The St. Louis Car Company was formed in April 1887 to manufacture and sell streetcars and other kinds of rolling stock of street and steam railways supporting the traction industry. In succeeding years the company built automobiles, including the American Mors, the Skelton, and the Standard Six. The St. Louis Aircraft Corporation division of the company partnered with the Huttig Sash and Door company in 1917 to produce aircraft. During the two world wars, the company manufactured gliders, trainers, alligators, flying boats, and dirigible gondolas. Among their most successful products were the Birney Safety Car and the PCC streetcar, a design that was very popular at the time.[1]
The firm went on to build some of the vehicles used in the transit systems of New York City and Chicago, as well as the FM OP800 railcars manufactured exclusively for the Southern Railway in 1939.
The St. Louis Car Company was headed by Edwin B. Meissner Sr., who died at age 71 on Sept. 12, 1956. Meissner was president of the company, one of the nation's largest manufacturers of railroad and light rail cars, and the St. Louis Aircraft Corporation. He was active for many years on the Jewish Federation Board of Directors, and served for over 20 years as President of Congregation Shaare Emeth.
“ST. LOUIS CAR CO. ST. LOUIS MO.” “Builders of Electric Cars of every kind” in Electric Railway Review, 1908
The St. Louis Car Co., later known as General Steel Industries, manufactured St. Louis streetcars and trolleys and cars for far-flung transit systems such as the Paris Metro in France. Meissner's son, Edwin B. Meissner Jr., succeeded his father as head of the company, and continues to be an active member of Congregation Shaare Emeth.[2]
Streetcars held sway in St. Louis and its suburbs from the 1880s until the mid- and late 1940s. Andrew Young records that new state-of-the-art buses began to encroach on the streetcars domain. New streamlined streetcars were brought into service in 1946 to replace older cars, some dating back to 1903.
St. Louis Car continued business until 1968 and ceased operations in 1974.[7] The final St. Louis Car products were R44 subway cars for the New York City Subway and Staten Island Rapid Transit, and the USDOTState of the Art Car rapid transit demonstrator set whose design was based on the R44.
The St. Louis Car assembly plant and general office at 8000 Hall Street, St. Louis is now the St. Louis Business Center, a mixed use industrial and commercial complex redeveloped starting in 2005.[8]
One of the few surviving Lisbon'sSão Luís type cars (series 400–474): of the original batch of 75 units, imported in 1901 and retired up to 1973, most were scrapped, three remain operational in Lisbon (a museum car restored to original condition and two modified for tourist duty since 1965, fitted with luxury upholstering — No.2, former No.435, on the photo), and five saw heritage use in Detroit in 1978–2003.