American Locomotive Company

Title

American Locomotive Company

Publisher

Lawrence Technological University

Date Created

October 10, 2018

Alternative Title or Name

ALCO

Creator

Kahn, Albert

Creator2

Hedrich Blessing Studio (Photographer)

Creator Nationality

American

Work Type

rooms and spaces

Date

c. 1942

Work Location

New York (state)

Schenectady (inhabited place)

Style/Period

Modern (style or period)

Subject

factories (structures)
interior views
trusses (structural elements)

Description

Interior view of large machines along one side of a wall made almost entirely of windows and view of trusses along top of building in the gun shop at American Locomotive Company in Schenectady, New York, designed by Albert Kahn and completed c. 1942. “The Kahn Trussed Bar is made up of a special grade of medium open-hearth steel with an elastic limit up to 42,000 pounds and an ultimate tensile strength of 70,000 pounds per square inch (Kahn System Standards: A Handbook on Reinforced Concrete, p.6). The cross section has two horizontal flanges or wings projecting at opposite sides. These flanges are sheared up at intervals to form the rigidly connected diagonals, making a unit of main bar and shear members. The amazing strength of this system allowed Kahn to design his factory architecture as wide floor space with lots of window space. This kind of construction was ideal because the machinery was so heavy and required a lot of space for manufacturing,”—from, Albert Kahn and his “Kahn-crete”: The Revolutionization of Factory Architecture, by Jerubbel. Printed on back of photo: Hedrich Blessing Studio 450 East Ohio Street, Chicago NEG. no. 8707 – H.

Reproduction Type

jpeg

Reproduction Source

b/w photograph: 6.75 x 9 inches

ID Number

LTU-AK-ALC007

Files

LTU-AK-ALC007.jpg
Date Added
October 2, 2018
Collection
Albert Kahn Collection
Item Type
VRA Core
Tags
, ,
Citation
“American Locomotive Company,” LTU Digital Images, accessed March 29, 2024, https://ltuimagecollection.omeka.net/items/show/17780.