American Car and Foundry Company

American Car and Foundry (often abbreviated as ACF) is a manufacturer of railroad rolling stock and locomotives. It was once a bus manufacturer under the ACF-Brill name. Today ACF is known as ACF Industries LLC and is based in St. Charles, Missouri. [cite web| url=http://hoovers.com/free/search/simple/xmillion/index.xhtml?query_string=ACF+industries&which=company&page=1&search_x=23&search_y=9| title=Hoovers Company Search: ACF Industries| accessdate=2008-01-09| ]

History

American Car and Foundry was formed and incorporated in New Jersey in 1899 as the result of the merger of 13 smaller railroad car manufacturers. The company was made up of:
* Buffalo Car Manufacturing Company (founded 1872 in Buffalo, New York)
* Ensign Manufacturing Company (founded 1872 in Huntington, West Virginia) [cite book| title=The American Railroad Freight Car| author=White, John H., Jr.| page=p 142| publisher=The Johns Hopkins University Press| location=Boston and London| year=1993| isbn=0-8018-5236-6| ]
* Jackson and Woodin Manufacturing Company (founded 1861 in Berwick, Pennsylvania)
* Michigan-Peninsular Car Company (founded 1892 in Detroit, Michigan)
* Minerva Car Works (founded 1882 in Minerva, Ohio)
* Missouri Car and Foundry Company (founded 1865 in St. Louis, Missouri)
* Murray, Dougal and Company (founded 1864 in Milton, Pennsylvania)
* Niagara Car Wheel Company (of Buffalo, New York)
* Ohio Falls Car Manufacturing Company (founded 1876 in Jeffersonville, Indiana)
* St. Charles Car Company (founded 1873 in St. Charles, Missouri)
* Terre Haute Car and Manufacturing Company (of Terre Haute, Indiana)
* Union Car Company (of Depew, New York)
* Wells and French Company (founded 1869 in Chicago, Illinois)

Later in 1899, ACF acquired Bloomsburg Car Manufacturing Company (of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania). Two years later, ACF acquired Jackson and Sharp Company (founded 1863 in Wilmington, Delaware), and the Common Sense Bolster Company (of Chicago, Illinois). The unified company made a great investment in the former Jackson & Woodin plant in Pennsylvania, spending about $3 million. It was at this plant that ACF built the first all-steel passenger car in the world in 1904. The car was built for the Interborough Rapid Transit system of New York City, the first of 300 such cars ordered by the railroad.

1904 and 1905 saw ACF build several motor cars and trailers for the London Underground. In these two years, ACF also acquired Southern Car and Foundry (founded 1899 in Memphis, Tennessee), Indianapolis Car and Foundry and Indianapolis Car Company.

Timeline

* 1899: American Car & Foundry is formed from the merger of 13 smaller companies.
* 1899: ACF acquires Bloomsburg Car Manufacturing Company
* 1901: ACF acquires Jackson and Sharp Company and Common Sense Bolster Company
* 1904: ACF builds the first all-steel passenger car in the world for the Interborough Rapid Transit
* 1904: ACF acquires Southern Car and Foundry
* 1905: ACF acquires Indianapolis Car and Foundry and Indianapolis Car Company
* 1922: ACF diversifies into the automotive industry with the acquisition of Carter Carburetor Corporation
* March 31 1924: ACF acquires Pacific Car and Foundry
* 1925: ACF acquires Fageol Motors Company and Hall-Scott Motor Car Company
* 1926: ACF acquires J. G. Brill and Company
* 1927: ACF acquires Shippers Car Line
* 1939: ACF's Berwick plant switches to construction of military tanks.
* August 2 1941: ACF's 1,000th military tank is completed for the United States military effort of World War II
* 1954: The company officially changes its name to ACF Industries, Inc.
* 1959: ACF completes the last passenger car that it is to build (New York City Transit R28 [cite web| url=http://www.nycsubway.org/cars/r262829.html| title=R26/R28/R29| work=NYCSubway.org| date=2005| accessdate=2007-12-03| ] IRT car).
* 1977: Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) came up with the idea of the first double-stack intermodal car in 1977. [ [http://www.uprr.com/aboutup/history/uprr-chr.shtml Chronological History] - Union Pacific Railroad Company] SP then designed the first car with ACF Industries that same year. [Kaminski, Edward S. (1999). - "American Car & Foundry Company: A Centennial History, 1899-1999". - Wilton, California: Signature Press. - ISBN 0963379100] [ [http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-9055386.html "A new fleet shapes up. (High-Tech Railroading)"] . - "Railway Age". - (c/o HighBeam Research). - September 1, 1990]

Products

Historically, ACF built passenger and freight cars. One of the largest customers was Union Pacific, whose armor-yellow carbon steel lightweight passenger rolling stock was mostly built by ACF. Famous dome-observation Native Son was an ACF product. Today, the American passenger car market is erratic in production, and is mostly handled by specialty manufacturers. Competitors Budd, Pullman-Standard, and St. Louis Car have all either exited the market or gone out of business. Currently, ACF builds mostly covered hopper cars for hauling items like corn or other grains. Other products are mainly miscellaneous steel products.

References

* [http://web.archive.org/web/20050612081758/http://www.ironhorse129.com/rollingstock/builders/amercar&foundry.htm American Car & Foundry] . Retrieved November 30 2004
* ACF Industries (2001). [http://www.acfindustries.com/acf_information/history.asp ACF Information - History] . Retrieved December 1 2004

ee also

* Canadian Car and Foundry

External links

* [http://www.acfindustries.com/ ACF Industries]
* [http://www.umsl.edu/barriger/bmore/acf/acf.htm Corporate Archives Collection—University of Missouri]