{"id":2018,"date":"2018-11-28T12:54:52","date_gmt":"2018-11-28T17:54:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=2018"},"modified":"2018-11-28T13:20:47","modified_gmt":"2018-11-28T18:20:47","slug":"fwd-the-little-skeoch-picture-of-1920-factory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=2018","title":{"rendered":"Fwd: The Little Skeoch…picture of 1920 factory"},"content":{"rendered":"
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From: <\/b><\/span>SKEOCH <alan.skeoch@rogers.com<\/a><\/a>>
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Subject: <\/b><\/span>The Little Skeoch…picture of 1920 factory<\/b>
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Date: <\/b><\/span>November 28, 2018 at 12:09:49 PM EST
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To: <\/b><\/span>Alan Skeoch <alan.skeoch@rogers.com<\/a><\/a>>
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THE  SKEOCH CYCLE CAR PRODUCTION LINE IN 1920<\/p><\/div>\n

(Dalbeattie, Scotland)<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
Nov. 28, 2018<\/div>\n

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Seems to be quite an  interest in my last email concerning the Little Skeoch so  here  is  another picture of the production line as  it appeared<\/div>\n
in 1920.  Lots of  things to see including the typical line shafting along the ceiling of the factory.   Wheels on the line shafts drove the industrial<\/div>\n
machines\u2026lathes, grinders, etc.    If you are really perceptive you might see the convertible top unfurled  and ready for assembly.  If you can <\/div>\n
read, and some  of you can no doubt, you will see a sign mentioning Wolseley Oil  Engines\u2026whatever that means.   And  those if you who<\/div>\n
are socially aware  and critical of the grim atmospheres of factories might note that sunshine floods  this  factory floor.<\/div>\n

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My dad,  Arnold (Red) Skeoch became a  tire builder in Canada around this time and I will always remember his stories  about the<\/div>\n
dangers  of the big line shafts which had a drive pulley beside a stationary pulley.  If you wanted a machine to shut down all that<\/div>\n
was required was  a slight push on the whirling drive belt to put on \u2018idle\u2019.  That way the whole  assembly line was not affected.<\/div>\n
 I assume the movement was normally done by some kind<\/div>\n
of lever.  But Dad, working in Guelph and later in Toronto, described how a worker decided to move the belt with his  hand.   His arm got <\/div>\n
caught and he was converted to pulp as his  body was drawn up and around the drive pulley.  Pulp is the wrong word.  But Dad<\/div>\n
did say the man died.  I had  visions of the poor guy being whirled around the drive pulley like his body was a windmill.  Until his <\/div>\n
arm was  torn from its  socket and  his  blooded body fell to the floor.  That is my image\u2026might be true .<\/div>\n
 The pulleys  in this factory below are quite small but I do not see any idling pulleys which means all at the production line<\/div>\n
has to be shut down to change a belt or service a machine.<\/div>\n

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Dad had another industrial  story he told occasionally.   Rubber tires  were made with flat slabs of  reinforced rubber.  To make the rubber<\/div>\n
uniformly flat a large rolling machine was  used.  Very dangerous.  One worker got caught in the  roller and  came out flat.  Dead flat.<\/div>\n
Was this  true?  Well dad told the story as if it was true.  Accidents in factories\u2026even factories like this Burnside Motor Works factory\u2026were<\/div>\n
quite common.  And that still seems to be the case as a  few workers each year in Ontario meet their maker in such  accidents even<\/div>\n
though machines are now shielded and line shafts are a  thing of the past.<\/div>\n

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The really bright readers among you will know what that machine on the far left actually did.   It may be the drive engine for the whole line shaft.  <\/div>\n
The machine that powered the whole factory.  See<\/div>\n
the drive belt dead centre\u2026seems  to connect to that machine dead left.  Now why in hell\u2019s half acre did  I  use the t erm  \u2018dead\u2019.<\/div>\n

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When Dad retired from the Dunlop Tire Corporation around  1970,  Eric and I asked if we could  tour the factory and see what he did<\/div>\n
for his  whole working life.  That was  quite an experience.  Dad was  busy manhandling slaps of rubber \u2026 big slabs \u2026onto some spinning<\/div>\n
machine on which he carved bug truck tires.  A job only for the strong.  Dad  was  strong and proud of his work.  He grinned  at Eric  and I<\/div>\n
as  the plant foreman took us around the factory.   Dad wore a simple sweatshirt and his  hands were blackened by the constant contact<\/div>\n
with rubber.   Dad seemed to like his  job as he turned down the foreman\u2019s job when it was offered.  \u201cI can make more money making the <\/div>\n
tires than supervising.\u201d<\/div>\n

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Dad liked working for Dunlop\u2019s because for many years the factory was  very close to the Woodbine Racetrack where he spent all or <\/div>\n
nearly all of his idle time.   He  loved the horses  yet ye spent his life making car and truck tires for machines that rendered  horses<\/div>\n
obsolete. Eric and I spent a  lot of time at racetracks along with Dad and occasionally mom.  But only once did  we ever visit the<\/div>\n
rubber tire factory.  Glad we  did.<\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
Nov. 28,2018
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Photograph taken in 1920 when the LITTLE SKEOCH CYCLE CAR WAS IN FULL PRODUCTION\u2026.three car assembly line.<\/div>\n
In 1921 the factory burned to the ground  and the Little Skeoch became a blip in the the history<\/div>\n
of the car industry.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n


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Begin forwarded message: From: SKEOCH <alan.skeoch@rogers.com> Subject: The Little Skeoch…picture of 1920 factory Date: November 28, 2018 at 12:09:49 PM EST To: Alan Skeoch <alan.skeoch@rogers.com> THE  SKEOCH CYCLE CAR PRODUCTION LINE IN 1920 (Dalbeattie, Scotland) alan skeoch Nov. 28, 2018 Seems to be quite an  interest in my last email concerning the Little Skeoch so […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2018"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2018\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}