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*** Then & Now photos U.S. Factories WWII ***


General Apathy
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General Apathy
Here are some shots of the old GM INLAND facility in Dayton Ohio. I took these about photos about 8 years ago. I'd love to have the old metal decoration above the doorway!

Kim

 

inlandfrontfromstreet5.jpg

inlandfrontdoor2.jpg

inlanddoorfacade1.jpg

 

Hi kim, thanks for the images of what was once a haven of work for the local town, I can see your desire for the metalwork above the doorway. ;)

 

sad to see once again the large unused car park in one of the images. :crying:

 

ken

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Hi FS, thanks for adding these two shots nice mention on the PBY's a favourite aircraft of mine :thumbsup: . The saw tooth rooflines are very 40's period, many factories in the UK also that that style of roofline back then.

 

I think I heard that maybe Boeing were moving out of the old factories that they built B-17's in and they could be leveled if not already done so now, not kept up with the dates of these reports.

 

ken I just missed getting some shots of Boeings old factory #2, torn down in the last few months. I'll try to get over to Renton,(near Seattle), and get some shots of the B-29 factory. Boeings 737 line is located there now.

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All of this just reinforces how huge the military complex was that built our weaponry for WWII. It's pretty overwhelming.

 

While researching this today I also pulled up articles on the Naval Ammunition Depot in Hasting Nebraska. Apparently quite a bit of it is intact. If you pull it up on Google Maps, it will give you a pin point to where the memorial marker is. If you convert to the satellite view you will see rows and rows of production building. Less visible is if you keep scrolling east you will see dozens of earth mound bunkers still there. It is surreal.

 

From the links below, it looks like many of the buildings are still there, looking just as they did in 1945. Part of the reason they have been preserved is that some of the buildings have been repurposed as part of a community college.

 

http://www.adamshistory.org/index.php?opti...0&Itemid=42

 

http://sfmattyg.smugmug.com/Nebraska/Great...729&k=3jN38

 

http://www.pbase.com/kayleen/navammodep

 

http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMNPA_N...mmunition_Depot

 

http://nebraskabirding.blogspot.com/2009/0...tion-depot.html

Naval_ammunition_depot_3.jpg

Naval_ammunition_depot_2.jpg

Naval_ammunition_depot.jpg

Naval_ammunition_depot_4.jpg

Naval_ammunition_depot_5.jpg

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General Apathy

ken,

 

I just missed getting some shots of Boeings old factory #2, torn down in the last few months. I'll try to get over to Renton,(near Seattle), and get some shots of the B-29 factory. Boeings 737 line is located there now.

 

12thengr.

 

....................

 

Hi 12th, thanks for looking at the topic and offering to get some shots of the Boeing factory. look forward to seeing those if you have the time. :thumbsup:

 

ken

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General Apathy
All of this just reinforces how huge the military complex was that built our weaponry for WWII. It's pretty overwhelming.

 

While researching this today I also pulled up articles on the Naval Ammunition Depot in Hasting Nebraska. Apparently quite a bit of it is intact. If you pull it up on Google Maps, it will give you a pin point to where the memorial marker is. If you convert to the satellite view you will see rows and rows of production building. Less visible is if you keep scrolling east you will see dozens of earth mound bunkers still there. It is surreal.

 

Hi Gil, thanks once again for all the links you have thrown onto the topic, that NAD site at Hastings looks and reads like some monsterous facility in it's day when it was built. ;)

 

thanks

 

ken

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Yes it is Lewis. I've been there and I headed there Sat for a Militaria Show in Town. It goes on for miles and Miles. It something you would never see happen today. From farmland to a massive Complex in a short time. Its tough to estimate the bunkers but its hundreds and hundreds. We have a Ammo depot in the Southwest Corner of our state. I'll google it and post the picture if I can figure out how to do it again. I've been lax in commenting on your posts as its woodcutting time of the year as they have been cutting dead trees in the City and Dumping them down the street from me. Robert

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If your talking US wartime industrial production on a truly colossal scale, look no further than the old Willow Run plant. Awesome! :o

 

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Just googled it. Blackhills Army Depot. Was opened as Ft Igloo in 1942. Closed in 1967

www.warnerimages.com/gallery/igloo/index.html has lots of pictures. Robert

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General Apathy
Yes it is Lewis. I've been there and I headed there Sat for a Militaria Show in Town. It goes on for miles and Miles. It something you would never see happen today. From farmland to a massive Complex in a short time. Its tough to estimate the bunkers but its hundreds and hundreds. We have a Ammo depot in the Southwest Corner of our state. I'll google it and post the picture if I can figure out how to do it again. I've been lax in commenting on your posts as its woodcutting time of the year as they have been cutting dead trees in the City and Dumping them down the street from me. Robert

 

Robert, don't forget to split a few logs for me as I'm running low here. :lol:

 

Thanks for the mention on the previous Bunker hill complex and the new blackhills one you have added.

 

amazing that the government can close and abandon such large area's and just start again somewhere else.

 

cheers lewis

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General Apathy
If your talking US wartime industrial production on a truly colossal scale, look no further than the old Willow Run plant. Awesome! :o

 

 

 

Ian, thanks for adding the willow Run link, another large WWII industrial complex, a forge of freedom. :thumbsup:

 

ken

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Ian, thanks for adding the willow Run link, another large WWII industrial complex, a forge of freedom. :thumbsup:

 

ken

 

 

I'm not sure what might remain of such a vast complex today. Perhaps one of our American members could enlighten us as there must be something to mark its passing? Perhaps the airfield is still in use? :think:

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Robert, don't forget to split a few logs for me as I'm running low here. :lol:

 

Thanks for the mention on the previous Bunker hill complex and the new blackhills one you have added.

 

amazing that the government can close and abandon such large area's and just start again somewhere else.

 

cheers lewis

All these posts show just how massive the War effort was. The whole nation was involved. Robert

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All these posts show just how massive the War effort was. The whole nation was involved. Robert

 

You're not wrong there Robert...an awesome achievement! What fascinates are the names of small companies found on items of web-gear who in peacetime were producing things like gloves and garters...and then suddenly switched to ammo-pouches and haversacks etc, for the war effort!

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General Apathy
You're not wrong there Robert...an awesome achievement! What fascinates are the names of small companies found on items of web-gear who in peacetime were producing things like gloves and garters...and then suddenly switched to ammo-pouches and haversacks etc, for the war effort!

 

Hi Ian, possibly a firm favourite with the troops back then and also amusing to me was finding web gear and pouches marked ' My-Lady Brassiere Company ' :lol::lol::lol: wonder if this was the reason post war when numerical-alphabetical codes were used :think:

 

ken

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Hi Ian, possibly a firm favourite with the troops back then and also amusing to me was finding web gear and pouches marked ' My-Lady Brassiere Company ' :lol::lol::lol: wonder if this was the reason post war when numerical-alphabetical codes were used :think:

 

ken

 

 

Was it a pouch designed for holding two grenades Ken? :w00t: ;)

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Was it a pouch designed for holding two grenades Ken? :w00t: ;)

 

Hi Ian, the piece I was looking at today from my collection and made by the My-Lady Brassiere Company was an M-41 Hood and made for only one head, thankfully. :lol:;)

 

ken

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Hi Ian, the piece I was looking at today from my collection and made by the My-Lady Brassiere Company was an M-41 Hood and made for only one head, thankfully. :lol:;)

 

ken

 

Was it lace trimmed...and could you unfasten it, one-handed in the dark? (Field conditions!) ;)

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