History St Paul Ford Plant closing after 86 years.

After building every thing from Model Ts , M-8 Greyhound armored cars, The 49 Ford, 65 Galaxy 500s and various trucks and other Ford cars since 1925 the St Paul. Mn. The last Ranger truck will roll off the line tomorrow.
Ford Plant is closing it's doors. A victim of the economy and slow Ranger truck sales. It's kind of a sad sign of the times. Watching the news story on the tube tonight was pretty moving. the history, the people who have worked there so long. Losing good paying jobs and just the feeling of loss. This might be OT but that's were a lot of our toys and dream machines have started.

 

Thats sad, Hate to see a once proud ford plant being shut down. Same things happening in Australia, Ford and Holden are "RESTRUCTURING" what a load of shit, if im correct the manufacture of there vehicals is being shipped off shore. If this is a continuing trend then in a few years the only thing on the market will be chinese and korean crap. Lets hope not.
Sad news for all those honest hard working employees

 

Well, the Ranger is being canned anyway? I have 225K on mine but a fullsize would have served me better for pulling and mileage. Ranger=18mph Chevy 1500=18mph, but I looked good in my cramped pickup!

And this is traditional why?

 

Cuz they used to build old cars there...

 

Was lucky enough to take the tour twice. Saw some Rangers gettin' built. Also saw a couple things that made me giggle.

#1 Bodies were all welded together and then the doors and fenders and box would be set on a jig. This jig sat on a conveyor belt and would run across the street to the paint plant and then come back to be set on the frame. On the side of one unpainted box someone had written in paint or ink or marker "BOB IS GAY". It was about 1.5 feet tall letters, and impossible to miss. Our tour guide ignored it, so I figured it most likely happened a lot.

#2 A friend of mine spotted a room near the end of the line that had a S10 and a Tacoma all ripped apart, not disassembled, ripped apart. No clue what that was about and we never asked.

#3 Was the local news team that busted the factory workers drinking in the park across the street. Turns out the were off the clock, but it made the news.

I told my Grandma and Great Aunt about the tour. They toured it in the 30's. That would have been a fun tour.

 

They'll still build them in Canada or Mexico!I think they've been assembling Fords in those countries for a long time!
I think it is a combo of "high paying jobs" & Owner greed that has companies moving out, but the "owner "greed is still there, poor workers are the ones suffering
JimV

 

Another CORPORATE GREED stab at the American workers loyalty!
Another CORPORATE GREED stab at the foundation of this country !
Another CORPORATE GREED way to demoralize the American worker mentally!

 

Union labor #1 and #2 rangers suck and #3 americans still buying jap crap.

 

When I was in vo-tech school in Pipestone, MN, our class took a tour of the St. Paul Ford plant. They were building '73 Torinos at that time. I'll never forget seeing a man using an impact driver that installed 5 lug nuts at once. I also recall seeing a worker leading the weld joint of a car's roof to the quarter panel. It was a fascinating factory to see. Sorry to hear that it's going away.

 

Oh, you don't like us union members?

 

Depends on which union you are with. Steelworkers and Boilermakers are some of the finest organized labor out there. Hard working and not wanting to screw the company. UAW and their skilled trades have got to be the worst. There are a few that are an exception but the majority are incredibly lazy and don't give a shit about the company. If this hurts your feelings, to bad.

 

i hate to see part of our history disappear.but time marches on.there are alot of reasons for its closing.one is the american love of import cars and trucks.i think thats #1,but there are plenty of others. as far as unions,which im not a member.if it wasnt for unions no one would be making the wages that we make today.even if you never have been a member of a union you have benefited from them.but i will admit some have pushed to hard.but in the long run they got us better wages, better working conditions and benefits.the shops that pay union wages without the union do so to keep the unions out.keep your people happy and they wont turn on you.

 

How about those Lions???....

 

Lions? Where?

Well, Ford did have a plant near London ON at #4 highway...it is now closed...

By the way...does anyone have any photos of that plant? Or any others?

 

Last week Harley -Davidson shut down Castalloy here in Adelaide, Australia. 200 jobs to go next year.
Your Harley wheels are gonna come from China.

 

And this is traditional why?[/QUOTE]

History.

 

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