Railway Car Builders of North America

An ever-growing list of all independent builders.

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Company Plant Location Date Successor, Comments or Cross-reference
PACCAR     See Pacific Car & Foundry
Pacific Car & Foundry Renton, WA
Portland, OR
1917-1924
1934-1984
Merger of the car building operations of Twohy Brothers Company and Seattle Car & Foundry Company.
Bought by American Car & Foundry 1924; sold back to original owners 1934.
Corporate name changed to PACCAR 1972; car building division continued Pacific Car name.
Pacific Electric Los Angeles, CA 1902-1955  
Pacific Fruit Express Tucson, AZ   Built refrigerated cars.
Pacific Gas & Electric Sacramento, CA early 1900s  
Pacific Iron Works San Francisco, CA 1850-c1900 Locomotive builder; unknown if it built any cars.
Taken over by Rankin, Brayton & Co. in early 1860s.
Palm & Robertson St. Louis, MO 1848(1853)-(1858)1859 Partners Alfred C. Robertson and William Palm built 54 locomotives 1853-1858. Built no known cars, although Robertson reportedly left 1857/58 to operate a car plant.
Pardee Car & Machine Works Watsontown, PA c1875-1890? Pardee Car & Machine Works is listed under “Car Builders” in 1877 edition, Poor’s Directory of Railway Officials, with Proprietorship as Pardee, Snyder & Co., Ltd.
Pardee, Snyder & Co. Williamsport, PA 1880s Pardee, Snyder & Co. is listed under “Car Builders” in 1877 edition, Poor’s Directory of Railway Officials as the Proprietor of Pardee Car & Machine Works.
Passavant & Archer New York City c1856 Produced six iron horsecars to La Mothe’s design for the city of Boston
Patten Car Works Bath, ME 1872-1877/1890?  
Patten Motor Car Co. Pullman, IL c1891-c1900 Demonstrated a gasoline-powered self-propelled railcar in 1900.
Patterson & Corbin St. Catharines, ON 1888-1896
(1887?-1897?)
Patterson & Corbin is listed under “Car Builders” in 1877 edition, Poor’s Directory of Railway Officials.
Paul, Thomas H., & Son
(
Thomas H. Paul & Son)
Frostburg, MD 1855-c1863 Established to produce mining cars and machinery. Unknown just what it DID produce.
To T.H. Paul & Bro.
Paul, T.H., & Brother
(T.H. Paul & Brother)
Frostburg, MD c1863-1883+ Advertised self as "Manufacturers of Steam Engines, Railroad Cars and Car Wheels - Also, machinery for mines, mine cars and wheels, mill gearing, steam boilers, and water tanks, &c., &c." Produced about 15 locos between 1880 and 1883 but more than half were actually built by the nearby Mt. Savage Loco Works. Unknown what, if any, cars it produced.
(See Railroad History 141, Autumn 1979.)
Paxton & Vierling Steel Co. Omaha, NE 1980s  
Pay-Within Car Co. Delaware, MD c1909 US Pat. 939,899
Peacock Iron Works Selma, AL? 1901  
Pease Car & Locomotive Works   1900-1903  
Pease, F.M.
(F.M. Pease)
Toledo, OH c1900-c1910  
Pease, F.M., Co.
(F.M. Pease Co.)
Chicago. IL 1898-1903  
Peninsular Car Co. Adrian, MI
Detroit, MI
1879-1892 To Michigan-Peninsular Car Company
Pennell, Lenher & Humes Lancaster, PA 1837(1840)-1875 Built only one locomotive; doubtful any cars.
Pennock Bros.     Pennock Bros. is listed under “Car Builders” in 1877 edition, Poor’s Directory of Railway Officials.
(See Minerva Car Company)
Pennsylvania Car Co.   1923-1929  
Pennsylvania Car Works Ligonier, PA
Transfer Office & Works,
Latrobe, PA
1880s Listed in Car Builder section of 1887 edition of Poor’s Directory of Railway Officials.
Pennsylvania Coal Co. Scranton, PA c1847/50 Constructed both coaches and coal cars for use on its gravity railroad bringing coal down from Hawley, PA, to the Delaware & Hudson Canal. Doubtful it built cars for others.
Pennsylvania Engineering Co.   1905  
Pennsylvania Equipment   1910  
Pennsylvania Iron Works   1928  
Pennsylvania Tank Car Co. Sharon, PA
Had offices in NYC ca. 1930
1914-1927 Made cars for Clarendon Refining Co., Emlenton Refining Co., Foco Oil Co., Galena Oil Co., Gulf, Sececa Oil Works, Texaco, Titusville Oil Works, and others.
Listed under "Car Builders" in White-Orr's 1930 Classified Business Directory NYC section.
Acquired by Petroleum Iron Works Company
Perley Thomas Car Co.     See Thomas
Peteler   1910-1914  
Peteler Iron Works   1927-1930  
Petersburg Car Works Petersburg, VA 1873-??  
Petersburg Iron Works Petersburg, VA 1854-1880? Est. as H.T, Morrison & Company. Offered to build tramway engines mid-1880s. No known car production unless somehow associated with Petersburg Car Works. May have been associated with Appamatox Iron Works, or Tappey & Delaney.
Peto & Co. Montreal, QC 1855-1856 Prime contractor for the Grand Trunk Railway; built 600 cars using pre-fabricated components from England.
Petroleum Iron Works Co. Petroleum, OH 1914-1930s Purchased Pennsylvania Tank Car Co. 1927.
Became part of GATX.
Pfaudler Co.   1923-1931  
Philadelphia Car Works     J.G. Brill
Philadelphia Car Works     Kimball & Gorton
Pierson & Benedict Niagara, ON 1859  
Pioneer Iron Works Brooklyn, NY 1887 Pioneer Iron Works is listed under “Car Builders” in 1877 edition, Poor’s Directory of Railway Officials.
Pittsburgh & McKeesport Car & Locomotive Co. McKeesport, PA c1864/65-1878 Began as car shop, taking over shops of Barnett & Company. Produced 1st of many narrow gauge locomotives 1874. Plant destroyed by fire 2 Oct 1877, together with two shifting engines nearly completed for an unknown road (RRG 12 and 19 Oct). RRG for 2 Feb 1878 reported decision of stockholders not to rebuild plant. (R&LHS No. 103)
Pittsburgh Bridge & Iron   1945  
Pittsburgh Car Works
(This may be the Pittsburgh Locomotive & Car Works.)
Pittsburgh, PA
Youngstown, PA [more likely OH]
Niles, OH
c1865-1883 Located at Pittsburgh until 1881; Youngstown, 1881-1901; Niles thereafter.
To Youngstown Car Manufacturing Company.
Pittsburgh Locomotive & Car Works Allegheny City (Pittsburgh), PA 1865-1919 Est. by Andrew Carnegie and T.N. Miller with Thatcher Perkins as Superintendent. Built 2,400 locomotives 1865-1901. Doubtful it ever built any cars.
Became part of American Locomotive Co. in 1901.
Plymouth Locomotive Works   1960s? Fate-Root-Heath proprietors.
Built industrial diesel locomotives, no cars.
Pollard & Gothe   ca. 1895  
Poole & Hunt Woodberry (Baltimore), MD 1843-1920? Not a car-builder per se. Begun as a machine shop by Robert Poole, joined 1851 by German Hunt, became one of this country's largest machine-builders. Built some of Baltimore’s earliest horse-drawn streetcars.
Port Hope Car Works Port Hope, ON 18??-1878  
Portec, Inc. (Division of Paragon) Novi, MI
Winder, GA
Clinton, IL
1968-1984 To Thrall Car?
Portland Co. Portland, ME 1848-1900? Portland Co. is listed under “Car Builders” in 1877 edition, Poor’s Directory of Railway Officials.
Portland Co.   1901-1912  
Porter, Bell & Co. Pittsburgh, PA 1872-1878 From Smith & Porter
Built small industrial locomotives; no cars.
Partnership of H.K. Porter and Arthur W. Bell ended when Bell died. Firm became H.K. Porter & Co.
Porter, H.K., & Co.
(
H.K. Porter & Co.)
Pittsburgh, PA 1878-(1951)2005+ From Porter, Bell & Co.
Produced literally thousands of small industrial locomotives, and a few full-sized ones; likely no cars.
Incorporated 1899.
Produced gasoline and diesel-powered locomotives as well.
Acquired Mt. Vernon Car Co. in 1944. Unknown whether it built any additional cars under either name. Sold loco business 1950.
H.K. Porter Company, Inc. is still in business, manufacturing all kinds of things other than locomotives.
To Davenport Besler Corporation
Portland Co., The
(
The Portland Co.)
Portland, ME 1846-(1894)2005+

(1860)1982+

Chartered 1846 by John A. Poor et al.
Locos built 1848-1894 (and one 1906). Cars advertised 1879, but have no idea whether any ever built. General machine shop after 1906.
Portland Rwy. Light & Power Co. Portland, OR    
Port Oram Foundry Co. Port Oram, NJ 1868 Locomotive Builder
Poughkeepsie Locomotive Engine Co. Poughkeepsie, NY 1836-c1839 Built two locomotives; probably no cars.
Pre-Payment Car Sales Co. Offices in NYC ca. 1930 1930 Likely was a dealer or broker rather than a builder.
Pressed Steel Car Co. Joliet, IL
Pittsburgh and McKees Rocks, PA
Had offices in NYC ca. 1930
1899-1954 From Fox Pressed Steel Equipment Company (Joliet) and Schoen Pressed Steel Company (Pittsburgh).
Listed under "Car Builders" in White-Orr's 1930 Classified Business Directory NYC section.
To U.S. Industries, Inc.
Preston Car & Coach Co. Preston, ON 1908-1921/22 To Canadian Brill Company, Ltd.
Procor Limited
[This is an off-site link.]
Oakville, ON 1962-2002 From Products Tank Line of Canada (and Sparling Tank Limited)?
As of 2004, manages Canada's largest private rail car rental fleet; affiliated with Union Tank Car Company, which builds cars; both owned by the Marmon Group.
Doubtful Procor ever built cars.
Products Tank Line of Canada Oakville, ON 1954-1962 Renamed Procor Limited in 1962.
Prosser Twin Cylinder Car Co. Chicago, IL c1879/80 Built a car that looked like two barrels with flanged wheels at each end of each barrel. The “barrels” contained the load and revolved with the wheels. Unknown whether it ever built more than the prototype “twin cylinder” car.
Public Service Railway of N.J. Newark, NJ -1930  
Pullman-Bradley Car Corp. Worchester, MA 1933-1934 From Osgood Bradley Car Corporation, a subsidiary of Pullman, Inc.
To Pullman Car & Manufacturing
Pullman Car & Mfg. Corp. Pullman, IL 1924-1934 From the Pullman Company.
To Pullman-Standard Car Mfg. Company
Pullman Co., The
(The Pullman Co
.)
Pullman, IL
Had offices in NYC ca. 1930
1899-1924 From Pullmans Palace Car Company.
Listed under "Car Builders" in White-Orr's 1930 Classified Business Directory NYC section.
To Pullman Car & Manufacturing Corp.
Pullman Standard Bessemer, AL 1929-?? From Chickasaw Shipbuilding & Car Company. Unknown whether this name moved together with that plant's buildings and machinery. Built its 100,000th car in 1951, its 200,000th in 1970. In 1978 considered largest car plant in N. America.
Became part of Trinity Industries c. 1984.
Pullman Standard Car Export Corp. Middletown, PA 1931- Formerly Middletown Car Company.
Pullman Standard Car Mfg. Co. Pullman, IL 1929-1955+  
Pullmans Palace Car Co. Chicago, IL 1867-1899 Pullman Palace Car Co. is listed under “Car Builders” in 1877 edition, Poor’s Directory of Railway Officials.
To The Pullman Company
Company Plant Location Date Successor, Comments or Cross-reference

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17 March 2007

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