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Locomotive Engineering, as the engineer, and Dick Miller, the locomotive shop superintendent, as the manufacturing man. In such a set-up as this and under the circumstances of the business as it was now developing, I had to take the lead in this group.  After Ralph Cordiner took the Company helm, management committees went out the window on the basis that a committee can't manage anything successfully.
    It was in 1940 that H.L.Andrews ceased to be our boss and Whitey Wilson took over, Andrews becoming the head of the appliance business. There was dead wood remaining in our department from such quiescent activities as railway electrification and local transit power supply systems and Whitey moved to weed this out through retirements, transfers and reassignments. Also he reorganized the operation in the process, making a new set-up of sections. When November 1940 came, Whitey had appointed permanent managers for all the new sections except Industrial Haulage. At the time I was reporting to Rudy Krape on the diesel work for the railroads, both small locomotives and equipments, but my biggest assignment throughout 1940 had been working to get substantial defense contracts for the plant. Whitey had postponed appointment of an Industrial Haulage manager because George Shapter, the senior and most logical man, in fact, the former boss, was a problem child with a very difficult personality and Whitey was reluctant to put him in charge of an operation which obviously was about to expand tremendously under the impact of war requirements. It was obvious therefore that whoever got the job was going to step into a difficult situation at best with Old Shap as he was referred to. 
    When I was appointed manager I had three men reporting to me plus a secretary who took care of all four of us with the aid of considerable Ediphone assistance.  The men follow:

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[[underline]] George H Shapter ("Shap)" [[[underline]] --  Shap was about 56 and with little doubt one of the best mining and industrial electric locomotive application and sales engineers in the country. He had been instrumental in selling GE towing locomotives for the Panama Canal locks and had been on hand to help put them in service in 1914. He knew mining locomotives and their requirements inside out, underground or open pit, trolley or battery operated, coal or metal, clean air or gassy. But he was a  Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. To his customers he was one of the most charming men imaginable but by the majority of his associates in GE not only in Erie but also in the district sales offices, he was rated a disagreeable, unreasonable man with whom it was sometimes nearly impossible to do business. He was famous for this to the point where some men would only contact ^[[him]] at certain times of the day because he was supposed to be in a better mood then. Why was he this way? The only story I ever heard which even attempted to explain it related an almost unbelievable tragedy in Shap's life: The story was that in backing out of his driveway, Shap had 

Transcription Notes:
1. removed period between 'anything' and 'successfully'