The Niles Car and Manufacturing Company was an American manufacturer of railroad equipment, including many

streetcar 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 ...

and

interurban The Interurban (or radial railway in Europe and Canada) is a type of electric railway, with streetcar-like electric self-propelled rail cars which run within and between cities or towns. They were very prevalent in North America between 1900 a ...

cars. It was founded in 1901 in

Niles, Ohio Niles is a city in southern Trumbull County, Ohio, United States, situated at the confluence of the Mahoning River and Mosquito Creek. The city's population was 18,443 at the 2020 census. It is a suburb of the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan a ...

and published catalogs showcasing their various cars. Niles specialized in building wooden-bodied cars in the heyday of interurban building. Its cars had a reputation of being well-built and stylish; Niles advertising called them "The Electric Pullmans." 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 A worm drive is a gear arrangement in which a worm (which is a gear in the form of a screw) meshes with a worm wheel (which is similar in appearance to a spur gear). The two elements are also called the worm screw and worm gear. The terminolo ...

and custom bodies to suit. The company 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 The United States Army Signal Corps (USASC) is a branch of the United States Army that creates and manages communications and information systems for the command and control of combined arms forces. It was established in 1860, the brainchild of Ma ...

Customers

Niles' clients included the: * Aurora Elgin and Chicago Railroad (later the

Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad The Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad (CA&E), known colloquially as the "Roarin' Elgin" or the "Great Third Rail", was an interurban railroad that operated passenger and freight service on its line between Chicago and Aurora, Batavia, Geneva, St. ...

); including the oldest operating interurban in the US
20
* Bamberger Electric Railroad * Fort Dodge, Des Moines and Southern Railway * Northern Electric Railway (later part of the

Sacramento Northern Railway The Sacramento Northern Railway (reporting mark SN) was a electric interurban railway that connected Chico in northern California with Oakland via the California capital, Sacramento. In its operation it ran directly on the streets of Oakland ...

) *

The Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company The Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company , also referred to as the Milwaukee Interurban Lines or TMER&L, is a defunct railroad that operated in and around Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was the largest electric railway and electric utility syst ...

Northern Ohio Traction & Light Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a r ...

Pacific Northwest Traction Company The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

Rochester, Lockport and Buffalo Railroad The Rochester, Lockport and Buffalo Railroad was an electric interurban railway that was constructed between Rochester, New York, and Lockport, New York, connecting to the International Railway Co. at Lockport for service into Buffalo. Opened in ...

Rock Island Southern Railway The Rock Island Southern Railway, or RIS, was one of the most unusual interurban systems in the United States. It consisted of two distinct divisions, each with its own unique operating parameters. It provided passenger service to the western Ill ...

San Francisco, Napa and Calistoga Railway The San Francisco, Napa and Calistoga Railway, later briefly reorganized as the San Francisco and Napa Valley Railroad, was an electric interurban railroad in the U.S. state of California. Construction In 1901, Col. J.W. Hartzell and his brother ...

St. Paul Southern Electric Railway ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

The Chicago Lake Shore and South Bend Railway The Chicago Lake Shore and South Bend Railway formed in 1901, is the earliest predecessor of the Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad (and South Shore Line). History At its formation on November 30, 1901, the corporate title was the Chicag ...

Toledo, Port Clinton and Lakeside Railway The Toledo, Port Clinton and Lakeside Railway was an interurban electrified railway system serving northwestern Ohio's Marblehead Peninsula. It was incorporated in 1902, began operating in 1905 and only ceased operations in 1958, much later than ...

Toronto Civic Railways Toronto Civic Railways (TCR) was a streetcar operator created and owned by the City of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to serve newly annexed areas of the city that the private operator Toronto Railway Company refused to serve. When the Toronto Railway ...

(DE DT M - late TTC Class H, H1 and H3 cars). *

Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railway The Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railway (WB&A) was an American railroad of central Maryland and Washington, D.C., built in the 19th and 20th century. The WB&A absorbed two older railroads, the Annapolis and Elk Ridge Railroad and ...

* Yakima Valley Transportation Company *

Youngstown and Ohio River Railroad The Youngstown and Ohio River Railroad, or Y&OR, was one of the smaller interurban railways in the state of Ohio. Along with the Youngstown and Southern Railway, the Y&OR formed a traction link between Youngstown, Ohio and the Ohio River at East L ...

References

External links

*{{Commons category-inline, Niles Car and Manufacturing Company Defunct rolling stock manufacturers of the United States Niles, Ohio Manufacturing companies established in 1901 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1917 Defunct manufacturing companies based in Ohio Electric vehicle manufacturers of the United States Tram manufacturers