{{Infobox company , name = Edwards Rail Car Company , logo = , type = Subsidiary , industry = Rail transport , fate = , successor = , founded = {{Start date and age, df=yes, 1897 , defunct = 2008 , location = Sanford, North Carolina, USA , locations = , area_served = Worldwide , key_people = , products =

Locomotive A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...

High-speed trains High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail system that runs significantly faster than traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated tracks. While there is no single standard that applies worldwide, lines ...

Tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

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People movers

Signalling systems Railway signalling (), also called railroad signaling (), is a system used to control the movement of railway traffic. Trains move on fixed rails, making them uniquely susceptible to collision. This susceptibility is exacerbated by the enormou ...

, services = , revenue = , num_employees = , owner = , parent = , divisions = , subsid = , homepage = Edwards Rail Car Company was located in the small town of Sanford, North Carolina, specializing in the manufacture of self-propelled rail cars.

History

Harry P. Edwards began building passenger railway equipment in 1917 and formed the Edwards Railway Motor Car Company in 1921. Edwards turned out over 130 cars over a two-decade span and made a name for itself among major South and Central American railways, as well as on U.S. Class 1 and short line railroads.

Formative years

In 1915 the

Atlantic and Western Railway The Atlantic and Western Railway is a Class III short-line railroad operating about of track in Lee County, North Carolina. Atlantic and Western is part of Genesee & Wyoming Inc. and formerly part of Rail Management and Consulting. It was r ...

, a short line running from Sanford to Lillington, N.C., was running an uneconomical steam passenger train which A&W General Manager Harry P. Edwards came to regard with mounting frustration. Searching for a way to stem the flow of red ink, Edwards built his first car for use on that

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

. Other cars were built in the shops of the A&W and marketed by Edwards and the Atlantic & Western Railway. As the word spread throughout the South about the economical rail cars built by Edwards, the demand for cars was such that in 1921 the manufacturing firm Edwards Railway Motor Car Co. was organized and in 1922 occupied its new plant along the tracks of the A&W. The short line was not only an Edwards customer, but its tracks served as a test, demonstration and development track for over twenty years of Edwards car production.

1920–1942

During the early 1920s, mainstays of this output was the Model-10 which had the engine mounted up in the baggage compartment, as was the fashion of most all other manufacturers. In 1926 the company started delivery of the new Model-20. What set the Model-20 apart from the Model-10 and competitor's models was the ingenious, patented, power truck design, with the motor set into the front truck frame instead of being up in the car body. In 1929 Edwards exported two Model 20 units to Argentina, for Ferrocarriles del Estado meter gauge lines. Both, named CM 1 and CM 2 went to Córdoba hills between Alta Córdoba and Capilla del Monte. Service last till 1937 when they were replaced by new streamlined trains built by Ganz of Hungary. Both units were transferred to Santa Fe province, joining Maciel station with Puerto Gaboto a port on Parana River, that were first spanish colonial setting in Argentina as Fort Santi Spiritu. Service was ended in 1966 and units were cut for scrap several years later. There are many pictures of these units in service, I do not know how to share them. Edwards output during the 1930s was mainly

export An export in international trade is a good produced in one country that is sold into another country or a service provided in one country for a national or resident of another country. The seller of such goods or the service provider is an ...

cars including the "modern" streamlined Model-21 and the streamlined version of the Model-10, with their distinctive shovel-nose, first developed by Edwards in 1935. By the late 1930s sales of railcars in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

was at an all-time low, and with the war in Europe, Edwards sold the plant and new owners re-tooled for defense production in 1940. In 1942 the Edwards Company lost its corporate identity and ceased to exist, rail motor cars and trailers were the only Edwards products manufactured under that name. As of 1933 the company claimed rail car sales to forty-four railroads; final tally of original purchasers was close to fifty. With sales, in a 22-year period to nineteen different countries in the

Western Hemisphere The Western Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth that lies west of the prime meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and east of the antimeridian. The other half is called the Eastern Hemisphere. Politically, the term We ...

. Only a handful of Edwards cars have survived today.

History

Formative years

1920–1942

See also