Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
This blog is designed to enable viewers to post their comments on various subjects related to The Torrington Company's demise as a separate corporate entity. We will try to answer the question "Why?" and hopefully provide guidance to other Companies who might find themselves in a similar situation. We will also try to be a vehicle for alumni to express their thoughts
About Me
- Norm M
- North Reading, Massachusetts, United States
- Now retired, I was employed by The Torrington Company / Ingersoll Rand from 1963 through 1987. Recently widowed, relocated from TX to MA
13 comments:
Jim Kielt Jan 5, 2021
to me
thanks-saw a few I knew-here's one for you Irv actually reported to Henri
Irving Daniel Hahn Jr. - View Obituary & Service Information
Al Nixon to Norm Jan 5,2021
Norm; Happy New Year.
Thx for sending this out each year although it is sad to see many of the good Torrington people you and I knew for many years. I had missed a few of them, so this summary list was very helpful. Have a healthy and safe new year. Al
Ian Aiken
5:33 PM 05/12/2021
to NDMassicotte@gmail.co
Hi Norm,
I’m writing with, admittedly, a bit of a shot in the dark question, but perhaps you might be able to help.
I’m a structural engineer in Berkeley, California, and my consulting company specializes is seismic isolation, which is the technique of putting buildings on flexible foundations to resist earthquake shaking (mostly, we use rubber or sliding types of isolation bearings).
I came across an old article (Popular Mechanics, 1947) about a very interesting project that effectively did the same thing as what we do nowadays, but using roller bearings. With some investigation I was able to find that the roller bearings were made by Torrington.
I’m trying to find out more about the bearings, and in particular, if Torrington roller bearings had other structural (building or bridge) applications.
My question is, do you know anyone who might have information on how active Torrington was in the construction industry in the 1930s – 50s, what sorts of products they had, projects that were done, that sort of thing?
Any insights would be appreciated.
Thank you and regards,
Ian Aiken
*****************************
Ian Aiken, Ph.D., P.E.
Principal
SIE inc.
+1.510.595.7498 work
+1.510.774.5818 mobile
*****************************
______________________________________________________________
Normand Massicotte
5:51 PM 05/12/2021
Hi Ian
The Torrington Company that made such bearings no longer exists. We were bought out by Ingersoll Rand in the 1960's. They eventually sold us off, a part to Timken and some Japanese interests.
I worked in the financial area at Torrington and today maintain a blog and an Email list of Torrington Alumni. As to be expected our little news these days consists mainly of publishing Obituaries.
If you have no objection, I can forward your Email to my Email list and there are undoubtedly some Alumni out there who would be familiar with such an application of our roller bearings for buildings.
Let me know if it's OK to forward your Email
Norm Massicotte
________________________________________________________
Ian Aiken 05/12/2021
Hi Norm,
I should have further explained, but hit Send too soon… yes, I’d found your blog and read your recent postings, and also tracked the history thru IR, etc. (and that was where I found your email address).
That’d be great if you forward my email to your list, no objection at all.
Thanks very much!
Best regards, Ian
_______________________________________________________
From: PHIL GARCIA
Date: May 12, 2021 at 6:34:05 PM EDT
To: ida@siecorp.com
Subject: Ladder Bearings
Ian, I suggest you contact John Rhodes or Jerry Rhodes @ Timken, they are by far the most knowledgeable on these ( I am restricted from consulting by my current employer) I am certain we (Torrington) had a hand on these. We applied them to Sugar Mills and BOF furnace support structures which are high load applications. They are both in Canton Ohio.
Phil Garcia
___________________________________________________
PHIL GARCIA 05/12/20221 6:35 PM to me
Norm, i suggested a couple of old “T” guys ..
______________________________________
elizabeth tieman 05/13/2021
to me, ida@siecorp.com
hi norm, the only thing i could think of is the Torrington Historical Society. when torrington was sold to timken, my job was to make sure that all info was given to the proper people. i sent lots to the historical society and also the CT Industrial Museum, and the New Britain Industrial Museum.
torringtonhistorical@snet.net (mark mceachern)
newbritainim@gmail.com
dave.corrigan@ct.gov
any or all of them may have some info.
best regards,
Liz Tieman
Email: liztieman@sbcglobal.net
Phone: (860)489-5096
__________________________________
Joseph Brown Wed 05/12/2021
to me
Hi Normand,
I do remember several very large bearings being made at the Tyger River facility for a bridge in Oregon or Washington State in the 90's but couldn't find any record of it.
In research, a Floridia bridge named "Pennington" (attached) has a reference to Torrington (page 6) but know nothing about it. The Torrence Bridge link below goes way back to the 40's using Torrington Bearings.
We now live in a 55+ Dell-Webb in north Georga and love it. Great work keeping Torrington information updated. Love it.
Hope all is well with you and family.
Sally & Joe
https://historicbridges.org/bridges/browser/?bridgebrowser=illinois/torrence2/
Torrence Avenue Calumet River Bridge (Henry Ford II Memorial Bridge) - HistoricBridges.org
Historic Truss Bridge in Chicago Cook County, Illinois. This impressive bridge is one of only a couple non-bascule movable bridges that the city constructed in the 20th Century.
historicbridges.org
______________________________
Steve Ross 05/13/2021
to ida@siecorp.com, me
Ian,
As an ex-Torrington employee, I would defer you to Rich Miskell (currently with Timken). He was a Service Engineer who had a lot of involvement with bridges and infrastructure bearing projects. He may not have the history back to the 50’s, but he might be able to point you in the right direction. I don’t have his contact info, but you can find him in LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/rich-miskell-5b273736
I’d also like to note that RBC has a division, Lubron, who is very active in sliding bearings for this type of application. I would direct you to Jim James at that location….
RBC Lubron Bearing Systems, Inc.
13141 Molette Street
Santa Fe Springs, CA 90670
Phone: 714-841-3007
Fax: 714-841-3507
www.lubron.com
Let me know if this proves helpful.
Steve Ross
Director of Product Management – API Division
RBC Bearings
Cell +1 815-200-3941
__________________________________________________________________
Jurgen "Yogi" Saggerer 5/13/2021
saggej@gmx.de
or the bearings we produced for bridge applications to allow for thermal expansion / contraction. Personally I never had anything to do with such applications but seem to remember somebody mentioning them in training.
Trust you are all staying well in these Corona times!
________________________________________________
Bob Waldrop
julie.t.waldrop@gmail.com 5/13/2021
First, greetings to all of you. Norm, like Juergen I recall hearing in the 60's of bridge expansion/contraction bearings being made at South Bend heavy bearings plant back in the 50's. I do not recall any earthquake applications. Perhaps someone from heavy bearings can help.
______________________________________________________________
Ian Aiken 05/13/2021
to elizabeth, me
Thank you, Elizabeth.
I’d actually looked at the Historical Society’s website just before emailing Norm, but didn’t go further. I’ll contact them and see what they might have.
For reference, do you recall what year it was that Torrington was bought by Timken?
Best regards, Ian
________________________________________________
Ian Aiken to me 05/13/2021
Hi Norm,
Thanks for forwarding. The old bridge applications are useful to know about, and whilst the specific type(s) of bearings are different to the building I found, the overlap in industry/size is definitely of interest.
For your info, I’ve also had emails directly from 3-4 others with some leads/suggestions, so thank you again for circulating my question. I’m very impressed by the network that you’ve maintained! Best regards, Ian
______________________________________________________
Ian Aiken to Steve, me 05/13/2021
Hi Steve,
Thanks for your email. I’ll make contact with Rich, sounds like he’ll have additional insights.
Thanks also for the mention of Lubron and Jim James… we’ve never worked directly with them, but I’m well aware of their products and some of the projects they’ve done.
Best regards, Ian
________________________________________________________
James Voisine 05/13/2021 JVoisine@rbcbearings.com
Hi Norm & Ian,
See attached. Perhaps this will be helpful.
Regards,
James Voisine
Product Engineering Manager
RBC Bearings, Inc
(Office) 203-267-7001 x5587
____________________________________
Patrick McCotter
patrick.mccotter@parker.com
Thanks Joe, Google always makes things easy to learn about.
Patrick McCotter
Division Quality Manager
Parker Fluid Control Division
Office: 860-827-2333
Cell: 860-712-0119
_________________________________________
Ted Schwamb 05/14/2021
The bridge still operates. In the summer if you are in Hyannis you can ride the dinner trip and it crosses the bridge. The day cruise does not. But you sure get a great view of the canal.
All the best, Ted
_________________
On 05/13/2021 Joe Dawkins wrote:
Bob and Juergen are correct. Bantam Bearings in South Bend produced "ladder" bearings to accommodate large amounts of axial movement such as the dryer rolls that Bob mentioned. All of these bearings were 'specials', designed for a specific application. I don't know if we made any other bearings for 'earth quake' movement. The building that Ian refers to may be the only one.
Regarding construction projects, the best known were the pillow blocks made for the Cape Cod Canal Railroad vertical lift bridge at Buzzards Bay, MA. Those bearings are probably still there but I don't know if the bridge is still in service. Attached is a 1935 picture of the pillow blocks.
Nice to hear from everyone. I hope everyone is well. Joe
Joe Dawkins 05/16/2021
For those following the Cape Cod Canal Bridge thread attached are some great comments and photos from Ted Schwab and Rich Miskell.
_____________________________
From: ROBERT COATES
To: Joe Dawkins
Sent: Saturday, May 15, 2021,Subject: Torrington roller bearings
You can please share this with the rest of the mailing list. Thanks.
_________________________________________
From: Miskell, Richard (Rich)
To: ROBERT COATES
Sent: Saturday, May 15, 2021 Subject: Torrington roller bearings
Hello Bob,
The Cape Cod Canal Bridge was the largest vertical lift bridge in the world when built in the early 1930s (the bridge opened for canal traffic in 1935).
I helped replace the original bearings with the same design in 2003-2004. We were planning to use the original housings; else we would have redesigned the entire unit with Spherical Roller Bearings and housings. But after we started manufacture of the Cylindrical Roller Bearings in a spherical OD sleeve, The housings were deemed not reusable. So we had new housings manufactured of the original design.
Thanks & Regards, Rich Miskell, PE | Timken
________________________________________________________
From: ROBERT COATES
Sent: Friday, May 14, 2021
To: Miskell, Richard (Rich) Subject: Torrington roller bearings
Did you change the bearings on this bridge?
__________________________________________________________________
MARK ZAMPINI
355 Bantam Lake Rd. | Morris, CT 06763
mzampini@i2systems.com | w: i2systems.com
+1.860.567.0708 +1.203.788.5988
Dear Norm,
It is a pleasure to meet you via email. I’ve visited your site off and on over the past years as a northwest Connecticut native and somewhat of a Torrington Company enthusiast. We currently own the former Thomaston Special Products building in Morris, Connecticut and operate the main operation of our business from this location.
One time before, I was able to find some pictures of this building in its former use on your website. We’d like to preserve some of the history of this building and the people that built it, and I was wondering if you had any pictures of the early operation especially prior to some of the late 70’s and 80’s additions.
Thanks in advance, and thanks for sharing everything on the blog!
Kind Regards, Mark
Jeff Roberts 68lemans@snet.net
to me
re Cape Cod Canal Train Bridge
The bridge just went down a bit an hour ago. I videoed it.
https://youtu.be/8SK_hH-hiF4
Thanks Jeff
MATT OSTROFSKY
Sun, Jun 20, 8:07
Sun, Jun 20,2021
Hi Norm:
This is a link to an recording we played at the Fafnir then Torrington Fafnir Distributor Training School for many, many years. The legendary speaker is Bill Gove. This is a very well written and delivered speech about selling to and through distributors. Feel free to share with the group and link to your website.
Enjoy!
Matt Ostrofsky | Cell 330-936-8118
https://youtu.be/Nw_KkCnGy9w
Preview YouTube video I’ll Swap Ya! - Fafnir DTS Message
Jim & Diane Hickson Mon, Jun 21,2021
My customer in Pittsfield Maine called Cianbro
was involved in the replacements on the bridge in the late 90's early 2000. I believe Rich Miskell (Torrington service engineer) was involved with the replacements.
Jim Hickson
____________________________________________________________________
Scott of sbin Jun 21, 2021,
Thanks to Jeff for sharing this video. Is there any written information about this bridge that includes Torrington history?
I shared the video with a friend who lives on the east coast, and he told me about a similar bridge that he used to travel across on his way to and from work.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlem_River_Lift_Bridge
Scott Helms
__________________________________________________________________
Post a Comment