Niles Car and Manufacturing Company
The Niles Car and Manufacturing Company was an American manufacturer of railroad equipment, including many streetcar and interurban cars.[1] It was founded in 1901 in Niles, Ohio and published catalogs showcasing their various cars.[2]
Niles specialized in building wooden-bodied cars in the heyday of interurban building.[1] Its cars had a reputation of being well-built and stylish; Niles advertising called them "The Electric Pullmans."[3][4]
The company also produced equipment for the trucking industry, an industry reference citing 2 models of 1 and 2 tons respectively, costing $1500 to $2400, utilizing a worm drive and custom bodies to suit.[5]
The company ceased producing railroad cars in 1917. The plant and equipment were purchased by the Engel Aircraft Company to produce aircraft parts for the United States Army Signal Corps.[6][7]
Customers
Niles' clients included[1] the:
- Aurora Elgin and Chicago Railroad (later the Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad); including the oldest operating interurban in the US (#20)
- Bamberger Electric Railroad
- Fort Dodge, Des Moines and Southern Railway
- Northern Electric Railway (later part of the Sacramento Northern Railway)
- The Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company
- Northern Ohio Traction & Light
- Pacific Northwest Traction Company
- Rochester, Lockport and Buffalo Railroad
- Rock Island Southern Railway
- San Francisco, Napa and Calistoga Railway
- St. Paul Southern Railway
- The Chicago Lake Shore and South Bend Railway
- Toledo, Port Clinton and Lakeside Railway
- Toronto Civic Railways (DE DT M - late TTC Class H, H1 and H3 cars).
- Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railway
- Yakima Valley Transportation Company
- Youngstown and Ohio River Railroad
References
- Hilton, George W.; Due, John Fitzgerald (1960). The Electric Interurban Railways in America. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-4014-2. OCLC 237973.
- See, e.g., "Niles Cars 1914," a reproduction of one of their catalogs, illustrated with photos and blueprints (Electric Railway Historical Society Bulletin No. 30, 1958).
- "Niles Car & Manufacturing Company". Archived from the original on February 11, 2007. Retrieved September 30, 2007.
- American Street Railway Investments: Fifteenth Annual Volume: 1908 (PDF). McGraw Publishing Company. 1908. p. XXI. Retrieved September 30, 2007.
- Barber, H.L. (1917). Story of the Automobile: Its History and Development from 1760 to 1917 (PDF). Chicago, Illinois: A.J. Munson & Co. p. 238. Retrieved September 30, 2007.
- "Baker's Brother got a Contract" (PDF). The New York Times. February 1, 1918. pp. 1, 6.
- Faurote, Fay L. (Ed.) (February 1919). The Aircraft Year Book (PDF). New York City, New York: Manufacturers Aircraft Association, Inc. pp. 149–153. Retrieved September 30, 2007.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
External links
