Iron Fireman Manufacturing Company During World War Two
Portland, OR
1923-1974 when purchased by Boeing
Cleveland, OH
1929-2000
 Franklin Park, Illinois
2000-2011

This page added 9-26-2024.

What a cool and unique vehicle!  I almost did not take the opportunity to see and learn about this at the MVPA-HA National Convention at Oshkosh, WI which took place August 12-14, 2024.  I had been debating for the prior several weeks as to whether I wanted to make the long journey to the convention.  I was unsure of how it would provide anything new of interest to me.  Of late, MVPA conventions and shows, both national and local, have seen a decrease in World War Two vehicles and an increase in more modern military vehicles.  I am interested in World War Two vehicles and the post war military vehicles are not of much interest to me.  In the end, I decided to make the trip because there was also the EAA Museum, and the Military Veterans Museum located within a couple of miles of where the MVPA convention was being held on the EAA grounds.  Both of these museums, along with the few new items I saw at the MVPA convention, made the trip worthwhile. 

If I hadn't of gone, I would never have seen this very unique T36 snow tractor built by the Iron Fireman Company of Portland, OR.  I would not have learned about the company and had a chance to research it and learn how it helped win World War Two.  While the T36 is an interesting product, the company produced 7.6% of the 2,500 hp triple reduction steam engines used in the very important Liberty cargo ships of World War Two.  The Liberty ship engines were where the Iron Fireman Company made the most important contribution to winning World War Two.

When I first saw the company name of Iron Fireman, I thought of a firefighter.  But the name of the company goes back to when coal was the main heating fuel in the United States.  The "Fireman" in the name references the person who stoked and fed coal into the furnace.  Steam locomotives all had an operator called a fireman to do this.  Once I learned that the company made mechanical stokers, its name made sense.  It is also a name that is easily remembered. 

The company's logo consisted of an iron fireman shoveling coal. 

The History of Iron Fireman:

In 1923 Thomas Harry Banfield and Cyrus Jury Parker took over an iron works in Portland, Oregon that was manufacturing a small coal stoker that automatically fed coal to the furnace. Relatively quickly, they found out it didn’t work very well, so the men redesigned it and named it the Iron Fireman®.  U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) records indicate that, according to information provided by the company, the name and logo were first used, and first used in commerce, on July 1, 1923.  The USPTO records also suggest that the name and logo were first registered as trademarks sometime in 1925. Relatively quickly, it became a commercial success. In 1928 both men were involved in an air crash which claimed Parker’s life. Banfield recovered and succeeded Parker in company leadership.

The automatic coal stokers were used for both residential and commercial building furnaces.  In homes, which was called the Iron Fireman Jr., it eliminated the need for someone to have to periodically shovel coal into the furnace, all day and all night.  We did not have one of these in our first house, which was originally coal fired.  I remember going down in the basement when I was really young to watch my father shovel coal into the furnace from the coal bin.  He also had a long steel rod with a hook on the end of it to stoke the fire.  My parents converted to natural gas just before or while I was in kindergarten. 

In industry, it was a labor savings as men were no longer needed to tend fires and stroke the steam boilers. Coal was the heating fuel of choice for the first half of the century in this country.  Therefore, the Iron Fireman was a product sought after by both home owners and commercial companies.

In 1945, the coal stoker business of the Portland plant was moved to Cleveland, OH and consolidated with that plant's oil burner business.  However, this was not the end of the Iron Fireman plant in Portland.  The plant switched product lines and began making aerospace products for Boeing aircraft and USAF guided missiles.  The Portland site became known as the Portland Division of the company.  In 1961 the company merged with the  Electronic Specialty Company (ESCO).  After the merger, the Portland plant continued to produce aerospace components until it was purchased in 1974 by Boeing.

Following the World War Two, the company developed oil fired burners at their Cleveland facility and consolidated the business to that location.  By 1960 Iron Fireman had a commanding presence in commercial power burner sales – reportedly about 60% of the US market. Because coal had lost its place as the major heating fuel to oil and natural gas, the coal stoker business was sold to the Will-Burt company in 1966.  

In 2000 Iron Fireman was acquired by Vapor Power, who moved operations to Franklin Park, Illinois, where they operated until production ceased in December 2011.  Vapor Power then sold all remaining assets for burners of the Iron Fireman business to OEM Boiler Parts Inc., of Elizabethtown, PA, including all engineering and sales records, parts inventory, and production tooling. 

This page will focus on the original Portland, OR operation of the company.

The Iron Fireman Manufacturing Company's World War Two Products:  Even before the United States entered World War Two, the Iron Fireman Manufacturing Company was making both aluminum and steel machined components for use on Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses.  In August 1940, Boeing was awarded a $130,000,000 contract from the USAAF for 512 B-17Es.  The Iron Fireman Manufacturing Company then received a $1,200,000 contract from Boeing to produce 700 machined part numbers for the 512 B-17Es.  The Iron Fireman Manufacturing Company then purchased 100 machine tools worth $250,000 to be able to produce the parts for Boeing.  By April 1941, the company had 200 machinists working 24 hours a day, five days a week, turning out the B-17 components.  Concurrently, the company also had 200 workers making coal stokers.  The Iron Fireman Manufacturing Company also purchased a second plant with 16,000 square feet of floor space for its new machine tools.   

The first defense contracts awarded to the Iron Fireman Manufacturing Company had were with the Boeing Company to produce 700  different machined parts, both steel and aluminum for the 512 B-17Es like this one on display at the National WWII Museum in New Orleans, LA.  Image courtesy of Ronyeh.

Table 1 shows that the Iron Fireman Manufacturing Company's Cleveland, OH plant was awarded $2,163,000 in major contracts during World War Two.  Table 2 shows that the Portland, OR plant had $42,878,000 in major contracts during the war.  Its largest contract was for $36,875,000 for the engines used in the Liberty ships.  This one contract was 86% of the total major contracts the company received for the war effort.  Table 4 indicates that the Iron Fireman Manufacturing Company produced 209 Liberty ship engines in 15 months during 1942-43.  This was 7.6% of the total engines required.

In 1942, the company became one of twenty companies that formed Oregon War Industries, Inc. in Portland, OR.  This organization pooled resources in order to obtain war contracts that the smaller companies may not have been awarded on their own.  It also allowed member companies access to other company's facilities when needed to complete a contract.

The Iron Fireman Manufacturing Company is another prime example of many companies during World War Two that manufactured products totally unrelated to their peacetime product line.  The company's production of B-17 aircraft components, 250,000 lb. Liberty ship engines, snow tractors, and bomb fuzes shows that the company produced a wide variety of products to help win World War Two totally unrelated to its peacetime coal stokers.

2,750 Liberty ships were built during World War Two.  The 209 engines the Iron Fireman Manufacturing Company produced  7.6% of the total needed.  Each ship had one engine.

The engines were 23 feet in height and weighed 250,000 lbs.  There were 15,542 individual parts in the engine.  This was not like anything the company had produced in peacetime and shows the Iron Fireman Manufacturing Company's ability to adapt and then build such a massive device. Image from Instructions for the operation and maintenance of 2500 I.H.P.-24 1/2-37-70 x 48"-76 R.P.M. vertical triple expansion marine steam engines for the United States Maritime Commission EC2-S-C1 cargo vessels.

 Image from Instructions for the operation and maintenance of 2500 I.H.P.-24 1/2-37-70 x 48"-76 R.P.M. vertical triple expansion marine steam engines for the United States Maritime Commission EC2-S-C1 cargo vessels.

This launching of the Liberty ship James Eagan Layne shows the type of vessel it was.  Image courtesy of M. Layne.

The engine was located in the center of the ship.  U.S. Maritime Commission image.

This image better shows that the propeller shaft ran almost half the length of the ship.  Image courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.

Another diverse World War Two product of the Iron Fireman Manufacturing Company was the T36 snow tractor.  As noted above, I photographed this at the 2014 MVP-HA National Convention in Oshkosh, WI.  Author's photo.

 I was totally unaware of such a vehicle and found this a welcome surprise at the convention.  Author's photo.

 Table 3 shows that there were 36 accepted by Army Ordnance in 1944.  Table 2 indicates the contract amount for the 36 vehicles was $518,000 which is a cost of $14,889 per unit.  Author's photo.

 This is one of four T36s that still exist.  Author's photo.

 Author's photo.

 Author's photo.

 Author's photo.

 Author's photo.

The owner had four information sheets placed in one of the windows.  I have included all four, as they are comprehensive in providing information on this very rare and unique vehicle.  This one is from "U.S. Military Tracked Vehicles" by Fred W. Crismon.  Author's photo.

This and the next two information sheets are by the vehicle's owner.  Author's photo.

Author's photo.

Author's photo.

The Iron Fireman Manufacturing Company Portland, OR Plant:

The original building at 984 SE 17th St.  Portland OR, was built in the 1920’s for the Iron Fireman.  Two Iron Fireman logos can be seen on the building.  Image courtesy of Iron Fireman Collective.

What is really cool is the original Iron Fireman Manufacturing Company building still exists and is in current use.  This photo replicating the photo above was taken by Google Maps in June 2019. 

The Iron Fireman Collective at 4784 SE 17th Avenue, Portland, OR was established in 2016 as a tribute to the original Iron Fireman factory building to provide spaces crafted for makers, manufacturers, fabricators, innovators, and entrepreneurs.  The plant was fully renovated for modern day production. This 1920 146,000 SF building on the corner of  SE 17th Avenue and SE Schiller Street appears to be a nondescript two story restored factory building.  The building is in the same location it always has been.  The address system changed in the last 100 years.  Image courtesy of Google Maps.

This image of the back side of the factory shows the original red brick that has not been repainted.  Repainting old factories for being repurposed is common as they make the buildings look better.  Image courtesy of Google Maps.

This and the next five photos are all courtesy of Google Earth and give a 360 degree view of the factory.  All show that the Iron Fireman Manufacturing Company plant expanded to fill one city block.  

Iron Fireman ashtrays can be found on today's online auction sites.