The LeBlond "Portable Engine Lathe" was made in 15", 17" and 19" swing versions and advertised as being suitable for use in "railway workshops, arsenals and battleships" - though one hopes that a method of locking the wheels was provided for when sea conditions were other then a flat calm …..

Although not specialising in the type, LeBlond also produced a lathe advertised as a "Toolroom" model. Any lathe in the range could be supplied to this specification which, besides selective assembly also included a range of options including taper turning, draw-in collets, coolant and chip tray and a relieving or backing off attachment.

LeBlond "Style D" motor mount.
A very early installation of an integral motor drive unit on the back of a lathe. Quite why it took so long for this neat, space saving deign to be adopted  by all lathe manufactures is a mystery.
Makers of lathes with open, flat-belt drive headstocks who hesitated to develop geared-head machines, yet wanted to include a self-contained machine in their line, had little choice but to mount individual electric motors and their countershaft above the spindle line so making the lathes even more top heavy and cumbersome in appearance.
With the coming of V belts compact, short-centre drives were possible and proved very popular for commercial installation running production machinery - although the machine above used not a belt, but a "Morse Silent Chain". Some toolroom lathes, however, continued to rely to this day upon the much smoother running flat belt.