Original 1946 Caterpillar Tractor Co. “Training Data” manual, a hardbound internal technical reference used for employee shop training at Caterpillar.
The manual is housed in a black textured binder with gilt titles reading “Training Data” and “Caterpillar Tractor Co.”
An internal index sheet is dated August 13, 1946, firmly placing this manual in Caterpillar’s immediate post-World War II training era.
Unlike a general company brochure, this was a practical technical reference intended for machinists, apprentices, and shop employees learning Caterpillar manufacturing methods and machine-tool operation.
Major sections include:
Individual sections include both general information and machine-specific material, making this a broad shop-training reference rather than a simple orientation booklet.
Ideal For:
A particularly strong collectible for:
Why It Matters:
This manual provides a rare look inside Caterpillar’s actual technical training system.
Rather than documenting finished tractors or corporate finances, it shows the knowledge Caterpillar expected its shop employees to master — machine tools, cutting tools, gauges, heat treatment, foundry work, formulas, and shop terminology.
The 1946 date is especially interesting, coming immediately after World War II when Caterpillar was transitioning from wartime production into the enormous postwar demand for construction, agricultural, mining, and industrial equipment.
Internal shop-training manuals were practical working documents and were not produced for the general public, so survival rates are generally much lower than for sales catalogs and annual reports.
Publication Details: