Niles Car and Manufacturing Company

1908 Niles advertisement

The Niles Car and Manufacturing Company was a United States manufacturer of railroad equipment, including many streetcar and interurban cars.^[1] It was founded in 1901 in Niles, Ohio, and 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.^[2][3] 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.^[4]

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."^[5][6]

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
• Buffalo, Lockport and Rochester Railway
• 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
• 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

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Hilton, George W.; Due, John F. (2000) [1960]. The Electric Interurban Railways in America. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-4014-3. 
2. ↑ "Baker's Brother got a Contract" (PDF). The New York Times. February 1, 1918. pp. 1, 6. 
3. ↑ Faurote, Fay L. (Ed.) (February 1919). The Aircraft Year Book. New York City, New York: Manufacturers Aircraft Association, Inc. pp. 149–153. Retrieved September 30, 2007. 
4. ↑ Barber, H.L. (1917). Story of the Automobile: Its History and Development from 1760 to 1917. Chicago, Illinois: A.J. Munson & Co. p. 238. Retrieved September 30, 2007. 
5. ↑ "Niles Car & Manufacturing Company". Archived from the original on February 11, 2007. Retrieved September 30, 2007. 
6. ↑ American Street Railway Investments: Fifteenth Annual Volume: 1908. McGraw Publishing Company. 1908. p. XXI. Retrieved September 30, 2007.