John Stephenson Car Company

A tram car built by John Stephenson in 1905 in the Ferrymead Heritage Park in New Zealand

The John Stephenson Car Company was an American manufacturer of horse-drawn carriages, cable trams , and streetcars in New York .

history

The company was founded in 1831 by John Stephenson , who invented the first tram running on rails and built it for the New York and Harlem Railroad in 1832 . A reorganization in 1867 included the shortening of the company name to the John Stephenson Company . At the end of the 19th century, the company was a leading manufacturer of tram cars and, in the period from 1876 to 1891 alone, produced around 25,000 cars, including those for export.

Customers came not only from the United States but also from other countries. Among the foreign customers were z. B. Toronto Street Railways , Montreal Street Railway Company , Halifax Street Railway , Empresa de los Ferrocarriles del Distrito Federal in Mexico City , CCFL (Carris) in Lisbon , Tranvía Caracas in Caracas and Tranvía Bolívar as well as the Compañía de Tranvías de Merida .

Advert from 1903

Stephenson's factory moved to Elizabeth, New Jersey , after 1898 . The company was acquired by the J. G. Brill Company in 1904 , but operated under its own name until 1917 when the factory was sold to the Standard Aero Corporation for the manufacture of aircraft. The company went out in 1919 due to liquidation.

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b c d} William D. Middleton: The Time of the Trolley , p. 424. Kalmbach Publishing, Milwaukee (1967). ISBN 0-89024-013-2 .
2. ↑ Allen Morrison: The Tramways of Mexico City (Part 1) . 2003. Retrieved September 24, 2010.
3. ↑ King, BR; and Price, JH (1995). The Tramways of Portugal (4th Edition), pp. 5, 21. London: Light Rail Transit Association. ISBN 0-948106-19-0 .
4. ↑ Allen Morrison: The tramways of Los Tranvías de Caracas, Venezuela .
5. ^ The New York Times , August 27, 1917.