The St. Louis Car Company was a major

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 ...

manufacturer of railroad

passenger car A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as ...

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 ...

interurbans 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 ...

trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...

es and

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 ...

s that existed from 1887 to 1974, based in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

History

The St. Louis Car Company was formed in April 1887 to manufacture and sell streetcars and other kinds of

rolling stock The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, freight and passenger cars (or coaches), and non-revenue cars. Passenger vehicles can b ...

of street and steam railways supporting the traction industry. In succeeding years the company built automobiles, including the American Mors, the Skelton, and the Standard Six. The St. Louis Aircraft Corporation division of the company partnered with the Huttig Sash and Door company in 1917 to produce aircraft. During the two world wars, the company manufactured gliders, trainers,

alligator An alligator is a large reptile in the Crocodilia order in the genus ''Alligator'' of the family Alligatoridae. The two extant species are the American alligator (''A. mississippiensis'') and the Chinese alligator (''A. sinensis''). Additiona ...

flying boat A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fusela ...

s, and

dirigible An airship or dirigible balloon is a type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air under its own power. Aerostats gain their lift from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air. In early ...

gondolas. Among their most successful products were the

Birney Safety Car A Birney or Birney Safety Car is a type of streetcar that was manufactured in the United States in the 1910s and 1920s. The design was small and light and was intended to be an economical means of providing frequent service at a lower infrastruc ...

and the

PCC streetcar The PCC (Presidents' Conference Committee) is a streetcar (tram) design that was first built in the United States in the 1930s. The design proved successful in its native country, and after World War II it was licensed for use elsewhere in the ...

, a design that was very popular at the time. The firm went on to build some of the vehicles used in the transit systems of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, as well as the

FM OP800 The OP800 was a lightweight, streamlined railcar built by the St. Louis Car Company in 1939. Fairbanks-Morse supplied the , five-cylinder opposed piston engine prime mover. The units were configured in a highly unusual 2-A1A wheel arrangement ...

railcars manufactured exclusively for the Southern Railway in 1939. The St. Louis Car Company was headed by the late Edwin B. Meissner Sr., who died at age 71 on Sept. 12, 1956. Meissner was president of the company, one of the nation’s largest manufacturers of railroad and light rail cars, and the St. Louis Aircraft Corporation. He was active for many years on the Jewish Federation Board of Directors, and served for over 20 years as President of

Congregation Shaare Emeth Congregation Shaare Emeth is a Reform Jewish congregation in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Founded in St. Louis in 1867, it constructed its first building at 17th and Pine Streets in 1869.Kerry M. Oinitzky, Marc Lee Raphael. The American Synagogue: A Hi ...

. The St. Louis Car Co., later known as General Steel Industries, manufactured not only St. Louis streetcars and trolleys but cars for such far-flung transit systems as the Metro in Paris, France. Meissner’s son, Edwin B. Meissner Jr., succeeded his father as head of the company, and continues to be an active member of Congregation Shaare Emeth. Streetcars held sway in St. Louis and its suburbs from the 1880s until the mid- and late 1940s. Andrew Young records that new state-of-the-art buses began to encroach on the streetcars domain. New streamlined streetcars were brought into service in 1946 to replace older cars, some dating back to 1903. In 1960, St. Louis Car Company was acquired by

General Steel Industries General Steel Industries, Inc. (GSI) was an American steel company founded as General Steel Castings Corporation in 1928. The company's first headquarters were in Eddystone, Pennsylvania and, prior to completing its own modern steel foundry in ...

. In 1964, St. Louis Car completed an order of 430

World's Fair A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...

picture-window cars ( R36 WF) for the

New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October 2 ...

and was building 162 PA-1s (110 single units, 52 trailers) for the

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ, is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate compact authorized ...

for their use on the

Port Authority Trans-Hudson Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) is a rapid transit system in the Gateway Region, northeastern New Jersey cities of Newark, New Jersey, Newark, Harrison, New Jersey, Harrison, Jersey City, New Jersey, Jersey City, and Hoboken, New Jersey, H ...

line to New Jersey. Also in the mid-1960s, the company completed building the passenger capsules, designed by Planet Corporation, to ferry visitors to the top of the

Gateway Arch The Gateway Arch is a monument in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Clad in stainless steel and built in the form of a weighted catenary arch, it is the world's tallest arch and Missouri's tallest accessible building. Some sources consider ...

at the

Gateway Arch National Park Gateway Arch National Park is an American national park located in St. Louis, Missouri, near the starting point of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The memorial was established to commemorate: *the Louisiana Purchase and subsequent westward mov ...

(then known as the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial) in St. Louis, Missouri. St. Louis Car continued business until 1968 and finally ceased operations by 1974. The final St. Louis Car products were R44 subway cars for the New York City Subway and

Staten Island Rapid Transit The Staten Island Railway (SIR) is a rapid transit line in the New York City borough of Staten Island. It is owned by the Staten Island Rapid Transit Operating Authority (SIRTOA), a subsidiary of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and ...

, and the

USDOT The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the President of the United States and ...

State of the Art Car rapid transit demonstrator set whose design was based on the R44. The St. Louis Car assembly plant and general office at 8000 Hall Street, St. Louis is now the St. Louis Business Center, a mixed use industrial and commercial complex redeveloped starting in 2005. "St. Louis Business Center" Green Street: Portfolio
/ref>

Selected Products

PCC PCC may refer to: Science and technology * Pearson correlation coefficient (''r''), in statistics * Periodic counter-current chromatography, a type of affinity chromatography * Portable C Compiler, an early compiler for the C programming language ...

s (1935-1952) * Peter Witt streetcars * Trolley buses *

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 *

Gas-electric A hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) is a type of hybrid vehicle that combines a conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) system with an electric propulsion system (hybrid vehicle drivetrain). The presence of the electric powertrain is intended ...

railcar A railcar (not to be confused with a railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach (carriage, car), with a drive ...

s * CRT/CTA 5003-5004

elevated-subway cars (1947) - retired 1985 * CTA 6000-series

elevated-subway cars (1950–59) - retired 1992 * CTA 1-50

elevated-subway cars (1959–60) - retired 1999 *

Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad The Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad (reporting mark CNSM), also known as the North Shore Line, was an interurban railroad that operated passenger and freight service over an route between the Chicago Loop and downtown Milwaukee, as w ...

Electroliner The Electroliners are a pair of streamlined interurban trainsets built by the St. Louis Car Company in 1941. Initially numbered 801–802 and 803–804, they were operated by the Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad from 1941 to 1963, fo ...

(1941) *

Electro-Motive Company Progress Rail Locomotives, doing business as Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD), is an American manufacturer of diesel-electric locomotives, locomotive products and diesel engines for the rail industry. The company is owned by Caterpillar through its su ...

(EMD) gas-electric railcars - car body shells (1920s) *

Fairbanks-Morse Fairbanks, Morse and Company was an American manufacturing company in the late 19th and early 20th century. Originally a weighing scale manufacturer, it later diversified into pumps, engines, windmills, coffee grinders, radios, farm tractors, fee ...

experimental center cab diesel switchers and

railcars (1939) * GCRTA Red Line "Bluebirds" (1954–55, 1958) *

MBTA The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network in ...

#3 East Boston Tunnel cars (1951) * State of the Art Car heavy rail transit demonstrator set for

(1972–74) - now at

Seashore Trolley Museum Seashore Trolley Museum, located in Kennebunkport, Maine, United States, is the world's first and largest museum of mass transit vehicles. While the main focus of the collection is trolley cars (trams), it also includes rapid transit trains, ...

Illinois Terminal Railroad The Illinois Terminal Railroad Company (reporting marks "ITC"), known as the Illinois Traction System until 1937, was a heavy duty interurban electric railroad with extensive passenger and freight business in central and southern Illinois from ...

Streamliners (1948–50) * IRT World's Fair Steinway Motors (1938) - built for

1939 World's Fair The 1939–40 New York World's Fair was a world's fair held at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York, United States. It was the second-most expensive American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purcha ...

Metra Metra is the commuter rail system in the Chicago metropolitan area serving the city of Chicago and its surrounding suburbs via the Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway, and other railroads. The system operates 242 stations on 11 rail lines. I ...

Illinois Central Electric District Highliner electric MU cars (1971–72) *

NJ Transit New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit, and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey, along with portions of New York State and Pennsylvania. It operates bu ...

NJDOT The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) is the agency responsible for transportation issues and policy in New Jersey, including maintaining and operating the state's highway and public road system, planning and developing transportat ...

Penn Central The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American Railroad classes, class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals (the Pennsylvania Railroad ...

Arrow I (PRR MP85E6) electric MU cars - push-pull coach conversion (1968) *

New York Central The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...

ACMU The ACMUs (short for Air Conditioned Multiple Unit) were a series of electric multiple unit railcars built for the New York Central railroad in three orders between 1950 and 1965. The ACMUs were intended to replace/supplement the original fleet ...

4500 series (1950–51) *

NYCT The New York City Transit Authority (also known as NYCTA, the TA, or simply Transit, and branded as MTA New York City Transit) is a public-benefit corporation in the U.S. state of New York that operates public transportation in New York City. P ...

R8A (1939) *

R17 (1954–55) *

R21 (1956–57) *

R22 R22 may refer to: Roads * R22 road (Belgium) * R-22 regional road (Montenegro) * R22 highway (Russia) * R22 (South Africa) Vessels * , a destroyer of the Royal Navy * , an aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy * , a submarine of the United ...

(1957–58) *

R27 (1960–61) *

R29 (1962) *

R30 (1961–62) *

R33 (1962–63) *

R33S (1963) *

R36 (1963–64) *

R38 The ''R.38'' class (also known as the ''A'' class) of rigid airships was designed for Britain's Royal Navy during the final months of the First World War, intended for long-range patrol duties over the North Sea. Four similar airships were ...

(1966–67) *

R40 (1967–68) *

R40A (1968–69) *

R42 (1969–70) *

R44 (1971–73) *

Chicago and North Western Transportation Company The Chicago and North Western was a Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the "North Western". The railroad operated more than of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states befor ...

Gallery 7600 series coaches #1-16 (1955) * Pacific Electric "Hollywood" cars (1920s) *

Philadelphia and Western Railroad The Philadelphia and Western Railroad was a high-speed, third rail-equipped, commuter-hauling interurban electric railroad operating in the western suburbs of the U.S. city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is now SEPTA's Norristown High Speed ...

original wood cars and freight motors (1907) * Hudson & Manhattan Railroad/PATH "K-car"/MP51 (1958) *

PATH A path is a route for physical travel – see Trail. Path or PATH may also refer to: Physical paths of different types * Bicycle path * Bridle path, used by people on horseback * Course (navigation), the intended path of a vehicle * Desire p ...

PA1 (1965) & PA2 (1967) *

San Diego Class 1 Streetcars The San Diego Class 1 streetcar was a fleet of twenty-four unique streetcars that were originally built to provide transportation for the Panama-California Exposition in Balboa Park. The cars were designed by the San Diego Electric Railway Comp ...

(1910-1912) *

Seaboard Air Line The Seaboard Air Line Railroad , which styled itself "The Route of Courteous Service," was an American railroad which existed from April 14, 1900, until July 1, 1967, when it merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, its longtime rival, t ...

2027-2028

Railcar A railcar (not to be confused with a railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach (carriage, car), with a drive ...

s (1936) *

SEPTA The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly 4 million people in five coun ...

Silverliner III (PRR MP85) cars (1967) *

Staten Island Railway The Staten Island Railway (SIR) is a rapid transit line in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Staten Island. It is owned by the Staten Island Rapid Transit Operating Authority (SIRTOA), a subsidiary of the Metropolitan Trans ...

R44 (1973) (last St. Louis cars) *

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

(USAX) cars - various types including coaches, ambulance, cafeteria, sleepers *

Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

lightweight passenger cars, express and baggage cars (1960–65) *

Victorian Railways The Victorian Railways (VR), trading from 1974 as VicRail, was the state-owned operator of most rail transport in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companie ...

Petrol Electric railmotor (1928) File:St Louis-built Johnstown trolleybus 705 in Roxbury Loop, 11-11-67.jpg, A St. Louis Car-built

trolley bus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...

Johnstown, Pennsylvania Johnstown is a city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 18,411 as of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Located east of Pittsburgh, Johnstown is the principal city of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Metropol ...

, in 1967 File:Lisbon tram 2.jpg, One of the few surviving Lisbon’s ''São Luís'' type cars (series 400-474): of the original batch of 75 units, imported in 1901 and retired up to 1973, most were scrapped, three remain operational in Lisbon (a museum car restored to original condition and two modified for tourist duty since 1965, fitted with luxury upholstering — №2, former №435, on the photo), and five saw heritage use in Detroit in 1978-2003.

References

* Middleton, William, Jr. ''The Interurban Era''. Kalmbach Publishing, Milwaukee, WI.

External links

Builders of wooden railway cars: St. Louis Car Company
from ironhorse129.com — some photos of early SLCC cars.
St. Louis Car Company Records, 1887-1997 , WUA University Archives
at

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

(html)
St. Louis Car Company history
at

Mid-Continent Railway Museum The Mid-Continent Railway Museum is a railroad museum in North Freedom, Wisconsin, United States. The museum consists of static displays as well as a round trip ride aboard preserved railroad cars. History The rail line used by the Mid-Conti ...

, North Freedom, Wisconsin
www.cablecarmuseum.org
at Cable Car Museum, San Francisco, CA
www.streetcar.org
at Market Street Railway, San Francisco, CA {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Louis Car Company Electric vehicle manufacturers of the United States Bus manufacturers of the United States Defunct locomotive manufacturers of the United States Defunct rolling stock manufacturers of the United States Tram manufacturers Trolleybus manufacturers Manufacturing companies based in St. Louis American companies established in 1887 Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1887 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1974 1887 establishments in Missouri 1974 disestablishments in Missouri Defunct companies based in Missouri

History

Selected Products

See also

References

External links