 | |
 US&S head office located inSwissvale, Pennsylvania, as seen in 1929 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary (1917–)[1] |
|---|---|
| Industry | Electronics |
| Founded | 1881 |
| Founder | George Westinghouse |
| Defunct | January 2009; 16 years ago (2009-01)[2] |
| Fate | First acquired byWABCo in 1917, then other owners. In January 2009, it became "Ansaldo STS USA".[2] |
| Successor | Ansaldo STS USA[1] |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Railway signaling equipment, communication systems and services,level crossing signals |
Number of employees | 900 (2005) |
| Parent | Ansaldo STS (1988) |
Union Switch & Signal (commonly referred to asUS&S) was an American company based inPittsburgh,Pennsylvania, which focused onrailway signaling equipment, systems and services. The company was acquired by Ansaldo STS (from 2015,Hitachi Rail STS) in 1988,[1] operating as a wholly-owned company until January 2009, when US&S was renamed "Ansaldo STS USA" to operate as asubsidiary of Ansaldo in the Americas and Asia.[2]
George Westinghouse founded Union Switch & Signal Inc. in 1881, consolidating the assets of the Union Electric Signal Company (founded bytrack circuit inventorWilliam Robinson)[3] and the Interlocking Switch & Signal Company (which had pioneeredinterlockings).[4] In 1925 US&S acquired theHall Signal Company, primarily to obtain the latter company's patents forsearchlight signals.[5]
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US&S operated as anindependent company until 1917, when it became a subsidiary of theWestinghouse Air Brake Company (WABCO). In 1968,American Standard purchased WABCO and reorganized US&S as a separate division.[6]
In 1988,Ansaldo STS, a global supplier of signaling, control and automation systems, purchased US&S from American Standard.[4][7] In November 1993, US&S became apublicly traded company with shares listed onNasdaq.[4] In December 1996, US&S merged with the other signaling investments of Ansaldo. As a result of that merger, US&S became a wholly owned subsidiary of Ansaldo STS. The company was renamed Ansaldo STS – USA in January 2009.[8] Ansaldo was acquired byHitachi and Ansaldo STS becameHitachi Rail STS in 2019.
Throughout its history, US&S had manufacturing facilities in the borough ofSwissvale, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh. The Swissvale plant was closed in 1985 and demolished in 1986.[9] US&S moved manufacturing operations to a facility inBatesburg-Leesville, South Carolina.[7] It maintained a research facility in Pittsburgh.[10]
US&S built the firstpower interlocking system in the United States, apneumatic design, in 1882 atEast St. Louis, Illinois. Within several years the company developed an electro-pneumatic system, which was widely adopted by railroads across the country.[11]
In 1901 US&S developed the first electro-pneumatic automatictrain stop system for theBoston Elevated Railway. This system was later adopted by theNew York City Subway and other transit systems.[12] In 1908 the company introduced an electrically controlled highwaycrossing gate.[13]
In 1923 US&S developed the firstinductive train control system. (See alsopulse code cab signaling.) The company developedcoded track circuits, supporting bi-directional cab signaling, in 1934.[4]
The first digitalrail yard control system was built by US&S in 1970, for theAtchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railway atKansas City, Kansas.[4]
US&S first patented the Model 15A Highway crossing bell on February 20, 1917. The bell has been commonly referred to as the "Teardrop" bell by railroaders and signal fans alike because of its unique shape and thus the name has stuck. This bell has appeared on advertising literature for railroad signals as far back as the 1920s as far abroad as Chile and Italy on early wig wag crossings and flashers. There have been subtle variations in the Teardrop bell over the years ranging from different sized electric coils, inclusion of the patent date on the rain hood, as well as a very early version with a less characteristic rain hood that simply read "UNION, patent pending." This is the least commonly seen variation of the Teardrop. This bell is treasured by many signal collectors for its slow, low pitched ring at an irregular cadence. The production of this bell was discontinued sometime by the 1960s, but WABCO carried replacement castings and service manuals into the 1970s.
During theWorld War I theLe Rhône 9C 9 cylinder rotary engine was manufactured under license by Union Switch & Signal. It was one of the most common engines for fighter planes from different companies and around 10,000 were made at Swissvale.[14]
Union Switch & Signal was one of the five contractors (includingColt,Remington-Rand,Ithaca Gun Company, andSinger Sewing Machine) to makeM1911A1 pistols duringWorld War II. The production blocks assigned to them in 1943 were between SN's 1,041,405 to 1,096,404. Colt duplicated 4,171 pistols in the 1,088,726 to 1,092,896 SN range. Since only 55,000 1911A1's were produced by US&S, they are highly collectible. The reason for the low production numbers is US&S was the last company awarded a government contract and as requirements were reduced in early 1943, the last contract awarded became the first to be cancelled. As a general rule, US&S produced high quality pistols. With the government-owned machine tooling already in place at US&S, they were offered a subcontract arrangement to produce M1 Carbine components. Only Singer produced fewer 1911A1's at 500 total production.[15]
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