Opening of G. M. Diesel, London, Ontario
Date1950
Credit LineGift of the Lawson Family, 2004
Object number2004.037.064
Label TextHere the Honourable Ray Lawson, Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario (1949-1952) poses with R. S. McLaughlin, C. E. Wilson, E. V. Rippingille, Jr., and Charles Kettering at the official opening of London's General Motors Diesel Limited on August 11, 1950. The new plant, a branch of Electro Motive Division of General Motors based in La Grange, Illinois, allowed that company to meet the needs of a booming Canadian market and avoid high tariffs. In the 1950s, Canadian railways had begun to shift from steam to diesel locomotives. The plant closed in 2012.
NamePhotograph
George Speake
