Geo D. Whitcomb Company

Early in life, George Dexter Whitcomb moved with his family from Brandon, VT, to Kent, OH. Here he joined the Pan-Handle Railroad as purchasing agent. He worked on tests of the newly invented Westinghouse Air Brake and was one of the original stockholders and members of the board of directors of the Westinghouse Air Brake Company, when it was organized.

In 1868, George and his wife Leadora had a son, William Card Whitcomb. In 1889, William Card graduated from the University of Southern California and joined his father's business.

In about 1870, George moved to Chicago and became the manager of the Wilmington Coal Mining and Manufacturing Company's mines at Braidwood, IL. He also managed the Wilmington Coal Association. He purchased the rights to the Harrison Mining Machine, a compressed air power pick that could be used by one person. He developed it into the "Puncher Machine" - the first successful undercutting machine in the US. He resigned his position with the coal company about 1878 to focus on mining machine business.

In 1886, he relocated to California where he built a home and founded the Los Angeles suburb of Glendora. In 1896, the George D. Whitcomb Company was incorporated in Illinois.

About 1900, William became vice president of the company. In April 1906, he developed the company's first successful gasoline locomotive that was built for a large Central Illinois coal mine. In 1907, George resigned, leaving William the president and majority stock owner.

The Geo D. Whitcomb Company's largest knitting machinery customer was the Vassar Swiss Knitting Company of Rochelle, in northern Illinois. In 1907, the company moved to Rochelle, where they continued to build knitting machinery and gasoline powered locomotives for coal and metal mines. The demand for gasoline locomotive required larger production facilities. In 1912 the plant was moved to larger facilities in Rochelle. The company ended its knitting machinery production to concentrate on locomotive production.

George Dexter Whitcomb died in 1914, in Los Angeles, California. His son, William Card Whitcomb, assumed control of the company. William was responsible for sales, accounting and engineering.

During World War I the Whitcomb plant was devoted to government orders. Hundreds of armor-plated locomotives were built for overseas service on trench railways in France. These small 6-ton and 9-ton, narrow gauge locomotives proved highly efficient in trench warfare and they were used extensively in hauling needed supplies up to the front lines. The Whitcomb Company received the "Certificate of Merit" from the United States War Department.

Many new innovations in the locomotive field were being introduced during this period. The first explosion-proof electric mine locomotive was designed and built by Whitcomb, in 1914. After exhaustive tests the United States Bureau of Mines issued Whitcomb a "Permissibility Plate." Whitcomb was the first builder of locomotives for underground work to receive such an endorsement. The first Whitcomb electric trolley locomotive was produced in 1921, and in 1929 Whitcomb engineers designed and built the largest gasoline-electric locomotive that had then been offered to American railroads. This development was closely followed by the diesel-electrics, which revolutionized and forever changed the American rail transportation system.