Hi Ron and Del: When I was at Baldwin, I learned that at one time when both the Kelly Foundry and the Wickham foundry were on strike at the same time, Baldwin made welded plates in order to stay in production. They were made to look pretty much like the cast plates, but were much smoother. As a result of this extra expense, they started getting plates from a 3rd foundry in AR. Eventually Kelly and Wickham made sure their union contracts would never coincide again. Jim Coleman, Sr.
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