Then And Now: A Tour Of The Allis Chalmers West Allis Factory Headquarters
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- Опубликовано: 5 янв 2023
- On this episode: In 1962 Allis Chalmers offered farmers a chance to buy a tractor and take a trip to the main Allis Chalmers factory in their Land Of Power promotion. 60 years later In June of 2022 we took our own trip to the sacred Allis Chalmers Factory to see what's still there and who uses it today. Special thanks to everyone who helped us out on the trip:
Reunion Restaurant:
www.reunionrestaurant.com/
Blast Cleaning Technologies:
bct-us.com/
West Allis Historical Society:
westallishistory.org/
Jan Jocham
Devin Grayalny
#allischalmers
#westallis
#tractors
Most Historical Photos courtesy of the West Allis Historical Society 
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My Dad purchased a new Allis Chalmers D-17 in the fall of 1962 and went on the 3day Land of Power tour in December,1962. Every dealer group had a picture taken in front of an Allis tractor. We still have the documents from that tour along with the Land of Power book sent after the tour. In addition, we still own the D-17 tractor purchased to qualify for the trip.
That’s to cool!
That’s a timeless piece of history
Classic tractors tell such a story. I bet a lot of your family memories tend to involve projects around that machine! My family holds a lot of history around a 1935A John Deere.
Does it still work 🤔?
@@djack915 it has not been started since 2015 as the carburetor needs work. Have had to start it with starting fluid.
My grandpa retired from AC in the laye 70s. My dad worked there a while in the 60s, and then I was there with the USAR Rail Trans unit from 87-89. I loved the history there when more buildings were still up. Guess we have a nice family history in those amazing buildings 🥰🥰♥️♥️♥️
Sad all this is gone. We had the greatest manufacturing plants in the world at one time. Now it's all over seas. Allis-Chalmers built excellent tractors.
I have friends of mine that are large more than 500 acre farms, and they all owned and used Allis Chalmers tractors and combines till they closed. They left a large number of farmers to fend for new equipment mostly JD. Our Laporte division was in black ink the entire time they were manufacturing.
Yes!! I do believe that the 40's thru most of the 70's.... USA was alive and kicking with Industry/Manufacturing!!
The large manufacturer's brought down the US production lines, for no more reason than cheap labor. NAFTA was the final blow to American manufacturing, now these once vibrant cities are know as "The Rust Belt" what an insult. Does anyone believe that "We the People" run the country? Well guess again, the multi-national corps own Congress lock, stock and bbl.
The best part of the Allis Chalmers story is the beginning. E.P. Allis bought a bankrupt machine shop, moved it down the Milwaukee River to a better location. This area was the beginning of the Industrial revolution in Milwaukee. Allis East wasn't as great as Allis West. In the end, the company ended in bankruptcy. All that was Allis Chalmers is now with other successful companies.
Thanks to the democrats for destroying americas infrastructure and shipping All of our manufacturing jobs to China
while i am both fascinated, and sickened by seeing how far our great nation has fallen, we used to have millions of highly qualified, educated industrial workers with technical skills, not so today, we just let the whole damn thing fall to pieces. We have to start over, but this generation certainly isn’t made out of the same stuff our great grandfathers were.
I could weep. AC was a part of the America that was, a country that built things and didn't just shuffle financial paper for a living. I went to vocational school just a few blocks away from the factory in the early 90s but AC didn't mean much to me at the time. I wish I'd paid more attention then, but I do now that I own a WD45. This is a wonderful, wonderful video of what was, and thank you very much. It's also a sobering look at how the mighty have fallen.
Killed by greedy unions and taxes .
I am a retired sheep rancher in Colorado and have a D-15 which I still use every day. It has a DuAl 100 loader which get's used for plowing snow, moving round bales and any other ranch chore imaginable. We bought it in the spring of 1981 with a non functional hour meter at 3400 hours. Although it uses a little oil and has some quirks, it starts right up and gets used virtually everyday. I am sure it must have at least 20,000 hours on it. It has been and still is an amazingly useful and reliable tractor. Sweet Allis!
Dad worked in the turbine division for most of his career. Besides the Manhattan project, they also worked on the prototypes for the space shuttle engines. My Dad's specialty was nuclear power turbines and he held an "N" stamp as well as top secret clearance, which allowed him to work on the nuclear reactors that power the Navy's warships and submarines. Also of interest in this video was the brief shot of one of AC's switch engines. Allis Chalmers ran their own railroad on the grounds, and had interchanges with both the Milwaukee Road and Chicago and Northwestern rail lines.
My Mom was a machinist at P&H (now owned by Komatsu) at the main plant on the edge the Menominee valley - near the Brewers baseball stadium.
Her commute to/from work would often take her down Greenfield Ave past the AC factory complex.
When I was old enough to get a drivers license, there were several times where I drove her to/from the P&H factory. That was right around the time that Allis Chalmers closed up.
As we passed the closed up AC factory one day, I recall her expressing sincere sadness for all the machinists that worked in that plant.
She knew several of them because they all used to be part of bowling or pool leagues that were put together by pubs that serviced different machinist shops in that area of Milwaukee.
It was a way for machinists to socialize and network... before the Internet.
It is unclear to me exactly where all of those skilled workers landed, but I am sure in time they all found their way.
The closure of that AC plant was devastating to that neighborhood at the time... and the greater Milwaukee area.
Many businesses and people made a living off that factory directly or indirectly. Everything changed for that neighborhood very quickly.
I went away for military service and came back to Milwaukee in the early 90s. I got a chance to drive my Mom to work one day while visiting on leave.
I was shocked at how quickly the factory complex had been demolished and repurposed. It seemed so strange to see something you knew as a kid become something so different... while seeing where there were portions that were familiar. A factory that large takes a lot of time and work to erase.
I live in Madison now. Mom is gone... I miss her so.
Someday I may make a day trip to that part of Milwaukee to see how much I still recognize.
Thank you for putting this together.
Allis Chalmers and EP Allis built Milwaukee back in the day , which makes it sadder.
Get out of Madison it's a liberal 💩 hole
Sad. Thank you
I love reading all these memories.
My Moms Mother worked at AC in the late 50's early 60's
Mom Born & raised in Greenfield. I still live in Central Wis.
Mike M.
I was born in West Allis, lived in West Allis until 1980 then moved back 1991. The parade routes my brothers n sisters marched. The sky bridge lit for Christmas. My neighbor a retired printer from AC. The many machines I moved later on in life that were once part of the old AC machine shop that made it into private hands. Kmart and Builders Square coming to occupy the re imagined space. Tanner Paul fish frys. The restaurant that was once the offices on the west side of 70th was the spot for holiday eves from my wife's work. Shopping the Sears on Greenfield ave. ( kids today have no idea. I had to explain the catalog to one the other day. Mom hated it coming in the mail). I was born at the Mile when my mother went into labor in turn one during the drivers' meeting. Well, should have been. Instead of the infield hospital, they sent us to West Allis Memorial. Every summer as long as I can remember was spent in dad's fire truck. Or as I got a little older walking around the paddock and infield stopping to say high to friends n family. Life in those days was orders of magnitude different. The Milwaukee Road still functioned and the taconite was easy to find in the ballast of the tracks. I don't live there anymore. I was back in 2010 and hardly recognized the place. Last big event that happened before I left was the collapse of Big Blue.
Thanks for the look back into my childhood I'd forgotten. Your mom worked with Norm Vogal, a crew chief from our race team and QC for P&H crane. He was the video camera operator of the day that the roof panel fell. Channel 12 WISN and others used his footage. Bud Seilig grrrr. My mom lives in Milton. Brother n sister still live in Milwaukee. I drove down Fondulac ave to Hawley rd, when I went to bury my dad in 2010 and couldn't believe the changes
@@irench Great memories of the Milwaukee Mile. My Moms father worked there for 30 Some odd years. Retiring as superintendent of building and Grounds in the late 80's starting in 1974 We had Free admission and Private parking to the Fair and I kept the Tradition going to this Day. Even during the Year it was closed to Covid I drove through the Parking lot. Free Tickets & parking ended shortly after Grand Dad Retired in about 1989 or so.
The Garage at My old House in Wausau is Built from the Bleacher Seats from the old Grand stands, 1976. I had to show the new Owners the numbers stamped on the wood LOL...
I worked at the Fisher Body plant on 140th and Coit in Cleveland, Ohio. Compared to the AC plant the only thing that’s left standing is the water tower. It’s so sad to see the de-manufacturing of so many U.S. industrial plants, the true backbone of the middle class.
That's Reganomics outsource for cheap labor bust the Unions. Those workers making high wages is what was wrong with America.
My dad always bought Chevrolet cars BODY BY FISHER when I was young kid. I remember 1960 Chevrolet Impala, 1966 Chevrolet 2 door Impala SS, 1969 Chevrolet 4 door Biscayne, I believe. All good sturdy cars.
@@maxpayne2574 if you look at upper management and exorbitant raises and wages, and look at the rest of us, there’s not even a decent comparison. I talked to an old timer, said if it wasn’t for unions, the upper management didn’t have it in the heart to help the workers out. Carnegie the steel baron was a great example of that.
@@maxpayne2574 so that's about the most incorrect statement I've seen
@@CheeseMiseryep. He obviously believed the lies that his union told him. They also told him to vote for Biden and look at what happened with that. The unions are all corrupt now and you no longer get proper representation. Reagan belonged to a union many years and the day he was shot he was addressing a union. If he was such a union buster, then why did he do that. Moreover, the air traffic controllers threatened the security of our nation with their fake strike. If their leadership had half a brain they would have negotiated through their disputes. So, they were full of themselves and thought they could put the national in a stranglehold. Didn’t work, so now they just lie about the mistake they made.
That was Chuck H. driving the shag truck @ 9:23 from the plant to Tractor Transport Inc. on 84th Street.
Sobering and sad to think how much wealth was created by this plant for the surrounding area. That wealth built stable neighborhoods, schools, churches, social organizations. All gone.
My Dad was a machinist there in the 50's. When he became medically disabled his Allis Chalmers disability saved our family from poverty. I worked at some other big plants in the 70's, GE X-ray, and P&H and others. The Milwaukee area used to be 'machine shop of the world' back then. Lots of memories. Sad to see it go away.
Omg imagine that , great benefits by working for a great company 👏
Great video. I was a 3rd shift guard back in the late 70's and saw all those buildings still operating. Lots of memories of walking the shops at night. Seeing tractors partially assembled on the line, non-stop testing of parts in engineering. Great memories 👌 ❤️
My dad was an AC dealer, and as a kid in 1962, I traveled with him and some customers in the "Buy A Tractor and Take a Trip," program. Too big and complicated for me then, but the highlight was seeing my first D19. Excellent video.
My grandmother pearl jones worked at the west Allis plant from the second WW to 1980 she was one of the overhead crane operators in the big shop. I work my first summer out of high school 1975 as a tractor driver at the AC tractor proving grounds in rural Racine county. I was transferred to the engine lab in west allis to assist Bob Annan and Arnie Carlson the did all the Diesel engine testing and accompanied tractors that were being tested at the university’s first Nebraska for engine and pto horsepower.
My Dad retired from there and I worked there in the R&D department through the seventies and Coal Gas in the eighties. Super fun place to work. So hard to believe a company so big can fail so fast.
My grandfather said farming was going to be the next gold rush back in the 70s. He quit his job and sold his 80 acre farm in Indiana and bought 1,000 acres in Wisconsin. Countless men did the same. And then it all crashed, farmers all over the country went bankrupt. Just my example shows why. It's no different than taking out loans to buy crypto.
What happened to us, many great industries just meltted away,enjoyed the video.
Thank Bill Clinton for that ~ nafta~globalization
Learning that BCT now occupys the old AC plant was a pleasant surprise. The company I work for recently purchased an enormous BCT machine. I really like that it was made in Wisconsin and now is in production in Wisconsin for the cleaning of casting made here as well.
My local tractor dealer still has their allis Chalmers sign mounted above their door, and a agco Allis sign. Inside they have old dealer signs and new in box toys of Allis Chalmers equipment.
Just came across the video, brought back memories of my childhood in West Allis in the 60’s and driving past that massive plant all the time, so sad to see a lot of the buildings gone forever
Hard to imagine how such a massive company, with its hand in so many different industries, could just turn to dust essentially. As a fan and owner of AC tractors it’s easy to forget just how many different industries they specialized in.
My grandfather was a welder at allis chalmers for 33 years, retired in 1983. In the 90’s we would go for breakfast at any of several restaurants in West Allis. Almost every time my grandpa would start talking with somebody. I would ask who is that? He would say well I cant remember his name, but when you work at a factory with 10,000 employees you get to remember alot of faces over the years.
I moved from Wisconsin some years ago for work. Every time I go back for a visit it is a shock to see how much I grew up with is gone. Progress I guess.
I say the same thing about Michigan.
Really cool that there are people who are willing to repurpose these old buildings to retain some of their history, which is better than being in total ruins like most of Detroit's old factories.
Many thanks to the West Allis government employee who went to New York City to bid for the saved buildings in the bankruptcy auction.
Turn on left headphones
Started in the Hawley plant straight out of high school in 1966. Moved to "computer auditing" on the 6th floor in 1967. Replaced a guy named Len Skrobot. Joined the Air Force in 67 when my peers were getting drafted. What a great nostalgia trip this is.
I was born and raised in Milwaukee and used to ride my bike around that area. After moving to northern Wi. and marrying in the early 80s I picked up an old WC straight pull with a trans PTO that ran a sicklebar. When rebuilding it I found out it used mostly Ford Model A parts in the drive train. Bought it for 50 bucks, put a hundred into it and sold it for 400 bucks. It was a simple and good running machine. Wish AC could have lasted longer than it did. Love all the history, great video!
My Grandfather (my mother's Dad) bought a new WD in April of 1951,,, I still have it on the farm (restored) and I still have the original order and sales slip for it. Also my Dad's aunt worked in the tractor assembly plant for 32 yrs in the 30's, 40's, 50's and retired in the early 60's.
Outstanding recap of the old Allis facility. There was so much history lost but so much preserved. That is really getting back to the Allis roots and seeing where all of our toys and babies were made. Every part casted, machined, and assembled at that plant, amazing! I don’t think anybody does that today. Thank you for doing that visit, tour and video!
Farmer Ken D21 proud owner in California
I’m watching this video from bed in an air bnb 2 blocks from the plant. We walked past the employment office. Thanks for a great video. Aug 2 2023
It's definitely an interesting place to visit
Great video. My Grandpa and dad started selling AC’s in 1976 . My dad has managed to keep the doors open to this day as a independent. As a kid after they pulled our account I’d have to go to the neatest AC dealership and pick up restocking orders. After all these years our old building is still there ( barely)😢 full of AC and New Idea NOS parts.
Near Rockford Illinois is a dealership that used to sell Allis Chalmers equipment but now I think they sell AGCO equipment and probably Kubota.
Stick with it, farmers and collectors love old , reliable farm equipment ❤
Thanks for the video. Great job!! Mom (Lorraine) and Dad (Frank Bichanich) met at AC in the 1940's. He worked in the turbine assembly area and mom in the office. Mom participated in Manhattan project. Great memories.
That was a great idea. I was a welder at Allis Chalmers in Laporte, In. for 7 years. I loved it. Hard work but premium pay. I started at 23 yrs old. Great place to work,excellent pay, it was in the old Rumely tractor division.
Thank you for working there. Just one question
When you say great pay. Was there any part of the work force that was willing to take a PAY cut in the 1980s, when the forecast showed this big downfall of heavy equipment. I own a BUCYRUS-ERIE Backhoe. They got out of the construction business at the same time ( AC)
Had their bankruptcy. Then as you probably know CAT just took over their Mining assets.
My grandfather was a draftsman for Alis-Chalmers. Never knew the man, but I have his drafting board w/ mechanical machine. Surface of the board is pock marked with holes from push pins used to anchor the drawings.
I didn't think that much still survived. Thank you for the video, pretty interesting stuff.
I worked for two brothers when I was in high school on their farms in the 1960's who farmed with Allis Chalmers, a '59 D-17 diesel and a '66 D-17 Series IV gas. One brother had worked for Allis during WWII as a welder while the other was in the Army. They both came out west to farm in the '50's. There was an Allis Chalmers dealer in my area, closer than Deere or Ford or IH so most of the local farms had Allis Chalmers. I grew up on them. Now own two '57 D-14's and a HD-4 crawler, my son farms with an 8030, a 7000 and a 190. Over the years, I've driven and worked on all the other colors, but my first love will always be Allis Chalmers.
I spent my early childhood years (early to late 1960's) living just a few blocks away from AC. I remember going past the yard on 70th Street, and it was a sea of orange tractors. Kinda sad to see how the big industries in the Milwaukee area have dwindled away. I work at one of them going on 38 years, and the place is just a fraction of what it once was.
Think of all the tractors that have rolled out of there all the hardworking men and women who put there best into building tractors and other equipment that built America. When you think about it inside those walls all of our beloved allis chalmers tractors where built and tested
I lived in West Allis in the late 90's, but drove along 70th street under the walkway since the early 60's. It was bizarre to watch the place implode like it did. Right after they went bankrupt they had converted part of the place to stores including a big box home improvement store, a Cousins Subs, and I believe a Kmart. I just drove by there a couple of days ago after many years (I live across the state now), and there were massive changes again. Soon there will be nothing left, but I still see the tractors on a daily basis around my home. The neighbor has one parked under a tree in front of his house, and uses it here and there for his firewood.
My Grandpa had the D15 wide front. bailed a lot of hay with it throughout the years!!!
Last I knew, it was still going strong!
Thanks for the nostalgic walk through the "Works". Served my machinist apprenticeship in all of those machine shops, especially the 4th floor of 6 shop. I remember the tour information saying the erection floor was longer than the Empire State building was tall. After a few years in the model shop wound up in the tractor plant, launching the new family of tractors. Was an excellent place to work with tons of opportunity.
Great video but very sad to a AC fan who has ran ACs from the time l was4 years old driving a WD picking up hay to buying my first WD45 in 1968 and farming with AC till retiring from farming ahd now collecting AC with my old son with a growing herd or 11 tractors 6 lawn tractors and 14 pieces of snap coupler equipment also owned several gleaner combines starting with a 1965 C 3 Cll F G l M and lastly a N6 which was a monster in the field back in the late 1990s!!! l will be watchin!!!!!!!
It was neat to see that BCT was able to rehab a portion of the old factory to use today!
Very neat to see how a great company grew, but now just a memory.
I actually worked here as an HVAC contractor when they started repurposing these buildings. It was sad but impressive how much of these old buildings they reused in the construction process. I remember them reusing the old i-beams to make floors for office space in the hi-bay areas and was there when they set the old crane structure to make the sky walk. They sure don't build buildings like these anymore. Awesome video and information on the old and new buildings!
Those D series would have looked good with the chassis Orange and the sheet sheetmetal hot dip galvanized like a Gleaner!
I own a 1952 Allis B wide front, and it’s still running like a Swiss watch, and hauling a trailer around my property. My father was an Allis mechanic in central NY, in the late 1950’s. I still have his books and tools. They came in handy during the repairs to my tractor when I first bought it.
As a young kid in the 60s driving by here was always a treat. All the activity and noise meant.prosperity. The neighbor next to my grandparents house was a lifer at AC in the accounting department from 1944 almost until it closed. A good friend of mine who worked for the C&NW RR his first job was The Station Agent at West Allis. They were switched out twice a day due to the high volume of traffic usually forty or more freight cars a day. Looking for steady work I started as a bus driver for the transit system in Milwaukee in 1983. I can still remember driving by the tractor plant with the combination foundry smell and machine shop oily floors. Many people wondered why the buildings were so recessed from 70th Street but that was the right of way for the predecessor Streetcar which last ran in 1958. Even though the place was on the downhill slide my bus schedule still have a footnote to load at Washington Street 335p 337p and 1118p 1120p for shift workers who sadly we're no longer there to ride. They had unique railroad equipment and lots of trackage but that's another story. Thank you for the historical reflection. PS. I'd buy you a beer at the Tractor Inn but it was torn down to make room for new apartments
Wish we could have seen it in its heyday!
Thank you for including the Transformer Plant in Terre Haute IN. My father started there in 1951 when they first came to town, before the plant was built. They had opened an office near downtown. Anyway, he worked there till the announcement of the closing summer 1962. So many men were out of a job at the same time, that many had to find work somewhere out of town! We put our house up for sale, dad moved to Nashville TN, and mom, sis and I stayed behind. Then, after 7-8 months, grandmother became very ill, and dad's former secretary from AC found a job for dad. He applied and got it. But boy did the paycheck go WAAAyyy down. Selling cars (VW's) did not put much food on the table and I was teased for being poor. But we were together again, and grandma had daily care from my mom, her daughter in law. We had moved into a new neighborhood in 1960, after the plant was finished being built, and dad could be at work within 5 min. of leaving the driveway...too bad we didn't know the closure was just 2 years in the future!
Thank you for your story, this web site has a very good article about the Terre Haute plant: theweekendhistorian.com/2022/11/06/terrehaute1/
@@JandLVideos q
My Dad bought a new D-14 in the fall of 1962 and made the trip. I still have a souvenir cane that say's "Allis-Chalmers Land of Power - 1962" on the side.
Very cool video. The power plant my father works at has an Allis Chalmers turbine generator still in use along with lots of other Allis electrical equipment
I had a job interview at a plant in Iowa that had an Allis Chalmers turbine.
One of the chilled water plants where I work at now has a few A-C pumps in it.
Hey me too , in NYC power plants A C is legendary
This is such a blast from the past! I lived 2 blocks from Allis Chalmers. My mother in law actually was a secretary there. At lunchtime, the workers would come out and mob Greenfield Avenue's stores for lunch and shopping. When they closed, it was the end of downtown Greenfield avenue.
AC also had a plant in lacrosse wisc that ran from 1929 to 1969 which still stands and is still in use.
We stopped by there to on our way to West Allis and got some pics. Looks nice since they've completed the remodeling.
My fiancé is from there and I remember seeing the plaque saying the building used to be LaCrosse plow company. Which was later owned by Allis Chalmers. I think now it’s just an apartment building though.
Grandad worked there in the 1950's till going to Siemens.
Man alive, when America still made stuff.
God i miss that.
Check out them old COE’S pulling all them wd45’s❤ I grew up on a wd45 loved that old tractor you could always count on it when you needed a tractor
😭😭😭 Gems of great old pioneers of industry ! ! ! should try to save this amazing brand of quality.
Really wish my old landlord could have seen this… he grew up in West Allis and even worked there a few summers when he was growing up in the pre-WWII era.
Great Video. I really appreciate the old and new references. The historic significance of those buildings is impressive. It’s nice to see the old buildings repurposed for new manufacturing. I still wish they would have made it through the 1980’s in one piece. Thanks.
Thank You & everyone who made making this video possible
Kearney and Trecker had a large complex and headquarters that borderd Allis-Chalmers to the south. They manufactured milling machines, and at one time they were the worlds largest producer of milling machines. They played a huge role in pioneering the first NC machines.
K&T worked closely with Allis-Chalmers, supplying them with many of their machines. They bit the dust shortly after Allis-Chalmers did (1991).
The plant is almost completely gone with a small assembly building left standing that the city is trying to re-purpose. I’d love to go back in time and see that plant in full swing.
Kearney & Trecker invented the first numerically controlled machining center, including auto tool changing. Allis bought one of the first machines late 50's. Later K&T installed a fully automated machine line (FMS) for the new family of tractors (7000 series) power train housings.
Thank you JL for the AC video what a massive facility i knew there must have been a massive power house too keep it going
Very good film. I know that took a lot of work to get done. So glad you had help. Thank you very much.
We had an Allis Chalmers plant in York, Pennsylvania, it never made tractors but produced energy products as hydroelectric turbines and nuclear fuel rod components. Purchased from the S. Morgan Smith Water Wheel Co it was a fraction of the video's complex. The several block facility was sold to Voith Hydro which later expanded out of town. However the historic brick buildings were repurposed into a mini industrial park for office, business and manufacturing companies.
As Allis Chalmers, Precision Components Devision I toured the plant in the 70s, they had a shop of vertical lathes which could machine 3 story high x 52 feet diameter work piece. Saw the millwrights setting up a billet of stainless steel to become nuclear fuel rod cell, they were standing on the lathe's faceplate 1 1/2 stories below yet the roof high above was removable to load the lathe or insert a wall spacer for taller work pieces.
I have a cast plow shear painted orange in the front yard flower bed, the Allis Chalmers embossing on the back and my street number is highlighted in black.
Some of the Army Corps of Engineer dams
On the Snake river, like lower monumental dam, still use the AC hydro Kaplan turbines to make electricity every day.
Awesome video, so sad
EXCELLENT!!!! You guys did a great job! Amazing to see so much left AND adaptavely reused. Made in USA!!!
Born and raised in Milwaukee: 60’s-80’s.
Mom and Grandparents worked for IH in the Miller Valley during the war and after.
My wife’s Grandfather worked at AC on the turbines which we saw when we visited the Hoover Dam.
And during a renovation a wall of steel framed windows from a building at AC ended up in their cabin up north.
Milwaukee (and Wisconsin) used to make a great many things back when the Brewers were Braves.
Machine Shops and Taverns were on every block it seemed.
I remember watching a shipment of Russian tractors offload down at Lake Michigan near Summerfest.
My grandfather was smart enough to realize imports like those Belaruse would change lives.
He was right.
Thanks for sharing-well done.
Those old Belarus tractors looked like they were made from scrap iron! I doubt they made much impact on American made, but the Kubota, Yanmar, Deutz machines sure did.
As a resident of West Allis… thank you for putting all this together. Great work!
We lost some AC buildings over time but thankful many still stand and have been repurposed.
Is this in Wisconsin
My great uncle still has his old Allis Chalmers that he still uses to this day for hay
As someone born in 60, it saddens me to see the destruction of our manufacturing base...I'm a philly native, I knew so many men and women that were devastated through those years. Decades later; we've still not recovered. :(
I know what you mean I am one of them.
@@bobgleaser7106 Nobody thought it would ever end...It rips your heart out to remember who we were, as a nation and the working classes...It started in the 40's with the Auto industry...
Drove a D-17 for many years growing up. Loved that tractor. Wish I had it now. I also drove an Allis Cultivator. That was a blast. Used it for Potatoes, Onions, Row Mint.
Very nice tour. I live less than 2 miles away from there and remember when they were still building A-C Tractors. Then, they built Deutz-Allis tractors. I was in the (then former) A-C Club House a few times in the early 90's. The Lions Club, Rotary Club, High School Booster Clubs, and many other local organizations would have meetings and luncheons there. It was a shame that they ripped it down to build a surface parking lot.
I've driven on every one of those roads. I've also been in all of the "public" buildings that now include various retail stores, restaurants, and a fitness club. When the plant was "revitalized" into retail, the four main tenants were Kmart, Kohls Food Store, Builders Square, and Blockbuster Video. There were other stores, too, like KayBee Toys and Radio Shack.
As a side-note, you could see an Amtrak Dining Car, from a distance. When the fence is open, you can go back there. The large building beyond it was used by a company called Avalon Rail Car. They used to rebuild old passenger cars to meet FRA / Amtrak standards. Unfortunately, that car never made it into their facility. Rumor has it - the car is owned by Penzys Spices and was going to be rebuilt as a test-kitchen that would travel around the country. That railroad track is not abandoned. It is still accessible from the Union Pacific Railroad main line. The tracks used to connect to the Milwaukee Road (Wisconsin Central/Soo Line/CP Rail), but that is a bike path, now.
The bike path (Hank Aaron Trail) gives you an amazing view of the Hawley Road building. You just look up and are amazed at how big "that one building" actually is. Johnson Controls remodeled the east end of the building, but the space had been a predecessor to Sam's Club. When it was "Warehouse Club," they did as little work as necessary to have a wholesale environment. They cleaned the columns, painted the walls, and polished the concrete floor.
We were amazed at the size of the place. Obviously, we did some research and looked at photos before the trip. But seeing it in person just left us in awe
My brother used to live a couple blocks from the southern section of the factory. Walking along 68th towards National, I watched one of the last parts that got demolished just a few years ago.
Milwaukee was such a big industrial town, Allis-Chalmers, Bicyrus Erie, P&H, Briggs & Straton, Ladish, Allen Bradley and the list goes on. Cold place in winter, hot and humid during summer but very nice indian summer. From France, was in Cudahy in 1973 and 1977 as a kid, i discovered Europe at school, kids like me where the sons and daughters from immigrants of every country of Europe, the big battalions where the Germans and the Poles, people went along fine.
Live in France now, where people are not, yet, as nuts as in the states.
This was one of your best videos. Please don't end J-L Videos.
Thanks for the awesome history tour. I've lived in Milwaukee all of my life, but was born shortly after AC shut down. I work in manufacturing and still bump elbows with people that used to work at AC back in the day.
I used to drop the kids off at a day care that occupies part of the erection building between the blast company and Toshiba...It was cool to see that the buildings were still being used and that the kids were getting exposure to a historic part of the Milwaukee region
Wow - great stories and tour! It's mind-blowing that the all expense paid tour with Brass Band came with a tractor purchase back in the day. Although I know some farmers who are pragmatic enough to see through the incentive package to know that they're overpaying for the new machine (unless you had the option of skipping the tour for a discount).
It's seriously depressing seeing an autopsy of a once prosperous agriculture manufacturer. It beings a tear to my eye!
It’s sad.
For this old guy it's always sad seeing History torn down, and always Kool seeing buildings being repurposed.
My wife grand father was a dealer and went there several times. We have pictures of it with him
He was healthy and happy
It’s amazing how they made everything they needed and they did it all in they same compound.
Used to ride our bikes over to the plant just to watch the impressive shift change of workers. It was a timing sight to be hold..
Many thanks to you guys for the excellent update..its been needed for quite a while..especially for us guys that cant seem to get off the farm...
The tractor plant is gone, but I like meeting the people who keep the tractors running and working on the farm.
It's a shame such an iconic company went down the tubes. I've always liked AC tractors and have operated quite a few as a kid back in the 60's. Models like the D-17, WD (std), CA, and also a weird backward facing front-end loader that was based on a WD-45 chassis I believe. The loader was a beast and did most everything well except STOP! When the company that built them did the conversion, they failed to wrap the band brakes in the proper direction for them to stop going (what was now) forward, but they worked great in reverse!🤣 The only way to stop in a hurry was to drop the bucket.😜
Allis Chalmers made some of the best farm equipment that was cost effective and purchasable by common farmers. I have X2 Allis Chalmers WD tractors myself, which I really like. My father had Allis Chalmers tractors, so I grew up driving them. All men-made engineering marvels show how innovative men are. Men build everything and without men, females can build nothing. Men build all the houses, bridges, roads, trains, airplanes, ships, cars, trucks, computers, motors, engines, space ships, submarines, kitchen appliances, toilets, house-hold items, etc., and men are not done. So put the lid back up when you are done !!
Both of my grandfathers had Allis Chalmers tractors on their small farms in WPa.. model C, WD45, G model.. An old timer at a tractor show once told me how to age an Allis Chalmers. Said to check the teeth of the throttle lever detents. . Now seems like I always check these at tractor shows.
Excellent video, thanks for sharing an awesome video.
Love your videos on Allis Chalmers. Keep them coming.
Thank you for this interesting video/tour. It is always cool to see retro / vintage manufacturing plants and the history behind them.
We have an Allis Chalmers 5020 tractor. It's a BEAST!
Thank you
This brought back memories I forgot
Growing up in the late 80s and 90s in West Allis and West Milwaukee
I know I'm a baby considering the history of Allis Chalmers
Really a nice record of this history. Thanks for all your great work & research. I took quite a few photos & videos of the demolition. I have old videos of the streetcars going down 70th.
Nowadays, very few people have any clue what the crane over the retail space is or what it represents .
This is why 'America is Great now'! It is a shame how many old manufacturers have disappeared.
I grew up near the Springfield IL plant. There isn't a shred of it left. It was torn down in the 90s and is now a commercial area.
I worked as an HVAC service tech from 2002 to 2010 mainly in West Allis. I swear at least half of the customers I did service for, had worked at Allis-Chalmers.
When you showed the gantry or overhead cranes I could see the P&H name on them, another great Milwaukee Company.
I have a 1951 AC WD. Grew up on AC tractors in the 50s and 60s. Love AC Persion Orange!
My Dad back in the olden days worked at Allis Chalmers and designed the vdery first motor taught electrical engineering and was one himself taught math too ! He was so bright Gaylord Brooks was ! He died Jan 14th 1988 had colon stomach cancer .His friends have passed away except for the younger ones like Jaccobs and Zaycheck .Nancy Pyhrem I think has passed away she was Dad s friend my Mom s friend and my friend . Ernie Richards and Art Crighton are now gone .Dad used to go out for lunch alot and Mom when we d be shopping he would see us sometimes go out for lunch or see us after he got home !
This was great. I wish you had an overview picture of Milwaukee so I could picture where this was.
Ģoogle map Reunion Restaurant West Allis, Wisconsin.
My Dad transferred from the Springfield, Illinois plant to West Allis in '62 & was a draftsman until '72, when he left to Modine Mfg. in Racine.
I grew up on the old WD series - many memories. Thanks for sharing
Thanks for sharing your videos and keep them coming please, we really appreciate them.
You guys did an exceptional job!
Thanks very much!
We had a D15 years ago..