Gilbert Car Company
| Industry | rail transport |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1830 |
| Defunct | 1895 |
| Fate | receivership and liquidation |
| Headquarters | , United States |
| Products | railroad freight cars, passenger cars and streetcars |
Gilbert Car Company was a railroad car builder based in Troy, New York.[1] It began manufacturing streetcars in the late 1880s. Gilbert cars were sold and exported worldwide.[2][3][4][5][6]
Founded by Orsamus Eaton (1792–1872) and Uri Gilbert (1809–1888), the company changed names several times as the partnership changed:
- 1830 Eaton and Gilbert
- 1844 Eaton, Gilbert & Co[7]
- 1862 Uri Gilbert and Son
- 1864 Gilbert, Bush & Company[8]
- 1879 Gilbert & Bush Co
- 1882 Gilbert Car Manufacturing Co[9]
- 1889 Taylor Electric Truck Company
In 1879, Gilbert leased the Buffalo Car Works facility in Buffalo, which had a capacity of five to twelve new cars per day.[10] The Gilbert company saw some success in 1881 when it secured an order for several hundred refrigerator cars for the newly established American Refrigerator Transit Company.[11] In 1886, Gilbert leased the Jones Car Works of Schenectady.[12]
Following the Panic of 1893, and the death in March 1893 of company president Edward Gilbert, son of Uri Gilbert,[8] the company entered receivership in August 1893.[13][14][9][15] Only a few months earlier, Gilbert had completed construction of a hundred cars for New York Central Railroad passenger trains.[16] Then in 1895, the company stopped building rail cars.[1] Upon closure, the plant value was estimated at $400,000 (equivalent to $14,649,600 in 2023).[17] In 1899, the plant was rumored to be the target of acquisition for conversion into an automobile manufacturing facility.[18][19]
Products
[edit]- freight cars
- passenger cars
- drawing room cars
- sleepers
- monitor roof or clerestory ("clear-story") cars
- horse cars
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b "Gilbert, Bush & Company". Builders of Wooden Railway Cars. North Freedom, WI: Mid-Continent Railway Museum. Retrieved January 18, 2011.
- ^ "The Railroads". The Buffalo Times. Buffalo, New York. February 22, 1884. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Railway Cars for England". Coldwater Enterprise. Coldwater, Kansas. October 10, 1891. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "American Cars on English Roads". The Sun. New York, NY. October 3, 1891. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Mann Cars Going Abroad". The Times-Picayune. New Orleans, Louisiana. July 29, 1885. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "For the South Australian Railways". The Morning Journal-Courier. New Haven, Connecticut. July 27, 1885. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "6 Troy Cars Set British Rail History". The Troy Record. Troy, New York. November 2, 1964. p. 22 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Edward Granger Gilbert". New York Tribune. New York, NY. March 8, 1893. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Failures East and West – Gilbert Car Manufacturing Company in the Hands of a Receiver". The Inter-Ocean. Chicago. August 17, 1893. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Gilbert Car Company". The Buffalo Commercial. Buffalo, New York. October 14, 1879. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Railroads". Buffalo Morning Express and Illustrated Buffalo Express. Buffalo, New York. May 3, 1881. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Local Railway News". Democrat and Chronicle. Rochester, New York. November 30, 1886. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Big Concerns In Trouble". The New York Times. August 17, 1893. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Gilbert Car Company's Assets". Buffalo Evening News. Buffalo, New York. August 18, 1893. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Car Manufacturers Fail – The Gilbert Company of Troy Closed by the Sheriff". The Salt Lake Herald. Salt Lake City, Utah. August 17, 1893. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Notes and Personals". St. Louis Globe-Democrat. St. Louis, Missouri. June 26, 1893. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Gilbert Car Company Failure". Democrat and Chronicle. Rochester, New York. July 11, 1895. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Auto-Truck Trust To Be Formed Here". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, New York. May 29, 1899. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Automobile Company's Plant". The Sun. New York, NY. May 25, 1899. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
