The Electric Pullman: A History of the Niles Car Manufacturing Company [Hardcover]

Entering an already crowded and established industry, the Niles Car & Manufacturing Company in Ohio began business with surprising success, producing well over 1,000 electric and steam railway carscars so durable they rarely needed to be replaced. That durability essentially put the company out of business, and it vanished from the scene as quickly as it had appeared, leaving little behind except its sturdy railway cars. The story of this highly regarded company spans just 16 years, from Niles's incorporation in 1901 to the abandonment of railway car production and sale of the property to a firm that would briefly build engine parts during World War I. Including unpublished photographs and rosters of railway cars produced by the company and still in existence in railroad museums,The Electric Pullmanwill appeal to railroad enthusiasts everywhere.

The rise and fall of an Ohio railway car company

Lawrence A. Brough is a retired metallurgical engineer. He is a member of the Society of Automotive Historians and has written several articles on automotive history. He is author (with James H. Graebner) ofFrom Small Town to Downtown: A History of the Jewett Car Company, 1893-1919(IUP, 2004) andAutos on the Water.

This book 'rounds out' IU Press's treatment of the car building industry with this account of the Niles Company and I can enthusiastically recommend publication.

Although not one of the major manufacturers in its field, the Niles company produced some notable and well-remembered equipment during the height of the electric interurban railway era. Indeed, among some interurban railway historians, Niles cars are sacred objects. As such, its story deserves to be told and theoretically would be a logical complement to IUP's books on the Brill and Jewett companies. Brough himself is a serious historian who knows his subject and has clearly mined all the sources that seem to exist.

Electric Pullman is required readinl3'