{{Short description|Rolling stock manufacturer}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}} {{Infobox company | name = Gilbert Car Company | logo = | logo_size = | logo_alt = | logo_caption = | image = | image_size = | image_alt = | image_caption = | industry = [[rail transport]] | fate = receivership and liquidation | founded = 1830<!-- if known: {{Start date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} in [[city]], country --> | founder = <!-- or: | founders = --> | defunct = 1895<!-- {{End date|YYYY|MM|DD}} --> | hq_location_city = [[Troy, New York]] | hq_location_country = United States | key_people = | products = railroad [[freight car]]s, [[passenger car (rail)|passenger car]]s and [[tram|streetcar]]s | num_employees = | num_employees_year = <!-- Year of num_employees data (if known) --> | footnotes = }} '''Gilbert Car Company''' was a [[railroad car]] builder based in [[Troy, New York]].<ref name="Midcontinent">{{cite web| publisher=Mid-Continent Railway Museum| location=North Freedom, WI| url=http://www.midcontinent.org/rollingstock/builders/gilbertbush.htm| title=Gilbert, Bush & Company| work=Builders of Wooden Railway Cars| accessdate=2011-01-18}}</ref> It began manufacturing [[streetcar]]s in the late 1880s. Gilbert cars were sold and exported worldwide.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55972809/the-buffalo-times/| title=The Railroads| newspaper=The Buffalo Times| location=Buffalo, New York| date=February 22, 1884| page=4| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55971291/coldwater-enterprise/| title=Railway Cars for England| newspaper=Coldwater Enterprise| location=Coldwater, Kansas| date=October 10, 1891| page=1| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55971871/the-sun/| title=American Cars on English Roads| newspaper=The Sun| location=New York, NY| date=October 3, 1891| page=3| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55974029/the-times-picayune/| title=Mann Cars Going Abroad| newspaper=The Times-Picayune| location=New Orleans, Louisiana| date=July 29, 1885| page=6| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55974364/the-morning-journal-courier/| title=For the South Australian Railways| newspaper=The Morning Journal-Courier| location=New Haven, Connecticut| date=July 27, 1885| page=4| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}</ref>
Founded by Orsamus Eaton (1792–1872) and [[Uri Gilbert]] (1809–1888), the company changed names several times as the partnership changed:
* 1830 Eaton and Gilbert * 1844 Eaton, Gilbert & Co<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55971189/the-troy-record/| title=6 Troy Cars Set British Rail History| newspaper=The Troy Record| location=Troy, New York| date=November 2, 1964| page=22| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}</ref> * 1862 Uri Gilbert and Son * 1864 Gilbert, Bush & Company<ref name=Edwardobit /> [[File:BAM1.jpg|thumb|Diagram of [[New South Wales Government Railways|NSWGR]] Sleeping Car 8, built in 1880 by Gilbert Bush & Co.]] * 1879 Gilbert & Bush Co * 1882 Gilbert Car Manufacturing Co<ref name=Failures /> * 1889 Taylor Electric Truck Company
In 1879, Gilbert leased the [[Buffalo Car Works]] facility in Buffalo, which had a capacity of five to twelve new cars per day.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55973279/the-buffalo-commercial/| title=The Gilbert Car Company| newspaper=The Buffalo Commercial| location=Buffalo, New York| date=October 14, 1879| page=3| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}</ref> The Gilbert company saw some success in 1881 when it secured an order for several hundred [[refrigerator car]]s for the newly established [[American Refrigerator Transit Company]].<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55972348/buffalo-morning-express-and-illustrated/| title=The Railroads| newspaper=Buffalo Morning Express and Illustrated Buffalo Express| location=Buffalo, New York| date=May 3, 1881| page=4| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}</ref> In 1886, Gilbert leased the [[Jones Car Works]] of [[Schenectady, New York|Schenectady]].<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55972076/democrat-and-chronicle/| title=Local Railway News| newspaper=Democrat and Chronicle| location=Rochester, New York| date=November 30, 1886| page=7| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}</ref>
Following the [[Panic of 1893]], and the death in March 1893 of company president Edward Gilbert, son of Uri Gilbert,<ref name=Edwardobit>{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55971621/obituary-for-ebward-uri-anuer/| title=Edward Granger Gilbert| newspaper=New York Tribune| location=New York, NY| date=March 8, 1893| page=7| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}</ref> the company entered receivership in August 1893.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55971498/the-new-york-times/| title=Big Concerns In Trouble| newspaper=The New York Times| date=August 17, 1893| page=8| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55971413/buffalo-evening-news/| title=Gilbert Car Company's Assets| newspaper=Buffalo Evening News| location=Buffalo, New York| date=August 18, 1893| page=1| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}</ref><ref name=Failures>{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55971953/the-inter-ocean/| title=Failures East and West – Gilbert Car Manufacturing Company in the Hands of a Receiver| newspaper=The Inter-Ocean| location=Chicago| date=August 17, 1893| page=3| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55972210/the-salt-lake-herald/| title=Car Manufacturers Fail – The Gilbert Company of Troy Closed by the Sheriff| newspaper=The Salt Lake Herald| location=Salt Lake City, Utah| date=August 17, 1893| page=1| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}</ref> Only a few months earlier, Gilbert had completed construction of a hundred cars for [[New York Central Railroad]] passenger trains.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55972606/st-louis-globe-democrat/| title=Notes and Personals| newspaper=St. Louis Globe-Democrat| location=St. Louis, Missouri| date=June 26, 1893| page=7| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}</ref> Then in 1895, the company stopped building rail cars.<ref name="Midcontinent" /> Upon closure, the plant value was estimated at $400,000 ({{inflation|US|400000|1895|fmt=eq}}).<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55972997/democrat-and-chronicle/| title=The Gilbert Car Company Failure| newspaper=Democrat and Chronicle| location=Rochester, New York| date=July 11, 1895| page=2| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}</ref> In 1899, the plant was rumored to be the target of acquisition for conversion into an [[automobile]] manufacturing facility.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55973625/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle/| title=Auto-Truck Trust To Be Formed Here| newspaper=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle| location=Brooklyn, New York| date=May 29, 1899| page=1| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55973818/the-sun/| title=Automobile Company's Plant| newspaper=The Sun| location=New York, NY| date=May 25, 1899| page=2| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}</ref>
==Products== * [[freight car]]s * [[passenger car (rail)|passenger car]]s * drawing room cars * [[sleeping car|sleepers]] * [[monitor roof]] or [[clerestory]] ("clear-story") cars * horse cars
== See also == * [[List of rolling stock manufacturers]]
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Defunct rolling stock manufacturers of the United States]] [[Category:Troy, New York]] [[Category:Manufacturing companies based in New York (state)]] [[Category:Manufacturing companies established in 1830]] [[Category:1830 establishments in New York (state)]] [[Category:Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1895]] [[Category:Tram manufacturers]]