AC Topeka Plant - Proving Grounds
Printed From: Unofficial Allis
Category: Allis Chalmers
Forum Name: Construction and other equipment
Forum Description: everything else with orange (or yellow) paint
URL: https://www.allischalmers.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=131873
Printed Date: 26 Apr 2024 at 5:51am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 11.10 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: AC Topeka Plant - Proving Grounds
Posted By: orangeman
Subject: AC Topeka Plant - Proving Grounds
Date Posted: 27 Nov 2016 at 8:09am
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Was there a proving grounds associated with the Topeka plant operation where the AC Industrial line was manufactured/assembled? Thanks in advance for any insights! Orangeman
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Replies:
Posted By: Coke-in-MN
Date Posted: 07 Dec 2016 at 10:43am
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Came up with this for the WI site -- article and pictures - http://www.newberlinhistoricalsociety.org/articles/28-allis-chalmers-proving-grounds" rel="nofollow - http://www.newberlinhistoricalsociety.org/articles/28-allis-chalmers-proving-grounds This site also [TUBE]LzacjZHkjQo[/TUBE]
------------- Faith isn't a jump in the dark. It is a walk in the light. Faith is not guessing; it is knowing something. "Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful." |
Posted By: Eric B
Date Posted: 08 Dec 2016 at 6:26pm
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Very interesting video from the proving grounds...thanks for posting!!! ------------- Currently- WD,WC,3WF's,2 D14's B. Previously- I 600,TL745,200,FL9,FR12,H3,816 LBH. Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal! |
Posted By: Mikez
Date Posted: 08 Dec 2016 at 6:45pm
| Wow that's interesting. Where did he tested tractors end up |
Posted By: HudCo
Date Posted: 08 Dec 2016 at 6:46pm
| that would have been some very teadious jobs |
Posted By: orangeman
Date Posted: 09 Dec 2016 at 7:06pm
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Coke: Some how you always pull through for us. Thank you for posting about the Agricultural Testing. It sure would be something to find a treasure trove for the testing related to the Construction Machinery Division and the Industrial/Utility Tractors, Wheel Loaders and Crawler/Dozers Appreciative of all the good efforts! Orangeman
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Posted By: DiyDave
Date Posted: 09 Dec 2016 at 8:19pm
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Not trying to out-do coke, here, he is the master.... found this one on youtube, you'd be amazed at what searching can find... [TUBE]http://youtu.be/w9aQ--0IlQo[/TUBE]
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Posted By: Coke-in-MN
Date Posted: 09 Dec 2016 at 9:31pm
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Seems when you start looking you come up with many things - sometimes you end up lost in info and the day just spins by . Way off the tractor site sometimes - like last night i found something i was going to post and the next thing 2 hours later I had watched a bunch of stuff on the British Mosquito bomber - made of balsa wood, 1/8" birch plywood and resin glue - all wooden aircraft (except engines and couple castings) that was one of fastest aircraft of WW 2 and could carry 2,000 pounds of bombs over 600 miles ------------- Faith isn't a jump in the dark. It is a walk in the light. Faith is not guessing; it is knowing something. "Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful." |
Posted By: Coke-in-MN
Date Posted: 09 Dec 2016 at 9:41pm
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A Ill site - some info on that plant . http://sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/?p=2646" rel="nofollow - http://sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/?p=2646 In the 1962 Illinois Manufacturers Directory ( 50th edition ) it listed the following information about the Springfield, IL. Allis-Chalmers plant: Allis-Chalmers MFG. CO. 3000 S. 6th St. Telephone – 544-6431 Gen. Mgr.-A. C. Book Works Mgr.-H. J. Detjen Works Pur. Agt.-W. V. Kauffman Traf. Mgr.-A. J. Bianco Chief Eng.-F. A. Schick Products-Tractors (crawler), Graders, Bulldozers, Snow Plows Employs at this plant-6,500 Other plants at Springfield-1901 S. 11th St. Other plants-see Deerfield, Harvey, Ill. Employs in Illinois-9,000 Home Office-West Allis, Wisc. 1126 S. 70th St. (Milwaukee 1) Telephone-SPring 4-3600 Pres.-Robert S. Stevenson Exec. Vice-Pres.-W. G. Scholl Sr. V-P., Tractors-B. S. Oberlink Sr. V-P., Industries-J. L. Singleton V-P’s-John Ernst, W. J. Klein, C. W. Schweers, T, D. Lyons, B. E. Smith, A. Van Herckes, W. Yost, P. F. Bauer, E. J. Mercer, W. M. Wallace, R. M. Casper, L. W. Davis Secy.-A. D. Dennis Treas.-Asst. Secy.-G. F. Langenohl Comptroller-W. S. Pierson Total Employees-38,000 Cap.-over $100,000,000. ------------- Faith isn't a jump in the dark. It is a walk in the light. Faith is not guessing; it is knowing something. "Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful." |
Posted By: Eric B
Date Posted: 09 Dec 2016 at 9:47pm
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Good one Dave, thanks for posting it!!! ------------- Currently- WD,WC,3WF's,2 D14's B. Previously- I 600,TL745,200,FL9,FR12,H3,816 LBH. Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal! |
Posted By: steve(ill)
Date Posted: 09 Dec 2016 at 9:58pm
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The bulldozers and scrapers were built in Springfield Illinois. The rubber tired loaders were built in Deerfield up by Chicago. The original Proving Ground was in Mechanicsburg Illinois I believe, about 20 miles east of Springfield ........... Probably about 1960 they built a new larger Proving ground for the crawlers / scrapers/ loaders in Bluff City on the Illinois river, about 50 miles west of Springfield. .. There was a third proving ground in Arizona to test tractors more in a hot desert type climate.
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The Bluff City facility was a large Morton building with 7 different 20 ft x 20 bay doors. Floor was 12 inch thick reinforced concrete capable of getting multiple 41B - 80 ton crawlers in each. There was a brick one story office building up front (attached) with 15 engineering offices. With tractor operators and mechanics and 3 shift operation, there were up to 100 workers on site during the best years. The facility closed about 1986 and was sold locally. ------------- Like them all, but love the "B"s. |
Posted By: Ian Beale
Date Posted: 10 Dec 2016 at 2:45am
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Coke You need to upgrade your reading on the Mosquito - The Termites Delight Carried 4000 lb bombs to Berlin Night fighter over Germany - "4-5 German crew in a night fighter over Germany living in terror of 2 British crew in a Mosquito from Britain" Extreme range and height photo plane And, being wood, the first stealth aircraft - from a WW2 radar man Wikipedia but not so bad https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Mosquito For improvements the DH Hornet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Hornet#frbanner3 An outfit at Ardmore NZ has built the moulds for rebuilding the fuselage And have rebuilt the only one flying https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJUR-A0Jih0 More if you look It was the ultimate badge in wooden glider repair shops |
Posted By: Ian Beale
Date Posted: 10 Dec 2016 at 2:52am
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Coke And check out the German TA 154 How to sabotage a wooden aircraft program? Bomb the glue factory |
Posted By: DougG
Date Posted: 10 Dec 2016 at 6:45am
| ID would've hated to have been the guy on that crawler the cable was hooked too ! |
Posted By: Coke-in-MN
Date Posted: 10 Dec 2016 at 5:31pm
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Ian : seems the first design was upgraded a few times of what it could carry , they got it up to carrying a 4,000 blockbuster ordnance to penetrate bombproof bunkers , they also built the plane in Canada and Australia - believe also in the US later. Funny everyone has heard of the Spitfire fighter but few know of the Mosquito . The dambuster raid with the bouncing bombs to breach the Ruhr valley ------------- Faith isn't a jump in the dark. It is a walk in the light. Faith is not guessing; it is knowing something. "Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful." |
Posted By: Coke-in-MN
Date Posted: 10 Dec 2016 at 5:35pm
seems Austin did some research also and has some Publications
http://austinfrederick.wordpress.com/2012/07/30/allis-chalmers-acquisitions-growth/" rel="nofollow - http://austinfrederick.wordpress.com/2012/07/30/allis-chalmers-acquisitions-growth/
------------- Faith isn't a jump in the dark. It is a walk in the light. Faith is not guessing; it is knowing something. "Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful." |
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Posted By: donoman
Date Posted: 10 Dec 2016 at 8:36pm
| The Ruhr valley dams were bombed by Lancaster bombers of 617 Squadron with the bouncing bombs |
Posted By: Ian Beale
Date Posted: 11 Dec 2016 at 2:49am
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Coke It was a magnificent plane. And I might say gently it is your side of a couple of puddles and a border that seems to be not in the know. Wasn't built in US but seems your plane people were well aware of it and there was a possibility. And done on a shoe string in spite of official wisdom. If you look there are more videos on the one rebuilt at Ardmore. And think positive with cubic money Now they have the fuselage moulds the wings are standard standard aircraft carpentry - maybe updated as per Hornet. Merlins are a bit rare but balancing a couple of turbines seems less of a problem with that configuration. Maybe That might let me get this past Instructor to new Mosquito pilot course "You will find this aeroplane similar to a virgin. A little hard to enter but once you're ther - lovely" |
Posted By: Mikez
Date Posted: 18 Dec 2016 at 11:47pm
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The crawler video was neat. You couldn't do any of that nowadays with all the regs. The seeding of the ranch land was interesting to |
Posted By: ILGLEANER
Date Posted: 21 Dec 2016 at 12:08pm
Steve I have no Idea where anything was, but Bluff City is south of Springfield by Vandalia. I bet you meant Bluffs, Illinois over by the river. ------------- Education doesn't make you smart, it makes you educated. |
steve(ill) wrote:Posted By: AMB(wcIL)
Date Posted: 22 Dec 2016 at 12:20pm
| There is a Bluffs City on route 100 between Beardstown and Havana. I looked up the buildings on Google maps and found them north of the town. Andy |
Posted By: steve(ill)
Date Posted: 22 Dec 2016 at 8:52pm
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Yes, AMB.... the town is very small, maybe 100- people.. Look on Google earth and route 100 goes thru the small town.. about 1 miles NORTH , up the hill is the old proving ground building........ in 2015 map, there are cars in the lot for a new business. ------------- Like them all, but love the "B"s. |
Posted By: SteveM C/IL
Date Posted: 29 Dec 2016 at 1:20pm
Been up n down 100 more times than can count...never seen the building on the hill,but wasn't looking. Don't travel that route anymore. |
Posted By: chopperhopper
Date Posted: 11 Apr 2017 at 1:16pm
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Howdy all. I spose the reason Orangeman's thread devolved into a discussion about ww2 mosquito's is because nobody had anything to offer on the original question. Which I believe started with an inquiry as to the possibility of an Allis Chalmers proving grounds in or near Topeka Kansas. Now then, what I'm going to do is shake this thing up to a level not previously known on this thread. . & hopefully rekindle enough interest to shake some more info loose! I'll try my best to explain my angle/interest/ & role in this matter while at the same time releasing all I know up to now. I'm confident that I will dig up more to share, & share I will. However, the trail is extremely cold & my leads so far consist of 3rd party info that are living now on or near the original proving grounds site. My interest in this began around Thanksgiving 2016,& only initially as a secondary, anecdotal point after the fact. Where it probably will remain on my priority list. About time to ramp this up a few notches. ... This all began with a friend that wouldn't take no for an answer, overcoming my uninterested & reluctant hesitation to follow him out, in the middle of the night, to look at a place his brother (& wife) recently purchased at an estate auction. It was really close by my place & he was going to live there for a few years,until his brother retired ect. Once we arrived & I had taken the tour. .. I was really amazed. It’s very nice & I was unprepared really for how nice. By then we're talking the wee wee hours of the night, but my buddy had a surprise yet,& despite my feeble protests. .. Ok then, let's take a look at the pond. Being an avid fisherman, it wasn't long before I knew my friend had lucked into magnificent fortune, an unparalleled opportunity that I too hoped to experience. A couple of visits later confirmed my original impressions. This isn't your "grandfather's" pond... I'm going to call it the 9th Wonder of the World or just the Ponderosa. A real behemoth, surreally deep, unbelievably clear, with many extras not typically seen. Thus began the slow intermittent need to understand who created this masterpiece. And the answer, are you ready? Allis Chalmers proving grounds equipment based next door @ the corner of NW 62nd & Leedy road. Holy crapp, right? Apparently a couple of the old equipment barns are still standing. .. & this just last night. . my friend says that inside one of the sheds is a metal sign that reads "Allis Chalmers proving grounds"! And yes, I certainly intend on a picture which I will pass along when I get it. Let's recap the highlights. The old Topeka Allis Chalmers proving grounds facility @ 62nd & Leedy built this pond with they're test equipment. Here's a little more. . my friend age 49 remembers fishing there as a kid living close by & so getting more curious as to the age of the pond, we closely examined the average size of the cottonwoods on the dam slopes & determined a minimum of 60,more likely 70 years old. Which seems to me the prime window of possibility that lines all this up.... I'll be back with more. .. when & if I can shake it loose. I've got a few pictures I'd like to add... but beings this is my 1st time here. .. & don't want to destroy my lengthy tale,I'll look into it with a short followup post if they go thru.... |
Posted By: chopperhopper
Date Posted: 11 Apr 2017 at 1:23pm
Pictures 
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Posted By: chopperhopper
Date Posted: 11 Apr 2017 at 2:18pm
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SPECULATIONS & CONJECTURE:: Let's assume my earlier ballpark estimate of 70yrs is good enough to place the Topeka proving grounds open for business. That would make a 20 year old equipment operator at least 90yrs now. Is it realistic that a few former employees are still alive? Did AC hire local or bring in special labor? I literally fell into this quest for info totally by accident but now that I'm all in I intend on pursuing any reasonable means available to growing the info base. So far anything I tried online rates a zero. .. well it did lead me here. I'm going to talk with the 2 people I know that have given me what I know up to now & see if they can think of anyone who may have been a kid @ the time but old enough to remember something that may still live close by. . Also I'll see if I can sweet talk my way into a good personal look see @ the actual AC location for any signs or clues linked to the original proving grounds. .. Perhaps a small chance of finding something buried @ the Kansas Historical Society. .. ughh.. not my specialty. All in all it appears to be an unlikely remote possibility that any further efforts to shed more light on the brief existence of this AC facility will bear fruit. .. meanwhile. .. was that WD-40... or WD-45? |
Posted By: HD6GTOM
Date Posted: 13 Apr 2017 at 10:07am
| Chopper Thank you for your continued interest in this. We are hoping you are successful in your quest for more information. Would love to see pictures of the old buildings, even of its just the outsides. |
Posted By: HaroldOmaha
Date Posted: 16 Apr 2017 at 9:21pm
| I ran into a man last June that lives in Fremont Nebr. that worked for Allis on the 8550 at the Arizona proving grounds. May be I'll see him again this year. |
Posted By: Lonn
Date Posted: 20 Apr 2017 at 8:32am
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Man chopperhopper, if you aren't a narrator for documentary films, you should be. I don't visit the construction equipment forum often but now I'm on the edge of my seat waiting for more info.
------------- -- --- .... .- -- -- .- -.. / .-- .- ... / .- / -- ..- .-. -.. . .-. .. -. --. / -.-. .... .. .-.. -.. / .-. .- .--. .. ... - Wink I am a Russian Bot |
Posted By: Lonn
Date Posted: 20 Apr 2017 at 8:34am
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Here's one on Oliver worth watching [TUBE]ocXCqibJc0E[/TUBE] ------------- -- --- .... .- -- -- .- -.. / .-- .- ... / .- / -- ..- .-. -.. . .-. .. -. --. / -.-. .... .. .-.. -.. / .-. .- .--. .. ... - Wink I am a Russian Bot |
Posted By: orangeman
Date Posted: 15 Jan 2019 at 11:55am
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Likely the H4, HD4 and 652, 653 and 655 Crawlers were all tested at the Topeka proving grounds. If memory serves me, Norm Swinford mentioned the AC 840 wheel loaders were also tested at Topeka as well. Hoping to resurrect this thread to see if Chopperhopper or others have found anything new on the Industrial Proving grounds. Orangeman
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Posted By: waldersha
Date Posted: 18 Jan 2019 at 9:56am
| Don't have anything to add specifically, but I live about 5 miles from the location Chopperhopper mentions. I'll have to ask Dad if he remembers anything about that. He would have been a little kid back then. |
Posted By: Lazyts
Date Posted: 19 Jan 2019 at 11:42am
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Posted By: orangeman
Date Posted: 19 Jan 2019 at 12:10pm
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Lazyts- Perfect action shot of the good ole 840's at the AC Topeka proving grounds! Appreciate you posting it! I wonder what was tucked away in the barn up on the hill - looks to be an excavator or backhoe off on the far left side. Orangeman
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Posted By: Andrew Murray
Date Posted: 20 Sep 2019 at 1:50pm
| Yes there was testing involved here i live on the property currently |
Posted By: HaroldOmaha
Date Posted: 20 Sep 2019 at 2:29pm
| One of our tractor club members had that Oliver with the loader that picked up the bucket load on the front and dumped it in the back. He displayed it at the Ag Expo in 2017 in Omaha. He has since sold off most of his tractors, he lives near Lincoln, Neb. |
Posted By: Mikez
Date Posted: 20 Sep 2019 at 9:29pm
| Welcome Andrew do you have any info or story's of the site. Or equipment of your own |
Posted By: Andrew Murray
Date Posted: 20 Sep 2019 at 10:12pm
| No not really just have an old sign and a bunch of stuff they left behind |
Posted By: DMiller
Date Posted: 21 Sep 2019 at 7:11am
| I hate to ask, but where out of Topeka was it that I could look on Maps? |
Posted By: Andrew Murray
Date Posted: 21 Sep 2019 at 2:22pm
| Out on 62nd between jennings and leedy |
Posted By: DMiller
Date Posted: 21 Sep 2019 at 5:01pm
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Thanks |
Posted By: chopperhopper
Date Posted: 18 May 2020 at 10:10am
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Man. My 3rd attempt. And by now I'm afraid to waste any time being clever just to drop the message and pic. I see there Andrew mentioned the sign. He's the family that had it for years. But sign ownership has changed hands. She's a 200lb 4'x8 beast with angle iron going around the borders. Stay on the good foot. uploads/16923/20200516_053313_2020-05-18_10-05-10.jpg" rel="nofollow - 20200516_053313_2020-05-18_10-05-10.jpg uploads/16923/20200516_053323_2020-05-18_10-07-23.jpg" rel="nofollow - 20200516_053323_2020-05-18_10-07-23.jpg uploads/16923/20200516_053246_2020-05-18_10-09-20.jpg" rel="nofollow - 20200516_053246_2020-05-18_10-09-20.jpg 
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Posted By: CAL(KS)
Date Posted: 18 May 2020 at 10:16am
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very cool. thanks for sharing ------------- Me -C,U,UC,WC,WD45,190XT,TL-12,145T,HD6G,HD16,HD20 Dad- WD, D17D, D19D, RT100A, 7020, 7080,7580, 2-8550's, 2-S77, HD15 |
Posted By: DiyDave
Date Posted: 18 May 2020 at 5:57pm
nice gravity boots! ------------- Source: Babylon Bee. Sponsored by BRAWNDO, its got what you need! |
Posted By: DougG
Date Posted: 18 May 2020 at 7:07pm
| Thats very nice,, thanks alot |
Posted By: CAL(KS)
Date Posted: 19 May 2020 at 8:16am
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can you tell me the current address or building site of industrial equipment complex? i go through topeka quite often and have always wondered. ------------- Me -C,U,UC,WC,WD45,190XT,TL-12,145T,HD6G,HD16,HD20 Dad- WD, D17D, D19D, RT100A, 7020, 7080,7580, 2-8550's, 2-S77, HD15 |
Posted By: SteveM C/IL
Date Posted: 21 May 2020 at 10:09pm
The location is listed earlier in this post
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Posted By: NomoreJohnDeere
Date Posted: 22 May 2020 at 9:27am
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What is ITD engineers? ------------- HD3 |
Posted By: CAL(KS)
Date Posted: 22 May 2020 at 10:41am
------------- Me -C,U,UC,WC,WD45,190XT,TL-12,145T,HD6G,HD16,HD20 Dad- WD, D17D, D19D, RT100A, 7020, 7080,7580, 2-8550's, 2-S77, HD15 |
Posted By: CAL(KS)
Date Posted: 22 May 2020 at 10:42am
------------- Me -C,U,UC,WC,WD45,190XT,TL-12,145T,HD6G,HD16,HD20 Dad- WD, D17D, D19D, RT100A, 7020, 7080,7580, 2-8550's, 2-S77, HD15 |
Posted By: steve(ill)
Date Posted: 22 May 2020 at 5:37pm
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Andrew gave this location for the old Proving Grounds ... Out on 62nd between jennings and leedy I went to GOOGLE EARTH and 62nd is several miles north of town.... and Jennings Road is a couple miles west of Highway 75 ... see below.  I tried to get a closeup of 62nd ( east west road) and between Jennings and Leedy.... i see two farms ( houses and buildings) south of 62nd... I guess CHOPPER said it is on the west corner of the box below  ------------- Like them all, but love the "B"s. |
Posted By: tagoodnow
Date Posted: 21 May 2021 at 12:08pm
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The plant was at 1105 NW Lower Silver Lake Rd... Current site of Midwestern Metals / Custom Dredge Works. A couple of the former employees at MWM worked at the AC plant in their younger years.
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Posted By: steve(ill)
Date Posted: 21 May 2021 at 12:36pm
here are a couple GOOGLE EARTH shots of that area....  ------------- Like them all, but love the "B"s. |
Posted By: orangeman
Date Posted: 21 May 2021 at 2:40pm
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Nice Work Steve! Orangeman |
Posted By: steve(ill)
Date Posted: 22 May 2021 at 12:36pm
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tagoo said "THE PLANT" was here... Prior to this , we were talking "THE PROVING GROUND".... it appears there might have been 2 places, several miles apart in Topeka.. Im thinking a manufacturing facility and a test center ?? ------------- Like them all, but love the "B"s. |
Posted By: orangeman
Date Posted: 22 May 2021 at 5:24pm
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There is a promo piece of literature showing the AC 714 and 715B Backhoe Series - the building behind the backhoes is Brown Brick and has the good old American Flag flying proudly behind them - see Pages 90-91 in the Bill Huxley Allis Chalmers Agricultural Machinery soft cover book. Am thinking the brown brick building may have been the Topeka AC headquarters and the proving grounds was a seperate address. Anyone know for sure? Orangeman
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Posted By: Oldandgray
Date Posted: 22 Jun 2021 at 9:39am
| ITD office was on Western Ave in Topeka just North of 21st on West side: Russell Story was ITD head man when I was there in early 70’s. Ted Cranford was head of Distribution and Forecasting where I worked: when office consolidated over to plant on Silver Lake road: some management leadership come over too: I went over and continued as day shift line supervisor and then 2 nd shift supervisor till I left in 1976; Was good company till upper management lost sight of what ITD was all about |