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7 The Niles Car & Manufacturing Company entered a business that was already crowded with well-established car builders, many of which had evolved fromcarriage-,horse-,andcable-carbuilding.Therewerethreeotherlargecar buildersinOhioalone,whichwasnotsurprisingbecausethereweresoontobe moremilesofelectricrailwaysinOhiothaninanyotherstate.Therefore,Niles had to offer something the others did not. The company management decided at the outset to adopt robust steam railroad car construction, and nothing epitomizedthatbetterthantheproductsofthePullmanCarCompany.Bythe earlytwentiethcenturythenamePullmanusuallymeantasleepingcarowned and staffed by the Pullman Company but operated by the railroad. Pullman also built other types of cars for the steam railroads as well as cars for electric railways.Nilessucceededinbuildinginterurbansthatweresohighlyregarded that many traction lines began to refer to them as “Electric Pullmans.” No higher praise could have been bestowed on the cars. The early Niles products were almost entirely wood in construction, the standard at the time for other car builders as well. Cabinetmaking was an art that flourished at that time and was well-adapted to car building, as the cars were elaborately decorated inside with inlaid woods. The process was similar to building a house: first the framework was built, then the car was finished inside and out. In addition to fancy woods, pinstriping was used extensively inside and out to impress the rider with a sense of luxury. Cars were identified as having been built by Niles by a sign over the door at one end, usually the front of the car leading to the motorman’s cab. There could be no doubt where the car came from. In Niles’s own words as published in the Street Railway Journal, the company ’s designs “consist of all styles and sizes of electric railway cars, heavy interurban, medium size suburban and city service cars of closed, open and 2}} The Catalog The Electric Pullman 8 Figure 2.1. Left. Door to the motorman’s compartment with sign overhead identifying the car builder. Figure 2.2. Below. Sign over the motorman’s compartment door, detail. Author’s collection. The Catalog 9 convertible types, but the company’s specialty is large cars for fast interurban service and electric parlor cars for limited extra fare service.” The company offered the following types of cars: Interurban Passenger Cars “This company follows the standard method of steam railroad coach construction wherever practical in its interurban cars, it having been proven in actual service that the lighter cars which are the outgrowth of street cars are not sufficiently strong or steady riding for high speed service on interurban lines.”Thecompanybelieved“thatinterurbanpassengersshouldreceiveequal comforts and smooth noiseless transportation as on steam railways.” It was Niles’s building to “steam railroad standards” that was to set it apart from the other car builders. Figure 2.3. Stark Electric Railway No. 2, one of six coaches made in 1902 for this line during Niles’s first year of operation. Reproduced with permission from the Rodman Public Library and Alliance Memory, Alliance, Ohio. The Electric Pullman 10 Limited Service Extra Fare Parlor Cars “It is becoming recognized among interurban railway managers that a certain portion of their patrons are not only willing but anxious to pay extra for extra service and that an individual parlor car chair in a richly finished and carpeted car with lavatory, observation windows, etc. is an inducement to electricrailwaytrafficaswellasapayinginvestmentandadvertisementforthe road.” Maybe the patron could not afford the parlor seat but was comforted by knowing it was available. Open Cars Niles open cars “are usually built with 10, 12, 13, 14, 15 or 16 transverse benches or seats full width of car with a folding step or running board full length of car on each side and with sliding guards on post grab handles so either or both sides of car can be closed as desired. A transverse bulkhead with drop sash at each end of car separates two end seats which have stationary backs, all other seats have reversible backs. The ten bench car is the standard size for single Figure 2.4. Postcard view of the Columbus Delaware & Marion Railway parlor car “Glenna,” exhibited at the Central Electric Railroad Association convention in Columbus, Ohio, in 1906. This and a sister car, “Mary,” were not long in Ohio but went the following year to the Illinois Traction Company, where they ran for many years. The sign in the rear doorway says, “This car heated by the Peter Smith Heater,” a hot water system popular at that time. Author’s collection. The Catalog 11 trucks, while the longer cars are carried on double trucks.” While open cars mighthavebeenmorecomfortableduringtheheatofsummer,theymusthave subjected the passengers to all the...

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