I am pleased to report that on Thursday October 26th, 2007, Edwards Rail Car Co. signed a lease/purchase agreement with Romatic Manufacturing Co. which will allow Edwards to move back to its original manufacturing site in Sanford, North Carolina. Presently we are operating in leased space in Montgomery, Alabama. The agreement takes effect Jan. 1st 2007. All present projects will be finished in Montgomery, with new projects starting in Sanford. It will be our goal to take the old factory back to its 1920s apperance, including the restoration of the transfer table.

Also, Hot Box Press has a new book out on the history of the Edwards Railway Motor Car Co. by Cary Poole.

http://www.edwardsrailcar.com

Best wishes and welcome to North Carolina, Steven.

You will find the BBQ excellent and the climate favorable. The New Hope Valley is not too far away for testing and troubleshooting - PM Bob Crowley.

dave

Any photos of the old factory? This project would involve more than making railcars. Saving a historic site is a story in itself and I think we'd all find that interesting.

Congratulations on your new home - sounds exciting. I have heard by the grapevine that John Ringling's private car "Wisconsin" is at the facitlity in Montgomery but not much is being done with it and it is sitting outside without a cover over it. I know the roof on that car wasn't very good when it was stored at Spencer for many years and wondered if the exposure to the weather might ruin what I remember was a really fine and complete but fairly fragile car. I assume Edwards was doing the work on it and wondered if the project had stopped and what the plans are for the car?

Yes, the Ringling car "Wisconsin" is at the Montgomery facility. Many years ago the roof was completly sealed with a tar type coating, (one of the things we must remove). At the Montgomery facility we have two bays, with rail going inside, so we can move the cars inside or outside. Work on the car is in progress. As always, if anyone has ANY questions as to what is going on, all they need to do is ask me instead of taking any rumor as the truth. We are very pleased to be working with the Ringling museum on this.

Congratulations, Steven! How much has the North Carolina location changed over the years, and what kind of effort will be required to return the factory to its 1920's appearance? Thanks!

Stephen: In 1940 the Edwards firm re-tooled to be a sub-contractor for Rogers Aircraft Corp. to make parts for the war effort. Doing this during the war. Additions to the physical plant were made. During the early 1950's the plant was taken over by a large firm, Saco-Lowell and more building additions were made. A few cars, to finish up an order, were manufacture through 1942...after that all rail car building ceased. Today 2/3 of the orignal building are standing, the space has been used as storage/warehouse for the past 40-50 years. Nothing from rail car building days survived...even the transfer table was removed and the pit filled in. As of yet, we have not had any building contactors come in and develop a plan. Presently the office and one of the large erection buildings, 150 ft by 70 ft can be used. This is were we will start. I will be interested to find out if there is any state grant monies available for restoration of historic industrial sites. Check out the new book out by Hot Box press on the Edwards story.

For those interested, here's some pictures I took this morning of the original facility in Sanford.

http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/7186 ... 592550.jpg
http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/5315 ... 588700.jpg

Does anyone know if the Edwards Company is still in business and if they are still planning on moving back to the original site?

At their home page, http://www.edwardsrailcar.com, the message appears, "This Account Has Been Suspended." That doesn't sound good.

Worked OK for me, but as the man says, we'd like to hear the updated story direct.

There doesn't seem to be ANY activity in the replica car market. Edwards notwithstanding, Miner Car Services of Fort Donnellson, IA hasn't posted a new job on its website since it restored the Knoxville, TN trolley. Gomaco hasn't posted a new job on its website since 2008, and there's scant activity at Brookville.

Sloan

I was down to Brookville in Feb., and the floor was full of PCC's being rebuilt under contract, and they also had the stainless-steel tender shell for Steamtown on the floor waiting to go out. Might not be replicas, but they were certainly busy enough then.

I think the correct answer is that when Edwards was sued by that city in Texas for NOT restoring their car (Corsicana?) they created a "new" company and left Edwards to wither on the vine. They then created a new entity that is building some new equipment, apparently for export.

Regarding car restoration in general: My opinion is that restoration work on old cars (and similar equipment) has become so bloody expensive these days that only the well-funded and extremely dedicated can afford it.

Definitely; Brookville is busy with a large contract (contracts?) for San Francisco Muni which includes rewiring and replacement of control system on eleven ex-Newark PCC cars, complete body rebuild and replacement of control system on four "Muni original" PCC cars, and complete frame-up rebuild on Muni car #1.

On a related subject, does anyone know what happened to the St. Louis PCC car acquired by Savannah, GA as a potential stablemate for the ex-Melbourne car now running there?

Miner has been moribund since the death of its owner, Dave Miner 2 years ago.