Document 6wDJz4JRxzy0OXaBOygr2jmY3

BRAKE SHOE 1902-1962 SIXTY YEARS OF CHANGE AND PROGRESS In March 1902. a small group of farsighted men joined together to form the American Brake Shoe and Foundry Company by merging five small foundries into a single company. The new company made ar.d sold products, mostly brake shoes, to the railroads. The P.cdgling enterprise prospered from the beginning and made a profit in its first year. Soon the founders were looking for larger opportunities. Using the resources of the new company, they began expansion into other products for the railroads and industrial applications. The year 1910 brought the first important step in making products for industry. A subsidiary was organized to manufacture manganese steel castings for the mining and construction industries as well as the railroads. From then on, Brake Shoe branched out into many types of castings for industrial use. Another important product for the railroads was added in 1913 when the company acquired four cast iron wheel foundries and consolidated them into one subsidiary company. In 1920 the company entered the steel forgings business and this made it possible for Brake Shoe to serve still ether industries such as automotive, farm machinery and construction equipment. Brake Shoe further broadened its line of railroad products in 1922 with the addition of a company making trackwork. This brought about a degree of integration because trackwork required forgings and castings already mace by other divisions of the company. In 1926 a wholly new type of venture was started. Truck manufacturers and operators were encountering braking S' SCI 01818