

gas turbines were manufactured in the

Sanford Avenue plant for customers

in Canada, Saudi Arabia, Jordan,

Indonesia, Venezuela, India, Malaysia,

Mexico and the United States, to name

just a few. As it turned out, developing

countries were more interested in

the reliability and serviceability of the

W191 engine than in its efficiency.

Cutaway view of a model W191 gas turbine.

The Test House, constructed in 1975 and designed to eventually accom-modate the simultaneous testing of two CW352 engines, featured dynamometers capable of measuring up to 30,000 horsepower and a closed-loop water circulation system that could provide over 250,000 gallons of water per hour for cooling purposes.

80

Difficult Times Brought on by the Global Recession

By the mid-1980s, the U.S.

parent company was making

record profits in industries as

diverse as defence, broadcasting

and financial services while

its stock price tripled. North of

the border, after the sale of its

consumer businesses in the

late 1970s, Westinghouse

Canada focused on its traditional

industrial businesses and

new electronic technologies.

In 1982, Westinghouse Canada set a record in sales.

The next year, however, Canada’s economy entered

a severe recession. Westinghouse sales fell 27 percent.

Export sales, alone, dropped by 50 percent. As a result

of the lack of work, the company was forced to

reduce its workforce by approximately 35 percent

through early retirement options and layoffs.

More than 800 employees were laid off from the

Hamilton plants and the hourly workforce dipped

below the 1,000 mark for the first time since

the company’s early years.

1983-1992In 1982, Westinghouse Canada announced that corporate functions, including Human Resources, Finance, Strategic Resources and External Affairs, Corporate Communications and the Law and Patent Departments, would be moving to prestigious new offices in the Standard Life Centre on King Street West in downtown Hamilton.

In 1984, the original Westinghouse Air Brake factory (B-building) and the Works Office on Princess Street were demolished to make way for an expanded parking lot. The historic head office building on the corner of Sanford Avenue and Myler Street was sold in 1987 andhas remained empty since that time.

The first CW251 engine was manufactured in Hamilton in 1985.

By the end of the 1980s, steam turbine sales,combined with gas and steam turbine replacement parts and service accounted for 75 percent of the Turbine and Generator Division’s sales.

81 82

Cogeneration Gains in Popularity

In the United States, the Power Generation group

of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation was facing

a somewhat different set of issues that were just as serious.

First, the post-World War II electrification of North America

was coming to an end and the company was suffering from

excess manufacturing capacity. Secondly, rising energy

costs were forcing utility customers to look at ways to

increase power plant efficiency. Finally, the U.S. Public Utility

Regulatory Policy Act (PURPA) passed in 1978 forced public

utility companies to purchase any excess power produced

by private companies at favourable rates.

Consequently, cogeneration plants suddenly started

gaining in popularity. Paper mills, refineries, universities,

mines and process plants throughout the United States

realized they could profit substantially by building their own

power plants to provide electricity and heat or steam

for their processes. Since excess power could be sold

to public utility companies, these organizations became

“independent power producers.” A whole new market

for power generation equipment was born.

The Model W251 Turbine Comes to Hamilton

With the goal of concentrating on the new utility market

sector of 100 MW-class gas turbines and steam turbines,

Westinghouse decided to close the Lester Plant in favour

of new, smaller, more efficient facilities in Charlotte and

Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

The Turbine and Generator Division’s Market Dries Up

In 1982, the Turbine and Generator Division experienced

the best sales year in its history with exports accounting

for 84 percent of sales. However, signs that the market

was about to soften appeared that same year when orders

for the next year dropped below the previous year’s levels.

A number of political and economic factors were

responsible for this development. First, the 1981 National

Energy Policy combined with the global recession of the early

1980s, severely impacted the western Canadian oil business.

Then, in 1982, for the first time since 1938, Canadian

consumption of electricity failed to increase. As a result,

growth in the utility sector ground to a halt in 1983 as

provincial utilities cut their forecasts for future demand

for power. Finally, the export market for capital goods,

which had been hit hard by the worldwide recession,

contracted dramatically, fuelled by the devaluation of

foreign currencies against the Canadian dollar.

By 1983, the Turbine and Generator Division had arrived

at a major juncture. The W191 frame gas turbine was

becoming obsolete. Meanwhile, market expectations for

the CW352 had failed to materialize as gas transmission

customers such as TransCanada PipeLines began purchasing

aero-derivative combustion turbines that required minimal

field service.

This meant the market for the products of the Turbine

and Generator Division was drying up. By the spring

of 1983 more than 250 employees had been laid off.

The situation was critical and a solution would have

to be found if the plant was to survive.

W501 production was transferred to Mitsubishi in Japan.

The 35 MW-class W251B7/8, which had been built in Lester

for years and the 40 MW-class W251B9/10 model that had

just been developed, were not included in the company’s

future plans — at least not in the United States.

Westinghouse Canada was known for its expertise in the

area of gas and steam turbines for industrial applications

and the W251 product was a good fit for Canada’s future

market requirements. However, the engine would require

continued development to increase its efficiency and

lower emissions to satisfy stricter environmental legislation

in the U.S. and Canada.

Westinghouse Canada saw opportunities for business

and approached the Ontario and Canadian governments

for funding to assist in the development of an improved 40

MW-class gas turbine for domestic and international sales.

This funding was received in 1983 and, the next year,

the U.S. parent company granted the Turbine and Generator

Division of Westinghouse Canada the world product mandate

for all Westinghouse gas turbines of this frame size or smaller.

Steam Turbine Work Supports the Factory

Fortunately, while developmental work was proceeding

on the CW251, sales of steam turbines, as well as parts and

service, were booming. This led to the hiring of approximately

150 people. Accounting for 75 percent of the Turbine

and Generator Division’s sales since 1984, this business

was vital to the organization’s success.

In 1984, the Steam Turbine Department experienced a

record year, shipping four new steam turbine generator sets

to U.S. industrial customers for installation in cogeneration

applications. A four-unit steam turbine assembly and

testing facility was added in M-building to accommodate

the increased demand for steam turbine products.

During this time, service sales were boosted by a

number of novel refurbishment projects including:

a A $24 million CAD order in 1986 for the overhaul

of four W251 Econopacs for Saudi Arabia’s Ministry

of Defence and Aviation Tabuk Power Plant.

a The Ventech project which entailed dismantling two

1960s-vintage W191 gas turbines from their original

sites in Ontario and Texas, refurbishing and installing

them at a new location in another part of Texas.

a The Northland Power, Kirkland Lake project in which

a Parsons two-case, 25 MW, low-pressure steam turbine

and a Metropolitan-Vickers single-case, 22 MW

steam turbine were reverse-engineered, overhauled,

and installed at the customer’s cogeneration site

in northern Ontario.

a The Dynamis Sanger Power and Feed Plant project,

which involved resurrecting a mothballed W251B2

located in Ecuador, refurbishing and upgrading it and

installing it in a combined-cycle plant in California.

A cogenerating system produces two or more useful forms of energy, such as electricity and steam, from one fuel source. These systems are well suited in industries where a significant requirement for electricity is coupled with a large demand for hot air or steam to be used in the plant’s processes. In a combined-cycle cogeneration configuration, a gas and a steam turbine operating together produce electricity for distribution and steam to be used for industrial processes or heating.

In 1992, the Blade Shop in X-building completed an order for 44 rows of steam turbine blades for the Department of Energy Pertambangan, the utility that supplied power to the city of Surabaya, Indonesia.

Government funding provided Westinghouse Canada with the

means to develop and test the CW251 line of gas turbines and

package them for both the50-hertz and 60-hertz markets.

1983-1992

83 84

Development of the CW251B12

In 1985, approximately one year after receiving funding,

the first Hamilton-made 42 MW CW251B10 model turbine

was shipped to a Procter and Gamble cogeneration site

in Mehoopany, Pennsylvania. This unit was configured as part

of an Econopac® that comprised the turbine/generator set

and all the necessary auxiliary systems, controls, switchgear,

transformers and enclosures.* This meant the customer

only had to provide the location, permits, a fuel supply,

and the electrical transmission system.

Over the next three years, while development work

continued on the uprated model CW251B12, two other

B10 model turbines were built. One was shipped to the

University of Texas in Austin, Texas, and one went to

a Unocal Refinery in Wilmington, California.

Late in September 1989, the Turbine and Generator Division

successfully completed the first full-load factory test of its

prototype CW251B12 gas turbine, burning $356,000 CAD

worth of fuel in the process in just four days. This marked

the last time the Test House was used to test engines.

Test results indicated the CW251B12 engine exceeded

power output predictions and achieved a better heat rate

than expected. The design was officially upgraded

to a 50 MW-class engine shortly thereafter.

Westinghouse Canada Strategically Realignsits Businesses

As the 1980s drew to a close, Westinghouse Canada changed

its business mix and made an impressive recovery, reporting

back-to-back record sales and profits in 1988 and 1989.

a The Information Services Division, now a respected name

in the field of data communications, received a major

order from Canadian Airlines International to handle

its computer requirements at Toronto International

Airport’s new Terminal Three. The division was also

providing sonar and navigational equipment for Canada’s

new patrol frigates as well as ground-based radar

transmitters for the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.

a The Electronics Division achieved U.S. Military standards

(Mil-Spec) and commenced manufacturing and testing

electronic sub-assemblies for the U.S. military and naval

aviation markets. The division’s plant on Walkers Line

in Burlington was enlarged by 31,000 square feet

to provide space for centralized and expanded

marketing, sales, accounting and engineering.

a In 1989, WESCO in Canada became allied with WESCO

in the United States to form WESCO North America,

the largest electrical distributor on the continent.

a The Elevator Division installed the elevators for

Hamilton’s new Sheraton Hotel and Standard Life Centre,

The Manufacturer’s Life Insurance Company head office

in Toronto, the Montreal Metro and the Calgary Centre

for Performing Arts.

a Reff Incorporated, a leading Canadian office furniture

manufacturer, was purchased in 1991 and, after the

acquisition of Knoll Inc. a year later, the business was

operated with other Westinghouse office furniture

businesses under the name, The Knoll Group.

a In the early 1980s, the Motor Division was

consolidated under one roof at the Beach

Road plant. The product line of this division

included motors ranging from 1 to 15,000

horsepower. The operation was subsequently

spun off as a separate company in 1995

and became part of the Westinghouse Motor

Company, a joint venture of Westinghouse

Electric Corporation and TECO Electric and

Machinery Co. Ltd. This provided the Canadian motor

operations with increased access to the U.S. market.

a Change also marked the company’s participation

in nuclear energy markets during this period. In Canada,

the nuclear fuel assembly business, headquartered

in Port Hope, was sold in 1988 to Zircatec Precision

Industries Inc. In 1992, the eddy current probe manu-

facturing branch of Atomic Energy Canada Limited (AECL)

was acquired. Operations were set up in Deep River,

Ontario near AECL’s Chalk River Laboratories.

Seven years later, in 1999, the eddy current probe

manufacturing business was sold to R/D Tech.

a In the mid-1980s, the Canadian Services Division,

consisting of approximately 38 service shops across

Canada, acquired a new plant in Mississauga, Ontario,

for generator coil manufacturing. In 1988, the Canadian

Services Division acquired ICS Construction Ltd.,

Auprocon Limited and ICS Limitée, from GE Canada.

Up until 1989, Westinghouse Canada Inc. was a publicly

owned corporation with shares traded on the Toronto Stock

Exchange. On November 24 of that year, Westinghouse Electric

Corporation purchased all issued shares from the then current

shareholders in a “going private” transaction. Although still

a separate legal entity, Westinghouse Canada Inc. became a

wholly owned subsidiary of Westinghouse Electric Corporation.

The prototype CW251B12 unit was installed along

with a SC23 steam turbine as part of one of Canada’s first

combined-cycle cogeneration facilities in Fort Frances,

Ontario. Owned by Inter-City Gas (later Centra Gas),

the plant produces steam for the Boise Cascade paper mill

and electricity for the Ontario grid.

Although the success of the first CW251B12 boded well

for the future of the Sanford Avenue plant, only one engine

would be built in 1990 and none in 1991. However, by 1992,

confidence in the design had grown and the plant started

to receive a steady stream of orders for B10 and B12

60-hertz model turbines and B11 50-hertz models for

the international market.

In 1996, as part of the Sanford Avenue plant’s CW251 cost

improvement program, a new modular version of the CW251

was launched. Weighing 42 tons less than the original design

and featuring a bedplate that was 17 feet shorter, the new

version was much easier to ship. Other design innovations

such as full ring diaphragms and hydraulic bolt tensioning

contributed to driving down the cost of manufacturing

the engine, making it much more competitive.

Sales of CW251 engines peaked in 1995 and continued

through to 2002.

*A wooden model of the Procter and Gamble site in Mehoopany, Pennsylvania, is exhibited in the Visitor Display Area in the Sanford Avenue plant.

History was made in 1993 when seven CW251 engines were in production simultaneously in K-building.

In 1986, the transformers businesses of Westinghouse Canada Inc. and GE Canada were combined to form the Transformer Manufacturing Business (TTI). Westinghouse Canada subsequently bought out the GE interest and sold the business in 1989 to ABB.

Manufacturing coils for waterwheel generators at

the Mississauga, Ontario Coil Plant – 1991.

1983-1992

85

Positive Developments South of the Border

As the 1990s dawned, things were looking very positive

for Westinghouse Electric Corporation in the U.S. In the

summer of 1990, Westinghouse stock hit a record high

of $39.375 USD per share.

The Power Systems Group of Westinghouse Electric

Corporation, consisting of Energy Systems (nuclear, solar,

process control systems), and Power Generation (fossil)

was thriving. Energy Systems boasted that they provided

products and services to every operating nuclear power plant

in the United States. Power Generation had a sales backlog

of $1 billion USD for power generating equipment.

Modernizing the Hamilton Plant

Between 1990 and 1995, more than $43 million CAD was

poured into the Sanford Avenue plant to upgrade equipment

and increase manufacturing capacity for CW251 engines

and W501 rotors. Highlights of the modernization program

included the installation of:

a Line and Droop & Rein plano mills

a Two Berthiez vertical boring mills

and a Lazzati horizontal boring mill

a Four Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC)

horizontal machining centres

a Four large lathes

a Two 560 Gleason grinders

for CurvicTM clutching

a A Sandvik Coromont deep-hole

drilling ejector system

a A 576-inch Detroit chain broach

a A Niigata universal

milling machine

a A Schenck balancing machine

a An Axiam mapping machine.

Other facilities improvements

included:

a Creation of a turbine assembly

area in K-building

a Establishment of a stand-alone,

fast turnaround, dedicated

repair shop for service

in R-building

a Construction of a fully-equipped

machine training centre, two classrooms,

a computer training area and a video

conferencing facility

a Painting of the entire 550,000 square foot

manufacturing area

a Improved lighting throughout the plant

a Reconstruction of the lobby and cafeteria

a Construction of a Visitor Display Area.

The Droop & Rein plano mill was used to machine cylinders for CW251 engines.

Two Ravensburg facing lathes for disc turning increased the plant’s capacity for W501 rotor production.

Meanwhile, there was enormous excitement when

Westinghouse Power Generation received a $200 million USD

contract in 1990 to build collider dipole magnets for the

Super Conducting Supercollider project. The Magnet Systems

Division was formed in Round Rock, near Austin, Texas,

to pursue business development opportunities for this

technology. Unfortunately, the U.S. Congress cut funding for

the project in 1993 and the entire division was closed down.

Deregulation of the U.S. Electric Utility Industry

In the Power Generation segment, the factor that would

have the largest impact on business over the next decade

was the deregulation of the electric utility industry. In 1992,

the U.S. Energy Policy Act gave the Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission the authority to require transmission line

owners to carry electricity from competing generators.

In 1994, California became the first state to take the ruling

a step further, deregulating the state’s electricity market

by opening it up to competition.

Becoming an Integral Part of the Great North American Factory

In 1990, in response to the rising strength of the Japanese yen

against the U.S. dollar and an anticipated increase in demand

from U.S. utilities and independent power producers for gas

and steam turbines for power generation and cogeneration,

the Westinghouse Power Generation Business Unit (PGBU)

decided to return the manufacture of W501 model engines

from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Japan to its Great North

American Factory. The Sanford Avenue plant, renamed

the Power Generation Canadian Division (PGCD), would

manufacture cylinders and rotors; Charlotte, North Carolina,

would balance the bladed rotors; Winston-Salem,

North Carolina, would machine the vane segments,

manufacture the bolting and, eventually, produce the

compressor blades; and Pensacola, Florida, would assemble

the engines. A headquarters operation located in Orlando,

Florida, and a coil manufacturing facility in Fort Payne,

Alabama, completed the Great North American Factory.

Westinghouse adopted a Total Quality Management system in 1987 and per-formance was evaluated based on the Twelve Conditions of Excellence. “We are committed to Total Quality improvement and to goals of nothing less than being world class in all aspects of our business. Twinned with Quality is our second fundamental corporate value: Customer Satisfaction. One is as vital as the other.” Edward B. (Ted) Priestner, President and Chief Executive Officer, Westinghouse Canada Inc.–1989.

Stacking facilities were expanded to accommodate W501 rotors.

The plant entrance and security office prior to reconstruction.

Employees and their families were invited to tour the newly refurbished Sanford Avenue plant during Family Day – 1991.

In 1990, the Power Generation Canadian

Division published a Total Quality Plan that

described the goals of 13 Quality Improvement

Teams that had been formed to improve the

plant’s performance.

The 1990 Christmas edition of Power Profile featured Santa Claus reading a Total Quality Plan.

1983-1992

87

First Hamilton-Made W501 Rotor Sets the Stage for Increased Growth

In April 1991, the Sanford Avenue plant successfully

completed its first W501D5 rotor and shipped it to Charlotte,

North Carolina, for high-speed balancing. Just three months

after completion of the first rotor, on July 30, 1991, more than

160 customers, media representatives, suppliers and

Westinghouse employees gathered in the Pensacola, Florida

plant to celebrate the shipment of the first model W501D5

gas turbine ever manufactured by the Westinghouse Power

Generation Business Unit Great North American Factory.

The elapsed time from the first machining operation

to the shipment of the turbine was 13 months.

In 1991 and 1992, the employees of PGCD proudly put

together back-to-back record years for sales and profits,

largely due to the increase in W501 rotor manufacturing

work and long-awaited orders for CW251B11/B12 engines.

The plant was also awarded certification under ISO9001,

the most comprehensive, internationally recognized

certification for quality provided by the International

Organization for Standardization (ISO).

Sales of gas turbine parts and service work, which accounted

for 49 percent of the division’s sales in 1991, were increasing

in response to escalating oil prices that had been driven up

due to the war in the Persian Gulf. High oil prices meant

that customers in oil-producing countries could now justify

spending money for the maintenance, overhaul and upgrading

of their gas turbines to boost oil production.

One such customer, Lagoven (now known as PDVSA)

in Venezuela, had purchased a fleet of 43 Westinghouse W101

compressor-drive gas turbines between 1954 and 1965.

These units were installed on platforms on Lake Maracaibo

in Venezuela to reinject natural gas into the oil wells under

the lake to force crude oil to the surface. Refurbishment work

on their large fleet accounted for a significant portion

of the Sanford Avenue plant’s gas turbine service work over

the course of the 1990s. In 1992, PGCD honoured Lagoven

with a special plaque commemorating 10 million hours

of gas turbine operation.

Westinghouse Enters the Computer Ageof “on-line computer terminals and an advanced

computer application which has as its ultimate goal,

paperless information processing.”

Meanwhile, in the Sanford Avenue plant, the early 1970s

saw the introduction of “MTG,”

a new computerized manufacturing

inventory system. Engineering

installed a Wang programmable

desktop calculator in 1973 that

used Nixie® tubes* for its visual

display and cassette tapes for

code and data storage.

In 1981, the company’s first Wang

word processor was installed in the

Turbine and Generator Division’s

Technical Manual Department.

By 1983, 34 personal computers

were in use across the divisions

and a new Personal Computers

Users’ Group had been formed.

Key marketing and sales staff

were provided with the first portable computers in the

mid-1980s. Shaped like a portable sewing machine and

weighing about 15 pounds, these “luggable” computers

contained much less computing power than today’s

two-pound laptops.

By the 1990s, computerized production control systems managed the flow of work on the shop floor.

By the 1990s, design engineers were using

three-dimensional CAD/CAM (computer-aided-design/

computer-aided-manufac-turing) systems to design, model and “virtually” test

components on screen.

Slide rules and drafting tables were the tools of the trade for design engineers in the 1960s.

* Nixie® indicator tubes contain thin metal electrodes shaped like numbers or symbols. These electrodes glow in the shape of numbers when the appropriate current is applied. Nixie is a registered trademark of Burroughs Corporation.

A Total Safety Program initiated in 1991 and incorporating a full-time safety coordinator, an environmental officer,

joint health and safety committees, an occupational health nurse, safety training for all employees, regular

audits, as well as accident tracking and reporting, resulted in a dramatic decrease in workplace accidents.

Power Generation Canadian Division received the Westinghouse Voluntary Protection Program award

in 1997 in recognition of the effectivenessof the plant’s safety program.

In 1964 the company’s first computer, an IBM 1401,

was installed in the basement of the head office building

on Sanford Avenue. The unit had four kilobytes of memory,

two tape drives and a printer. Input was made using

keypunched cards. An IBM 1410 that had 80 kilobytes

of memory and eight tape drives

was added a short while later and

required a specially designed

air-conditioned room. (Today’s

laptops generally contain

512 megabytes of memory.)

In 1966, two new IBM 360 model

computers were installed. RPG and

COBOL were the programming

languages used at this time. It took

the programming staff almost a

year to upgrade the programs from

the original computers to run on

the two new systems.

Elsewhere in the organization,

computerization moved at a slower

pace. In 1969 the Annual Report

proudly stated that one shared-time computer terminal

had been installed in the Control Apparatus office

in St. Jean, Quebec, to be used for production design work

on bus duct and transformers. It also reported that the

Switchgear and Control Division initiated the use

Advances in Telecommunications

In the 1960s, communications accelerated between

the plants and offices of the coast-to-coast Canadian

Westinghouse operation and with customers around

the world with the installation of teletype machines.

Prior to the introduction of facsimile machines

(fax machines) in the 1980s, these teletype stations

transmitted more than 30,000 messages every month.

Profs Notes was rolled out in the mid-1980s, kicking off

the E-mail era. However, it took until the late-1990s before

all Westinghouse locations across Canada were connected

via Lotus Notes. Microsoft Outlook subsequently replaced

this system in 2000. Today, approximately 14,000 E-mails

are processed per day for the Hamilton plant.

In 2001, the Hamilton Plant went live with a common

global manufacturing system using SAP technology.

Ultimately, one common computer system incorporating

financial records, order management, plant capacity

planning, materials planning, manufacturing and

service management capabilities will link all sites

of Siemens Power Generation.

The Hamilton plant’s first W501 rotor was completed in April 1991.

1983-1992

90

Entering the final decade

of the Sanford Avenue

plant’s first hundred years,

no one could have foreseen

the magnitude of change

that would sweep over

the company in the

next 10 years.

“Exciting, challenging, chaotic —

all describe the future of power generation

in the United States where increasing

competition, deregulation, power plant

closures, utilit y consolidations and

mergers, and power wheeling will be

the norm,” stated an article published

in Inside Power, Westinghouse Power

Generation Canada’s employee newsletter

in March/April 1995. At the Hamilton Plant,

the next few years would be all this

and more.

1993-2003

Siemens Westinghouse and the Boom Market for Gas Turbines

In fiscal year 2001/2002, the Siemens Westinghouse Turbine Manufacturing and Service Facility in Hamilton shipped 61 W501 gas turbines to feed the boom market for power generation equipment in the U.S.

Lowering a W501 combustor cover into place – 2001.

Single-stage steam turbines, some dating back to the 1930s, continue to be serviced in the Hamilton Plant’s Factory Service Department in 2003.

In 1993, a major order was received from Texas Eastern Transmission to completely rebuild

and upgrade their fleet of six 1950s-vintage W52RM gas turbines. The fact that this customer

was willing to invest in such mature units was a testament to the robustness of the design

of this frame of engine.

91

Financial Difficulties in the U.S.

In the 1980s, Westinghouse Financial Services and

its lending arm, Westinghouse Credit, which started out

providing fi nancing services for appliances and major

electrical equipment, grew rapidly by

specializing in corporate and junk bond

fi nancing, speculative commercial

real estate loans and direct loans

to developers. By 1990, loans and other

fi nancial assets hit the $13 billion USD

mark and credit rating analysts began

to express concern about the level of

fi nancial exposure. In an effort to quell

these concerns, then CEO, John Marous,

signed an agreement stating that the

parent company, Westinghouse Electric

Corporation, would cover any losses

at the fi nancial service subsidiaries.

Over the next two years, as a result of

bad loans and other fi nancial diffi culties,

the Westinghouse Electric Corporation

would record losses of $5.8 billion USD

and be forced to divest $7.6 billion USD

in assets. In an effort to reduce costs, the corporation

downsized its workforce by 15 percent or 15,000 employees.

The Sanford Avenue plant was affected by this across-the-board

cost cutting and laid off approximately 50 employees.

By 1994, the parent company seemed to be doing better.

Debt had been slashed and, for the fi rst time in four years,

the organization had

recorded a profi t.

Restructuring the Canadian Operation

In Canada, a number of businesses were sold in quick

succession. In 1994, the Cutler Hammer subsidiary of

Eaton Corporation purchased the Westinghouse Switchgear

and Construction and Industrial Products

businesses. WESCO was sold to

Clayton DeVilliers.

This was followed in 1995 and 1996

with the sale of the Motor business to

Teco, Electronics and Defence Products

to Northrop Grumman and The Knoll

Group offi ce furniture business to a

management-led consortium. In 1997,

Quantum Inspection and Testing was

sold to Staveley Weighing & Systems.

Westinghouse Communications

was sold to RSL Com Canada in 1998.

In 1994, the Energy Services Division

was combined with the Sanford Avenue

plant, which was now called the Power

Generation Manufacturing Division

(PGMD) to form Power Generation Canada

(PGC). The corporate head offi ce on King Street in Hamilton

was closed and central functions were relocated to the

Sanford Avenue plant.

In 1995, the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers

of Canada (UE) merged with the National Automobile,

Aerospace, Transportation & General Workers Union of

Canada (CAW). As a result, the CAW became the bargaining

agent for 470 hourly (Local 504) and 41 clerical (Local 555)

Westinghouse employees. On April 23, 1999, the unionized

hourly employees represented by Local 504 went on strike

for one week. This was the fi rst strike since 1978. It was

followed in 2002 by another three-week strike.

W501 Rotor Production Increases to New Levels

In mid-1995, after many months of pre-manufacturing design

and engineering work and 12 months of hands-on manufac-

turing, the PGMD-Hamilton Plant successfully completed the

fi rst Canadian-made, fully assembled 32-foot long W501F rotor.

The rotor was shipped to a sister plant in Charlotte,

North Carolina, for blading and high-speed balancing and

then to Pensacola, Florida, for installation into an engine.

By the fall, the workscope on the W501 for the Hamilton Plant

had expanded to include blading and balancing the rotors.

Once the workforce had mastered the intricacies of producing

W501 rotors, the organization focused on reducing production

cycle time and cost.

From a systems standpoint, the manual production

engineering system was replaced with a computerized

Manufacturing Process Analysis (MPA) system. Transferring

programs to CNC machines via paper tapes or fl oppy disks

became a thing of the past

once a networked system

for downloading programs

was implemented.

Blade sequencing software,

a mapping machine for

disc stacking and hydraulic

tensioning of spindle

bolts all contributed to

substantially reducing the

amount of time required

to manufacture a rotor.

All of these advances

were useful when PGMD-

Hamilton was called upon

to support the Advanced

Turbine Systems (ATS)

program. The Westinghouse Power Generation Business Unit

had been funded by the U.S. Department of Energy to

develop technology for new, super-effi cient gas turbines

for power generation. PGMD-Hamilton manufactured the

compressor rotor for a prototype test rig. This rotor was

returned to Hamilton after testing was completed and was

refurbished for use in the plant’s fi rst W501G engine in 1998.

In 1995, PGMD-Hamilton’s production load for the year called for the shipment of 19 rotors for W501 turbines. In 2000,

the factory produced 46 rotors.

The amount of timerequired to manufacture a complete W501 rotor dropped from 35 weeks to 19 weeks in two years due, in part, to Lean Manufacturing efforts that focused on streamlining processes – 1996.

The longer, heavier, W501F rotor required investments in tooling, broaches, a mapping machine and a new stacking facility – 1995.

In 2000, Hamilton-based gas turbine fi eld service representatives travelled to more than 20 countries around the world and worked on all frames of Westinghouse gas turbines from a 1957-vintage W52RM to the highly sophisticated W501G.

Between 1995 and 2000, 22 boiler feed pump steam turbines were manufactured for power plants in China.

Frank Bakos, President of the Westinghouse Power Generation Business Unit described the organiza-tion’s global business strategy in the January/February 1995 edition of Inside Power.

1993-2003

93 94

Ramping Up for W501 Engine Production

In an effort to keep the Power Generation Business Unit

competitive, a decision was made, in 1996, to close the

Pensacola, Florida, facility and transfer complete manu-

facturing of W501 engines to PGMD-Hamilton. Responsibility

for all necessary engineering work for auxiliary systems for

the CW251 engines as well as sales, marketing and project

management was consolidated in Orlando around the

same time. This meant that, with regard to new engines,

PGMD-Hamilton would focus solely on manufacturing.

Now heavily invested in

the media industry, the

plan, as reported in the

1996 Westinghouse Electric

Corporation Annual Report,

was to split Westinghouse into

two companies. The media

business would be renamed

CBS® Corporation and traded

under the CBS® stock symbol.

The industrial and technology segment comprising Power

Systems (nuclear and fossil), Thermo King (refrigerated

trucking), and government operations would continue to

operate under the Westinghouse name and stock symbol.

However, the plan changed in the summer of 1997

when the very profitable Thermo King business was sold.

The remaining industrial businesses would not have

appeared as attractive to investors as a stand-alone entity,

so a decision was made to sell them off as well. In November

1997 a deal was struck with Siemens AG to purchase

Westinghouse’s Power Generation business. In December

1997, the renowned Westinghouse Electric Corporation

was renamed and became CBS® Corporation.

Nine months later, on August 19, 1998, the sale of

Westinghouse’s Power Generation Business Unit was

completed. The two groups that made up Westinghouse

Power Generation Canada, PGMD-Hamilton and the

Electrical Systems Service Division, were renamed Siemens

Westinghouse and, subsequently, became divisions

of Siemens Canada Limited.

Becoming Part of Siemens Power Generation

Siemens’ Power Generation Group (previously known as

Siemens KWU) had long been a leader in the field of power

generation, predominantly in the 50-hertz market. In the late

1990s, Siemens decided to expand its global presence in the

power generation market through strategic acquisitions.

In 1997, Siemens purchased portions of the British company

Parsons Power Generation Systems, thereby gaining access

to expanded steam turbine-generator technology.

The addition of the U.S.-based Westinghouse Power

Generation business provided Siemens with a full range

of 60-hertz products and a well-established, highly desirable

sales and service presence in the U.S. and China markets.

Siemens, on the other hand, held a strong presence in Europe,

India, Asia and the Pacific Rim. With a combined worldwide

installed fleet of nearly 1,900 units and 549,000 gigawatts

of generating capacity, Siemens Power Generation moved

to second place in the market behind General Electric.

Westinghouse purchased CBS® Inc. in 1995.

More than 200 employees were hired between 1997 and 2000 to handle the increased workload.

The first Hamilton-built W501D5A engine was shipped in October 1996. The first W501F was completed in September 1997.

In 1996, K-building was cleared to make room for build stands for W501 gas turbine assembly. An elevated walkway that extended the length of the assembly area was completed shortly after this picture was taken.

In 1996 / 1997, the Factory Service Department refurbished two 1960s-vintage W191 gas turbines for Union Carbide in Texas.

Siemens AG purchased Westinghouse Power Generation in August 1998.

Although it seemed as if the facilities improvement

program of the early 1990s to accommodate W501 rotors

had only just finished, the expansion in 1996 into W501

gas turbine component manufacturing and assembly

necessitated a much larger reconstruction program.

Construction started immediately and, by the end of 1996,

the factory had already produced four W501D5A engines.

The next year PGMD-Hamilton manufactured 18 W501D5/

D5A/F and two CW251 gas turbine engines, six boiler feed

pump steam turbines, three additional service W501 rotors

and had handled more service work than ever before.

Westinghouse Becomes CBS®, then Siemens

While the Hamilton Plant was focusing its efforts on

expansion, Westinghouse Electric Corporation was headed

in a new direction. With the purchase of CBS® Inc. in 1995,

Westinghouse became the largest television and radio

broadcaster in the United States. This was just the first of

a number of acquisitions in this industry. The radio giant

Infinity Broadcasting was purchased in 1996, followed

by The Nashville Network and Country Music Television

as well as American Radio Systems in 1997.

1993-2003

95

and Westinghouse Power Generation for the same period

in the previous year had totalled just 36 gas turbines and

41 steam turbines.

The Siemens Westinghouse

Turbine Manufacturing and

Service Facility in Hamilton bravely

rose to the challenge of having to ramp up production of

W501 gas turbines from a rate of 24 engines in 1999

to 61 in fi scal year 2001/2002. In order to maximize

production, a large number of new employees were hired;

extensive facilities changes were made, including adding

build stands in leased space at the Beach Road plant;

a top+ Continuous Improvement program was adopted using

Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma techniques to reduce

cycle times and improve manufacturing processes; and the

Siemens turbine plant

in Berlin, Germany, was

called in to assist fi rst

with the production of

W501 rotors and then

with the assembly of

entire W501 engines.

Behind the scenes,

employees and suppliers

took up the challenge

to fi nd ways to cope

with the huge wave

of work created by

the sudden demand

for more engines.

The documentation

and the logistics

required to ensure all materials arrived in the right place

at the right time, ready for manufacturing, were staggering.

For example, purchasing requisitions increased from

18,500 in 1998 to 50,800 in 2001, resulting in the delivery

of 1.9 million parts.

At the same time, service orders for gas and steam turbine

work declined in 1998 and then rebounded to record levels

in 2000. Orders for service work on industrial steam turbines

smaller than 50 MW hit an all-time high.

A new Lapointe broach machine was installed to provide increased

disc production capacity – 2001.

To increase capacity,six turbine assembly stands were added in leased space at the Beach Road facility.

Measuring the depth of the bore for a cam-style radial pin on a W501F in a rotor machining cell – 2002.

The fi rst W501G manufactured in Hamilton for the City of Lakeland in Florida, was initially used in a simple-cycle confi guration and later in a combined-cycle operation.

Approximately 37 feet long, 15 feet high and weighing 267 tons, the W501G is the largest gas turbine ever made in the Hamilton plant.

advances in aero-engine technology acquired through

an alliance with Rolls-Royce. Originally rated at 230 MW

and with a combined-cycle effi ciency of 58 percent,

the W501G was heralded as ”the largest and most effi cient

60-hertz gas turbine in the world.”

Deregulation Sets Off Boom Market for Gas Turbines

The timing of the marriage of Westinghouse Power

Generation and Siemens was fortuitous. For years, U.S.

utilities, concerned about overcapacity, the uncertainties

of deregulation and design diffi culties with the newest

models of turbines, had delayed buying equipment.

The reserve margin — the difference between total capacity

and forecasted peak electricity demand — fell from 25 percent

of capacity in 1985 to approximately 16 percent in 1998.

In June of 1998, severe power shortages in the U.S. Midwest

and California sparked a crisis in the industry. Electricity prices,

which normally hovered around $30 USD a megawatt hour,

soared as high as $7,500 USD per megawatt hour during

the worst periods. A “gold rush mentality” set in, resulting

in an unprecedented buying spree for gas turbines. At the

end of fi scal year 1997/1998, Siemens Power Generation

reported that it had received orders for 80 gas turbines

and 20 steam turbines. Combined orders for Siemens KWU

Slingers preparing an upper compressor cylinder, complete with diaphragms and seals, for assembling onto a W501 engine.

W501G Production

In October 1998, PGMD-Hamilton achieved another mile-

stone when it proudly shipped the fi rst W501G gas turbine.

The W501G engine was a joint development of the

Westinghouse Power Generation Business Unit, Mitsubishi

Heavy Industries and FiatAvio. It combined the proven

effi ciency and reliability of the W501F model with the latest

1993-2003

The Boom Market for Gas Turbines

With sales of gas turbines exceeding levels ever before seen

in the industry, the employees of the Siemens Westinghouse

Turbine Manufacturing and Service Facility responded by

accomplishing the incredible feat of increasing production

of W501 turbines from 24 engines a year in 1999 to 61 in

fi scal year 2001/2002.

Cranes in K-building were upgraded in the 1990s in order to lift the 155-ton W501D5A, the 200-ton W501F and the 267-ton W501G.

Side-entry milling of a row 1-2-3 spindle for a W501F rotor.

Checking the diaphragm gaps on blade rings.

Pressurizing and testing an inlet cylinder in the sub-assembly area in M-building.

Dual stacking pits, designed to accommodate W501F,W501G and, subsequently, Siemens V-engines, were constructed at the east end of K-building.

By 2001, turbines were being shipped from the Hamilton Plant at a rate of one or two per week.

99

Poised to Begin A Second Century of Operation

By the end of 2001, three market conditions were combining

that would spell the end of the North American gas turbine boom.

First, the United States entered an economic recession.

This was followed by a signifi cant decline in electricity prices.

In the autumn of 2001,

the collapse of energy giant

Enron and the resulting

fi nancial scrutiny that many

U.S. utility companies faced,

led to the postponement

or cancellation of orders

for gas turbines.

Due to the lead-time

required for manufacturing

gas turbines, the Hamilton

Plant did not feel the effects of the decline in the market

until the summer of 2002, when production forecasts for

the next fi scal year began to be adjusted steadily downward

and workforce reductions were planned.

As its centennial year dawned, the Hamilton Plant announced

that, once again, changes lay ahead. As it had done so many

times in its hundred-year history, the plant would transform

itself — this time to focus on providing components and

service for gas and steam turbines to follow the market

as it shifts to service.

Epilogue

To commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the Hamilton Plant, a Centennial Time Capsule will be buried beneath the lobby. A fl oor plaque will note that the time capsule is to be opened in 100 years, on July 9, 2103.

The Siemens Westinghouse Turbine Manufacturing and Service Facility is situated on an 18-acre site and encompasses 566,000 square feet of manufacturing, offi ce and warehouse space. At the end of 2003, the workforce stands at approximately 750 employees. The average age of employees is 47 years old.

Combustor baskets for gas turbines are refurbished in a dedicated combustor basket area – 2003.

With decades of experience in repairing transitions for gas turbines, the Hamilton Plant is well suited to take

on the manufacturing of W501 transitions in 2004.

Laser cutting and welding of diaphragms for gas turbines – 2002. No birthday party is complete without a cake!

Pictured below from left to right: Steve Welhoelter, Hamilton Plant Manager; Craig Laviolette, Director

of Finance, Hamilton Plant; Christoph Wollny, Head of Business Administration-Siemens Gas

Turbine Manufacturing; and Dr. Wolf-Dietrich Krüger, Head of Siemens Gas Turbine Manufacturing.

of the Hamilton Plant has been one of constant change.

And for the past 100 years, employees at this facility have

been masters at dealing with this change — seizing new

opportunities, learning different

skills and continually surprising

others with their resiliency

and ability to overcome every

challenge put before them.

Throughout all this, however,

one thing has remained, and will

continue to remain, constant

— the commitment of the

employees of the Hamilton Plant

to contribute to the continual

development of Canada and

of countries around the world

by providing customers with

quality products and services that meet or exceed

their needs.

As the Hamilton Plant stands poised on the threshold

of its second century of operation, it is hard not to wonder

what the future will bring. However, we have only to

look back at all the products and

services that have been offered

to customers of the Sanford

Avenue plant over the last

100 years to realize the

diffi culty of trying to predict

what will happen next.

What does seem clear is

that as the world evolves

into a truly global economy

and technology accelerates

at an ever-swifter pace,

the employees of Siemens

Westinghouse in Hamilton

will be called upon again and again to adapt. But this

is nothing new. Driven by a highly cyclic market, the history

1993-2003

Celebrating 100 Years in Canada

On July 9, 2003,

employees of the

Siemens Westinghouse

Turbine Manufacturing

and Service Facility

gathered together on

the site of the original

Westinghouse factory

in Hamilton to celebrate

100 years in Canada.

101 102

Glossaryalternating current (AC)

An electric current that flows back and forth in a cyclical wave-like pattern

in a wire. Its main advantage over direct current (DC) is that AC electric power

can be “transformed” to a higher voltage/lower amperage, enabling power

to be transmitted and distributed over large distances with minimized losses.

alternating current generatorWhen a loop of wire spins between the poles of a magnet, it cuts magnetic

lines of force. This produces an electric current in the wire. The current reverses

direction each half-turn and is therefore called alternating current (AC).

ampere (A or amp)The standard international unit that measures the rate of flow of electrical current.

Named after the French physicist André Marie Ampère (1775-1836).

capacityIn the electricity industry, capacity has two meanings:

• System Capacity: The maximum power output capability of an entire

power system or grid. For example: the Ontario power grid has a capacity

of 30,548 MW.

• Equipment Capacity: The maximum continuous power capability of a piece

of equipment. For example, a W501G turbine has a rated capacity of 253 MW.

cogenerationA cogenerating system produces two or more useful forms of energy from one

fuel source. In many cases, electricity and heat are the most common forms

of energy. Cogeneration systems are of use in industry where a significant

requirement for electricity is coupled with a large demand for hot air or steam

to be used in production processes. For example, a cogeneration gas turbine

generator set operating in a pulp and paper mill will produce electricity

for the plant and hot air for the paper dryers.

combined-cycleIn a combined-cycle configuration, exhaust heat from an engine (such as a gas

turbine) is directed into a heat recovery steam generator (boiler) that provides

steam for a downstream steam turbine. Usually both the gas and steam turbines

are connected to generators to produce electricity. This configuration substantially

increases the efficiency of the overall cycle.

combined-cycle cogenerationThis configuration uses both gas and steam turbines to produce electricity

and heat or steam for manufacturing processes. This is the most efficient

known way to produce large amounts of power.

consumptionUse of electrical energy, typically measured in kilowatt hours.

currentThe flow of electricity in a conductor. Current is measured in amperes.

direct current (DC)Current that flows continuously in the same direction (as opposed to AC).

The current supplied from a battery in a car or flashlight is direct current.

frequencyThe number of cycles through which an alternating current passes in a second.

The North American standard is 60 cycles per second, known as 60 hertz.

The European standard is 50 hertz.

gigawatt (GW)A metric unit of power equal to one billion watts.

gigawatt hour (GW.h)A metric unit of energy consumption equal to one billion watt hours

or one million kilowatt hours.

gridA system of electrical distribution serving a large area such as a province

or region that links together multiple generating plants with many users.

hertz (Hz)The standard international unit of frequency equal to one cycle per second.

The hertz is used to measure the frequency of AC as well as radio and

television waves. The North American electrical frequency is 60 cycles per second,

known as 60 hertz. The European standard is 50 hertz. Television or

radio waves are measured in kilohertz (kHz), megahertz (MHz) and

gigahertz (GHz). The hertz was named after the German physicist

Heinrich Rudolf Hertz (1857-1894).

horsepower (hp)A unit of power that represents the rate at which an “average” horse does work.

Horsepower was defined by James Watt (1736-1819), the inventor of the

steam engine, who determined that a horse is typically capable of a power

of 550 foot-pounds per second. This means that a horse can lift 550 pounds

at the rate of one foot per second. In electrical terms, one horsepower is equal

to approximately 746 watts.

kilovolt (kV)The unit of electrical potential equal to 1000 volts. Electrical transmission lines

operate at potentials up to several hundred kilovolts.

kilovolt ampere (kV-A)A unit of apparent electric power equal to 1000 volt amperes. It is often used to

designate the rating of a transformer.

kilowatt (kW)The metric unit of active electric power equalling 1000 watts or about

1.34 horsepower. A kilowatt is the total amount of power needed to

light 10 100-watt light bulbs.

kilowatt hour (kW.h or kW hr)Electricity is purchased by the kilowatt hour, which represents the amount

of energy delivered at a rate of 1000 watts over a period of one hour.

A kilowatt hour is the amount of electricity consumed by 10 100-watt

light bulbs burning for one hour, or one 100-watt light bulb burning

for 10 hours.

megawatt (MW)A unit of bulk power equal to one million watts or 1000 kilowatts.

megawatt hour (MW.h)A unit of bulk energy equalling 1000 kilowatt hours.

peak demandThe maximum electric power demand registered by a customer or

a group of customers or a system in a stated period of time such as a day

or a year. The value may be the maximum instantaneous peak of load or,

more usually, the average of instantaneous loads over a short period of time,

such as one hour, when the load rises to its daily peak. Peak demand

is normally stated in kilowatts or megawatts.

Record peak demand for the Province of Ontario = 25,414 megawatts (August 2002)

Record peak demand for Toronto = 4,864 megawatts (July 2002)

polyphase alternating currentAC is generated when the windings of the generator/dynamo rotate past

North and South magnetic fields causing the electrons in the wire to move

back and forth, alternating directions. At low frequencies, this causes a

noticeable flicker in electric lights that is not present in direct current systems.

George Westinghouse discovered that at higher frequencies, the human eye

does not notice the flicker and he picked 60 cycles per second for the frequency

for lighting based on a large number of experiments.

Motors and other sensitive pieces of equipment, however, do not operate well

when there are frequent power fluctuations (flickering). Nikola Tesla patented

a polyphase (three-phase) AC system in 1887 that provided near constant power.

Today, three-phase AC systems are commonly used in industrial settings.

Tesla’s polyphase system called for multiple independent windings in

the generator, each making AC. Three current waveforms are produced 120°

out of phase with each other. At both the generating and the load end of

the circuit, the return legs of the three-phase windings can be coupled together

at the neutral point and grounded to the earth, where the three currents sum

to zero. This means that the currents can be carried using only three cables

rather than the six that would otherwise be needed.

power systemAll the interconnected facilities of an electrical utility. A power system includes

all the generation, transmission, distribution, transformation and protecting

components necessary to provide service to customers.

reserve generating capacity:The extra generating capacity required on any power system over and above

the expected peak demand. Such a reserve is required mainly for two reasons:

• In the case of an unexpected breakdown of generating equipment

• In case the actual peak load is higher than forecast, for example, during a

heat wave when many consumers turn on air conditioners at the same time.

siemens (S)The standard international unit of electric conductance that is the inverse of

electrical resistance. The most important property of a conductor is the amount

of current it will carry when a voltage is applied. A conductor has a conductance

of one siemens if it carries one ampere of current per volt of potential. The unit

is named for the German electrical engineer Werner von Siemens (1816-1892).

simple cycleA simple cycle refers to

a gas turbine operating

without a heat recovery boiler

and exhausting straight out

to the atmosphere.

tesla (T)The standard international unit of magnetic flux density. All magnetic resonance imaging

(MRI) machines are calibrated with the Tesla unit (from .2 tesla to 9 tesla). The

tesla, defined in 1958, honours the Serbian-American electrical engineer Nikola

Tesla (1856-1943), whose work in electromagnetic induction led to the first practical

generators and motors using AC.

voltageIn order to make a current flow through a cable, you need to have a voltage

difference between the two ends of the cable. The force that causes an electric

current through a wire is called voltage. It works on the same principle as the

pressure that causes water to flow through a hose. If you have a large voltage

difference, you can move larger amounts of electricity through the wire

every second. This is similar to the way that water spurts out of a hose

when you turn on the tap and increase the water pressure.

Voltage is measured in volts (V) or kilovolts (kV). 1 kV = 1000 V.

volt (V)The standard international unit of electric potential such as that in a battery.

The name of the unit honours the Italian scientist Count Alessandro Volta

(1745-1827), the inventor of the first battery.

volt ampere (V-A)A unit of apparent electric power used in power engineering.

watt (W)The standard international unit of power. It is the rate at which electricity

is used. A typical light bulb is rated 60 or 100 watts, meaning that it consumes

that amount of power when lit. The unit is used both in mechanics and in electricity

so it links the mechanical and electrical units to each other. In mechanical terms,

746 watts is equal to approximately one horsepower. The unit was named

in honour of James Watt (1736-1819), the British engineer who built

the first practical steam engines.

watt hour (W·h) A common metric unit of work or energy, representing the energy

delivered at a rate of one watt for a period of one hour.

How Much Electricity Does Your Appliance Consume?(Assuming one kilowatt hour of electricity costs 10 cents* delivered to your home.)

Device Typical Consumption Cost per Hour

Central air conditioner ...........................................................15,000 watts ................................................. $1.50

Water heater or clothes dryer ...................................................4,000 watts ............................................. 40 cents

Space heater............................................................................1,500 watts ............................................. 15 cents

Hair dryer ................................................................................1,200 watts ............................................. 12 cents

Electric stove burner.................................................................1,000 watts ............................................. 10 cents

Refrigerator .............................................................................1,000 watts ............................................. 10 cents

Computer and monitor................................................................400 watts ............................................... 4 cents

Light bulb .....................................................................................60 watts ............................................ 0.6 cents

* Ontario’s current (2003) fixed electricity cost of 4.3 cents per kilowatt hour plus transportation costs, etc. equals approximately 10 cents.

103 104

Electricity—The Magic Medium. Thornhill, Ontario: The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 1985.

Ontario Hydro: a proud tradition 1906-1999. Toronto, Ontario: Ontario Hydro, 1999.

Newspaper Articles

Massey, Steve. Who Killed Westinghouse? Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Series of articles – 1997/1998.

Unknown author. “Paul J. Myler.” Hamilton Spectator, March 29, 1924.

Unknown author. “Paul J. Myler.” Hamilton Herald, September 3, 1930.

Websites

Bureau International des Poids et Mesures- http://www.bipm.fr/enus/welcome.html

Canada Science and Technology Museum – Collections: Public Electric Lighting, Washing Machines, Television - http://www.sciencetech.technomuses.ca/english/collection/collection_profile.cfm

Encyclopedia Britannica - Laval, Carl Gustaf Patrik de. http:/ concise.britannica.com/ebc/article?eu=395147

Betty Furness - http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/F/htmlF/furnessbett/furnessbett.htm

Hamilton Public Library - http://www.hpl.hamilton.on.ca/

Historic Silversmith Hydro-Electric Generating Station, Sandon, B.C. - http://www.sandonbc.com/silversmithtourism.html

How Many? A Dictionary of Units of Measurement, Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill – http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/dictW.html

Images Canada - http://www.imagescanada.ca/index-e.html

Industrial Designers Society of America - 100 Years of Design – Products – http://new.idsa.org/webmodules/articles/anmviewer.asp?a=257&z=23

Industrial Hamilton—A Trail to the Future: http://www.hpl.ca

Natural Resources – Energy in Canada 2000: http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/inter/subject_e.html

Smithsonian Institution – National Museum of American History - http://www.si.edu/

Toronto Public Library – Virtual Reference Library - http://vrl.tpl.toronto.on.ca/

The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C. - www.archives.gov

Westinghouse Electric Company: http://www.westinghouse.com

George Westinghouse Memorial Museum - www.georgewestinghouse.com

Photo Credits Photos appearing in this book but not listed below are either part of the Westinghouse Canada / Siemens Westinghouse archival collection stored in the Mills Memorial Library at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, or belong to Siemens Westinghouse, a division of Siemens Canada Limited. Reproduction or use of all images in this book is not permitted without prior permission from Siemens Westinghouse in Hamilton, Ontario or the registered copyright owner.

2 Switchboard George Westinghouse Memorial Museum3 Illustrations John Vanrooy4 Advertisement George Westinghouse Memorial Museum5 Illustration Craig Stainton8 Arc lamp Canada Science and Technology Museum10 Tesla & Tesla Design Tesla Memorial Society, Inc. and the Nikola Tesla

Museum, Belgrade, Serbia11 New York Street Collection of The New-York Historical Society

- Image # 5486013 Illustration Craig Stainton15-16 Hamilton scenes Hamilton Public Library – Special Collections20 Westinghouse Works Toronto Public Library – Photo # PC-ON 82421-22 Illustration Robert Palmese27-28 Brochures Canada Science and Technology Museum32 WWI scene Photos of the Great War – WWI Image Archive32 1909 Toaster A.M. Cunningham, Photographer35 Ladies’ team Gainsborough Studio, Photographer36 Ella Baird Archie McQueen38 Illustration Craig Stainton39 Aeriola Sr. George Westinghouse Memorial Museum40 Appliances Hamilton Public Library – Special Collections

and the Canada Science and Technology Museum

46 Poster U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA): Artist: J. Howard Miller – NARA photo number: NWDNS-179-WP-1563

48 Switchgear Phil Aggus, Photographer50 TV manufacturing Tom Bochler, Photographer51 Group shot Dorothy Kedge Corson53 Airplanes The Boeing Company – Photo Code #505154 Turbine George Westinghouse Historical Museum57-58 Apparatus Tom Bochler, Photographer61 Three photos Tom Bochler, Photographer61 Illustration Craig Stainton65 W62 rotor Tom Bochler, Photographer66-68 Products Canada Museum of Science and Technology69 Turbines Tom Bochler, Photographer70 LYNX & computer Robert Palmese, Photographer72 CNC machine Tom Bochler, Photographer73 Motors & airport Robert Palmese, Photographer75 Switchgear Tom Bochler, Photographer79-100 Majority of photos taken by Robert Palmese, Photographer

BibliographyWestinghouse and Siemens Westinghouse Publications

Newsletters

Westinghouse Employees’ Magazine – Published monthly from March 1943 to December 1946

Westinghouse News – Published from 1947 to 1991

Turbine Times – Turbine and Generator Division, Westinghouse Canada Inc. – Published from 1976 to 1982

Power Profile – Westinghouse Power Generation Canadian Division – Published monthly from February 1990 to April 1994

Inside Power – Westinghouse Power Generation Canada – Published periodically from 1994 to 1995

Westinghouse Power Generation Canada Weekly News – Published weekly from 1995 to 1998

Siemens Westinghouse EnergyLine - Hamilton Edition – Published weekly from 1998 to 2003

Annual Reports

Canadian Westinghouse Company Limited

Westinghouse Canada Limited

Westinghouse Canada Inc.

Westinghouse Electric Corporation

Minute Books

Minutes of Board Meetings, Executive Committee Meetings and Shareholder Meetings – 1903 to 1978

Anniversary / Souvenir Publications

Canadian Westinghouse Company Limited – The Story of 75 Years, Westinghouse Canada Limited, 1978.

George Westinghouse Commemoration – A Forum Presenting the Career and Achievements of George Westinghouse on the 90th Anniversary of his Birth. New York, New York: The American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 1937.

Siemens and Westinghouse – Combining the Power of Two Leaders. Orlando, Florida: Siemens Westinghouse Power Corporation, 1998.

Westinghouse Power Generation – A rich and colourful yesterday … a commitment to today’s needs … a promising tomorrow. Westinghouse Electric Corporation, 1996.

The Westinghouse News, 50th Anniversary Issue. Canadian Westinghouse Company, November 27, 1953.

Booklets and Brochures

Combining forces to provide greater value for our customers – The united fossil power generation business of Siemens and Westinghouse. Siemens Westinghouse Power Corporation, Orlando, 1998.

George Westinghouse, His Life and His Achievements. Westinghouse Electric Corporation, 1946.

George Westinghouse, 1846-1914. Westinghouse Electric Corporation, 1986.

A History of Westinghouse in Canada – 1903-1993. Westinghouse Power Generation Canadian Division, 1993.

Total Quality Plans – 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994. Westinghouse Power Generation Canadian Division.

The Year in Review and a Glimpse into the Future – 1999/2000/2001. Siemens Westinghouse Hamilton Turbine Manufacturing and Service Facility, 2001.

Other materials

Beese, Tom; Manners, Sandra; Nevin, David; Foo, Wan; Marson, Ezio; McWhirter, Tony; Stankiewicz, Dan; Smith, Owen; Chitty, John; Paling, Bill; Rickard, Tony; Ward, Rick. Government & Industry for a Powerful Future: The CW251 Combustion Turbine Development Program. Westinghouse Canada Inc., December 1995.

Farthing, K.J. This is our Company. Westinghouse Canada Inc., 1964.

Author unknown. A Chronicle of Who Did What, When, Where and Why at the ‘Hoose. Circa 1953.

Author unknown. Canadian Westinghouse … Its History and its People. Westinghouse Canada Inc., circa 1956.

Company correspondence and letters to employees – Canadian Westinghouse Company Limited, Westinghouse Canada Limited, Westinghouse Canada Inc., Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Siemens Westinghouse.

Employee Full Population Meetings – Westinghouse Canada Inc., Siemens Westinghouse – Scripts and slides - 1997 – 2003.

Technology Bulletin #51. Westinghouse is first to introduce the next generation of high-efficiency combustion turbines – the 501G. Westinghouse Power Generation Business Unit-PGBU Technology Council, February 20, 1995.

Westinghouse Engineer – Volume 10, Number 1, January 1950. Chicago, Illinois: Westinghouse Electric Corporation, 1950.

Other Sources

Newspapers

Buffalo Courier

Hamilton Herald

Hamilton Spectator

Booklets / Brochures / Pamphlets

Christmann, Tim; Gale, Mike; and Migliaccio, Jim. 100 Years! Delaval: 1901-2001. Trenton, N.Y.: Siemens, 2001.

Davis, H.P. The History of Broadcasting in the United States. An address delivered before the Graduate School of Business Administration, Harvard University – April 21, 1928. U.S.A.: Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company, 1928.

McQueen, Archie J. “Paul J. Myler.” - Programme - Hamilton Gallery of Distinction – Seventeenth Annual Induction Dinner – Wednesday, November 8, 2000.

Ready, Alf. Organizing Westinghouse: Alf Ready’s Story. Hamilton, Ontario: McMaster University, 1979.

Wright, Hal. Historic Silversmith Hydro-electric Station, Sandon, British Columbia – Interpretive Guide. Sandon, B.C.: Silversmith Power and Light Corporation, 1999. www.sandonbc.com

Celebration of the First Long-Distance Transmission of Electricity-November 15, 1896. Niagara Falls Power Transmission Centennial Conference. Buffalo, New York: Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation, November 1996.

DeCew Falls Generating Station No. 1: 1898 – 1998. Ontario Hydro, 1998.

Niagara Generating Stations: A Brief History. Niagara Falls, Ontario: Acres International.

Parsons Turbine Centenary – 1884-1984 - Centenary Exhibition Souvenir booklet: NEI Parsons Ltd. Newcastle upon Tyne, England, 1984.

Progress is Our Tradition: A Chronicle of Power Plant Engineering at Siemens. Erlangen, Germany: Siemens AG, 1997.

Tyneside Powering the World. Tyneside, England: Siemens Power Generation Limited, C.A. Parsons Works, – 2001.

UE Guide. Golden Anniversary Edition 1941-1991, United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of Canada (UE), Hamilton, Ontario, 1991.

Speeches

Davis, William E. Electricity: Appreciating the Past, Anticipating the Future. Keynote address at the Niagara Falls Power Transmission Centennial Conference. Buffalo, New York, November 15, 1996.

Books

Cheney, Margaret and Uth, Robert. Tesla Master of Lightning. New York, U.S.A.: Barnes & Noble, 1999.

Green, Gordon and Swanborough, Gordon. The Complete Book of Fighters. London, UK: Salamander Books, 1994.

Gunston, Bill. The Development of Jet and Turbine Aero Engines. Somerset, U.K.: PSL Haynes Publishing, 1994.

Jonnes, Jill. Empires of Light. New York, U.S.A.: Random House, 2003.

Miller, Jay. The X-Planes: X1 to X45. 3rd edition. Hinckley, U.K.: Midland Publishing, 2001.

Prout, Henry G. A Life of George Westinghouse. New York, U.S.A.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1922.

St. Peter, James. The History of Aircraft Gas Turbine Engine Development in the United States. Atlanta, U.S.A.: ASME & International Gas Turbine Institute, 1999.

Stanton, Ray. A Legacy of Quality – J.M. Schneider Inc. A Centennial Celebration 1980-1990. Ontario, Canada: J.M. Schneider Inc., 1989.

Electric Power in Canada 1993. Ottawa, Ontario: Government of Canada, Natural Resources Canada, Energy Sector, Electricity Branch, 1993.

The official archives of the Canadian Westinghouse Company, Limited, Westinghouse Canada and Siemens Westinghouse are located at the Mills Memorial Library at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. These archives contain a wealth of information about the company in the form of photographs, documents, brochures, annual reports, ledgers, minutes, business records, etc. The Westinghouse Collection at the Mills Memorial Library is available to the public during normal opening hours.

McMaster University - Mills Memorial LibraryWilliam Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8S 4L6 Telephone: (905) 525-9140 ext. 22079 Fax: (905) 546-0625 E-mail: archives@mcmaster.caURL: http://library.lib.mcmaster.ca/archives/readyweb.htm

The George Westinghouse Memorial Museum, which contains archival information predominantly about Westinghouse operations in the United States, is located just outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

George Westinghouse Memorial MuseumCastle Main - 325 Commerce Street, Wilmerding, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. 15148Telephone: (412) 823-0500E-mail: museum@georgewestinghouse.comURL: www.georgewestinghouse.com

Note on Westinghouse Archives

On July 9, 2003,employees of the Siemens Westinghouse Turbine Manufacturing and Service Facility

in Hamilton, Ontario, gathered together to proudly celebrate an important milestone Ñ

the centennial anniversary of the founding of the Canadian Westinghouse Company, Limited

and of the plant that has been a cultural cornerstone, industrial pillar and economic engine

in the Hamilton community for 100 years.

The history of Westinghouse / Siemens Westinghouse is a fascinating account of

an organization that has played a pivotal role in the progress of Canada. Although the company is,

perhaps, best known by the consumer for its refrigerators, radios, televisions and light bulbs,

for 100 years, employees of Westinghouse / Siemens Westinghouse have produced and serviced

a wide array of electrical and industrial apparatus ranging from air brakes, meters, motors,

waterwheel generators, switchgear and transformers in the early days, to mechanical-drive

steam turbines and massive gas turbines for power generation in more recent years.

Today, poised on the threshold of a second century of operation, the many thousands

of past and present employees of Westinghouse / Siemens Westinghouse in Canada

can look back proudly on 100 years of achievement.

ISBN 0-9734202-0-0