IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - September/October 2015 - 74

McQueen had intended these buildings to become the McQueen Locomotive Works, but this was not to be. With the
assistance of the town of Schenectady, which very much
wanted Edison to locate there, the two buildings were purchased to become the new home of the Edison Machine
Works in 1886.
In addition to the Machine Works, this location also
became the home for the Edison Tube Company and the
Edison Shafting Company. In 1888, these operations,
along with Edison's other manufacturing facilities, were
consolidated and became known as the Edison General
Electric Company.
The growth of the industrial complex was rapid,
much to the satisfaction of Schenectady. By 1888, a total
of 26 buildings were in use, and the employment was
somewhere between 750 and 800 workers. By 1891, it
was reported that the plant was run entirely by electric
power with motors totaling 1,800 hp. By 1892, a total of
53 buildings were in use, and employment had risen to
over 5,000 workers.
Then, in 1892, the financial interests behind Edison's
empire instigated a merger with the Thomson-Houston
Company of Lynn, Massachusetts, to introduce ac equipment manufacture to the Edison General Electric Company. This was much to the dismay of Edison who, by that
time, had developed a rather fanatical attachment to the
use of dc exclusively.
The new entity resulting from the merger was the General Electric Company, as Edison's name was dropped,
and the Schenectady location eventually became the home
plant of GE. The original McQueen buildings purchased
in 1886 became designated as Buildings 10 and 12. These
historic buildings, along with their original designations,
managed to survive into the late 20th century but then succumbed to demolition as the perceived future function of
the Schenectady plant changed drastically in the minds of
GE management.

substation Liners

transformer bags

www.reefindustries.com * TollFree1.800.231.6074

Westinghouse
George Westinghouse, Jr. formed the Westinghouse Electric Company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1886, the
same year that Edison began the relocation of his Edison
Machine Works to Schenectady. In fact, George Westinghouse had lived in Schenectady with his family for over
ten years prior to 1886. His father, George, Sr., had developed an agricultural equipment manufacturing business in
1836 in the small town of Central Bridge, west of Schenectady. George, Jr. was born there in 1846, but this father
relocated his business to Schenectady in 1856.
The Westinghouse factory was located not far from the
McQueen buildings that Edison purchased in 1886. This
factory was situated along the Erie Canal, which had been
completed in 1825 and ran through the center of the town.
The farm machinery produced by the Westinghouse factory was made primarily of wood and cast iron. As such, the

http://www.reefindustries.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - September/October 2015