GM Fairfax Investment..

[FangKC]

The Darby Corporation was near Kaw Point on the Kansas River and located in Kansas City, Kansas.  The company started off as Darby Boiler Works, then became Kansas City Boiler Works, and later the Darby Corporation.  In addition to the landing craft, Darby built railroad cars.

Here is a postcard showing the landing craft being launched into the Kansas River.

http://kchistory.org/cdm4/item_viewer.p ... OX=1&REC=7

[FangKC]

KC's wartime output was impressive:

Ammunition from Lake City and Sunflower
B-25 production from KCK's Fairfax plant
Pratt Whitney engine plant (Bendix) for several aircraft including the Corsair
Higgins Boats

I suspect the Leeds Plant probably was on a war footing too but I have no idea what they made there.  


Edit...tried to answer my own question but found this rather interesting article for those that might be history buffs about KC in the pre WWII to WWII era.  My interest is peaked because my father, his father and even his father owned and operated restaurants in the old KC industrial areas along the Blue River and Winner Road and when those areas evaporated, so did the restaurants. 

http://www.umkc.edu/whmckc/PUBLICATIONS ... -28-93.pdf

Here is a link to KCPT's list of wartime production.

http://www.kcpt.org/over_here/prod2.html

[FangKC]

More on Darby Corp war materials.  They also made bomb casings, and during WWII, about 40 percent of their workforce were women.

http://ww2lct.org/newsletter/vol4--2/v4-2-p4.pdf

[FangKC]

Kansas City Structural Steel in the Argentine District of Kansas City, Kansas, 21st and Metropolitan, also built landing craft for the war effort.

http://kchistory.org/cdm4/item_viewer.p ... OX=1&REC=3

http://ww2lct.org/newsletter/vol4--2/v4-2-p4.pdf

[FangKC]

Darby Corp. landing craft being rolled into the Kansas River.

[bbqboy]

I didn't know the steel plant built those also.
I wonder if they launched them into the Kaw.

[FangKC]

I came across this article about potential flooding affecting these ships placed in a park in Omaha.

It made me wonder why we don't have examples of the Darby landing craft built here placed somewhere--like Berkley Riverside Park.

http://www.omaha.com/article/20110531/NEWS01/110539967

[FangKC]

It looks like GM Fairfax will stop making the Buick LaCrosse and retool to build a new, small Cadillac SUV.

GM's product shuffling should boost Fairfax

It appears that the 3,500 employees at the Fairfax Assembly Plant in Kansas City, Kan., are about to gain additional job security for the next several years.

When General Motors Co. unveiled its newly redesigned 2017 Buick LaCrosse, it came with news that the vehicle no longer would be produced at Fairfax. Although that initially appeared to be bad news, it now looks like removing the LaCrosse cleared the way for Fairfax to gain a major retooling investment for producing a brand-new vehicle.

...

Although GM isn’t sharing details about the type of vehicle coming to Fairfax, persistent rumors are swirling that it will be a brand-new, small crossover vehicle called the Cadillac XT3.

http://tinyurl.com/hpyzfop

[loftguy]

Looks like a 2004 Lexus RX330...

[taxi]

One man buys a nickel sack, another buys a Cadillac.

[Cratedigger]

https://www.reuters.com/business/autos- ... 023-11-06/

GM to build the Chevy Bolt at Fairfax beginning in 2025. Nice to have an investment in another (mostly) EV being made in KC.

[FangKC]

GM's Fairfax plant will end Malibu production, then retool to start making an EV

General Motors' Fairfax Assembly Plant will swap out the Chevrolet Malibu for the Bolt electric vehicle after a $391 million retooling set to start in November in Kansas City, Kansas.
...
The Kansas City, Kansas, plant will produce one more model year for the Malibu for 2025 before shutting down. The company hasn't shared its future plans for the vehicle.

The new Bolt will replace a vehicle that was produced at GM's Orion Plant in Lake Orion, Michigan, until December 2023.

GM rolled out the Bolt as a subcompact EV in 2016. The car won praise from reviewers and became one of the best-selling plug-in EVs before being hobbled by a series of recalls. The company said in July that it would produce a new Bolt, updated with technology from the company’s Ultium batteries.
...

https://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/ ... 9&empos=p1

[alejandro46]

The Bolt was a pretty good car - cheap, 250 miles range, good charging. Glad GM is continuing to invest in Fairfax.

[GRID]

It's been amazing that Ford and GM have always treated KC's assembly plants as top plants within both companies. So many cities have lost assembly plants once they need retooling.

[FangKC]

In the 1950s and 60s, Missouri was second to Michigan in the number of vehicles produced. If you combine Missouri and Kansas, there are hundreds of auto-related manufacturing facilities that service local auto plants and others. Kansas City being the second largest rail center in the country also benefits the local auto plants because it's so easy to ship vehicles to all parts of the country.

Many related industries like ALTEC and Custom Truck One Source produce aftermarket service and utility vehicles.

Custom Truck has taken over almost all of the former ARMCO steel plant buildings in the Old Northeast.

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.1051125 ... ?entry=ttu

Missouri and Kansas have a reputation for highly productive and loyal workers so that probably helps a great deal. There are a lot of highly skilled manufacturing workers here.

[shinatoo]

In the 1950s and 60s, Missouri was second to Michigan in the number of vehicles produced. If you combine Missouri and Kansas, there are hundreds of auto-related manufacturing facilities that service local auto plants and others. Kansas City being the second largest rail center in the country also benefits the local auto plants because it's so easy to ship vehicles to all parts of the country.

Many related industries like ALTEC and Custom Truck One Source produce aftermarket service and utility vehicles.

Custom Truck has taken over almost all of the former ARMCO steel plant buildings in the Old Northeast.

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.1051125 ... ?entry=ttu

Missouri and Kansas have a reputation for highly productive and loyal workers so that probably helps a great deal. There are a lot of highly skilled manufacturing workers here.

I believe Leeds was the first automotive manufacturing plant outside of Michigan. Rail and river transport played a big role in that.

[FangKC]

The Kansas City Winchester Ford plant at 12th and Winchester preceded the GM Leeds plant, which is about 25 blocks south. Ford Winchester was the first plant outside Michigan.

https://kchistory.org/index/ford-quitti ... ffset%5D=3

https://kchistory.org/index/show-yourse ... ffset%5D=4

[shinatoo]

The Kansas City Winchester Ford plant at 12th and Winchester preceded the GM Leeds plant, which is about 25 blocks south. Ford Winchester was the first plant outside Michigan.

https://kchistory.org/index/ford-quitti ... ffset%5D=3

https://kchistory.org/index/show-yourse ... ffset%5D=4

I sit corrected.