ACF Industries, originally the American Car and Foundry Company (abbreviated as ACF), is an American manufacturer of
railroadrolling stock. One of its subsidiaries was once (1925–54) a manufacturer of
motor coaches and
trolley coaches under the brand names of (first) ACF and (later)
ACF-Brill. Today, the company is known as ACF Industries LLC and is based in
St. Charles, Missouri.[1] It is owned by investor
Carl Icahn.
History
The American Car and Foundry Company was originally formed and incorporated in
New Jersey in 1899 as a result of the merger of thirteen smaller railroad car manufacturers. The company was made up of:
In 1903, the company was operating overseas in
Trafford Park, Manchester, England, and it was featured on a Triumphal Arch built for the Royal Visit of
Edward VII and
Queen Alexandra in 1903. The factory buildings were later used by Ford cars, which began manufacturing at Trafford Park in 1911.
During
World War I, ACF produced
artillery gun mounts and ammunition,
submarine chasers and other boats, railway cars, and other equipment to support the Allies.[4] ACF ranked 36th among United States corporations in the value of
World War II production contracts.[6]
Timeline
1899: American Car and Foundry (ACF) is formed from the merger of 13 smaller companies
October 31, 1925: ACF forms "American Car and Foundry Securities Corporation" (A wholly owned subsidiary holding company) for the purpose of acquiring
Fageol Motors Company of Ohio and
Hall-Scott Motor Car Company[4] Fageol Motors Company of California was included but was not approved by the shareholders.[7]
January 1961: ACF delivers its last
passenger car, (
NYCT IRT
R28.[11][12] IRT car), Berwick plant closed, sold, to later re-open as Berwick Forge & Fabricating Corporation.
1997: ACF reaches a leasing agreement with
GE Capital Railcar for 35,000 of its 46,000 railcars, mostly on 16-year leases with optional purchase agreements.[16][17]
2003: ACF Industries LLC became a successor to ACF Industries, Incorporated on May 1, 2003.[4]
Products
In the past, ACF built passenger and
freight cars, including
covered hopper cars for hauling such cargo as corn and other grains. One of the largest customers was the
Union Pacific Railroad, whose armour-yellow carbon-steel lightweight passenger rolling stock was mostly built by ACF. The famous
dome-
observation car "Native Son" was an ACF product.
Another important ACF railroad production were the passenger cars of the Missouri River "Eagle", a Missouri Pacific streamliner put in service in March 1940. This train, in its original shape, consisted of six cars including one baggage, one baggage-mail, two coaches one food and beverage car and finally the observation lounge-parlor car. All the passenger equipment was styled by industrial designer
Raymond Loewy.
Today, the U.S. passenger car market is erratic in production and is mostly handled by specialty manufacturers and foreign corporations. Competitors
Budd,
Pullman-Standard,
Rohr Industries, and the
St. Louis Car Company have all either left the market or gone out of business.
The manufacturing facility in
Milton, Pennsylvania, is served by the
Norfolk Southern Railway and is capable of manufacturing railcars and all related railcar components. The plant is capable of producing pressure vessels in sizes 18,000–61,000 gwc, including propane tanks, compressed gas storage, LPG storage, and all related components, including heads. The plant, covering 48 acres, provides 500,000 square feet of covered work area and seven miles of storage tracks. The Huntington, West Virginia, production site ceased production in late 2009. The site continues only as a repair facility.[1]
^Goodwin, S. Oliver (August 26, 1956). "Saving Pilots and Planes Is Erco's Main Business: ACF Division Has 75 Pct. of Output In Simulators". The Washington Post.