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 a ...

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 ...

cars. It was founded in 1901 in Niles, Ohio 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 terminol ...

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, S ...

); including the oldest operating interurban in the US
20
* Bamberger Electric Railroad *

Fort Dodge, Des Moines and Southern Railway A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere' ...

* 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 Oaklan ...

) * The Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company * Northern Ohio Traction & Light * Pacific Northwest Traction Company * Rochester, Lockport and Buffalo Railroad * Rock Island Southern Railway *

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 * The Chicago Lake Shore and South Bend Railway * Toledo, Port Clinton and Lakeside Railway *

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 Railwa ...

(DE DT M - late TTC Class H, H1 and H3 cars). * Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railway *

Yakima Valley Transportation Company The Yakima Valley Transportation Company (YVT Co.) was an interurban electric railroad headquartered in Yakima, Washington. It was operator of the city's streetcar system from 1907–1947, and it also provided the local bus service from the 1920s ...

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 ...

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