Hello all,

I am looking for information about the Mather Car Company of Chicago Heights, IL. Other than some brief mention in John White's book on freight cars and the info printed on the back of an HO scale Proto 2000 Mather stock or box car, I haven't seen much information.

Also, have any Mather cars survived into preservation?

Better push this up to the top of the list.

Mid-Continent in North Freedom has five "late model" tall Mather boxcars in their collection, and also a bit of history on their web site:

http://www.midcontinent.org/collectn/woodfrt/acy3011.html

They claim only one other Mather car saved, at the San Diego Railroad Museum at Campo, California.

By the way, these are not "war emergency cars", no matter what the MCRM site says, but are typical of Mather's frugal approach to railroad car construction

From my casual research I get the impression that prior to its acquisition by North American Car Co. the Mather Stockcar Co. was very much directly under the influence of founder Alonzo C. Mather. Wikipedia has a brief bio:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alonzo_C._Mather

It appears that all the Mather equipment was built in company shops to Mather's own designs, and these designs remained surprisingly consistent throughout the life of the company; exterior post wood ends, channel section diagonals, and round bar stock sill steps are common features that show in almost all photos of Mather cars. The company originally ran a lease fleet of stockcars, some of which they later converted to boxcars simply by re-sheathing them. They also converted a few cars to reefers; the distinctive Mather framing is visible along the sills on these cars. I recall running into an article in an old Railway Mechanical Engineer that stated that the AAR had failed to accept Mather's design for the conversion of these same cars to gondolas!

Mather was also quite active in obtaining patents, which was one avenue I explored when researching the company's cars back in pre internet days. Mather submitted patents for items large and small; his pressed steel panel roof had some success (at least he used it on his own fleet) while his refrigerator car patent did not. Most endearing, however, was the patent abstract I ran across for Alonzo's "flying machine" The illustration disclosed it to be a small aeroplane suspended below the cabin of a dirigible, to be used as a lifeboat in the event the dirigible sprung a leak. I kid you not. I only wish I had bothered to photocopy the abstract.

I suggest you do a Google search on Alonzo C. Mather by name, there are a lot of citations. Until his morning I was unaware that the Mather Stockcar Co. owned an entire building, Mather Tower, in downtown Chicago for use as their headquarters.

I wonder if the "Flying Machine" patent by Mather was US 1,720,846 ( July 16, 1929). There were actually several pages of detail drawings, in case you were thinking of building one. Incidentally, it is designed to launch Torpedoes, too. Here's a link to an electronic copy.
http://v3.espacenet.com/origdoc?DB=EPOD ... =US1720846
There was a fictional aircraft very similar to this design described in a 1886 Jules Verne novel titled "Robur the Conquerer", and a sequel in 1904 titled "Master of the World". I recall the flying boat also appeared in a 1961 movie titled "Master of the World", starring Vicent Price and Charles Bronson. I wonder if the Movie makers were aware of the Mather Patent?
Dan Rohrback

Thanks for sharing. No, it’s not the patent I remember, which specifically called out the plane’s use as an escape vehicle, but I suppose Mather could have applied for several different patents concerning “flying machines”.

It just occurred to me, after reading Mather’s bio this morning, that good old Alonzo would have been 73 years old when he applied for the patent you posted. Apparently thinking up novel improvements to flying machines was a hobby of his. I sure hope I’m as receptive to the then current technology when I’m 73 as he apparently was.

Too bad we didn't have that Mather Flying Boat operational during World War Two, it would have scared the Japanese Air Force right out of that secret airstrip they had hidden in the alfalfa fields near Pomona and sent them scurrying right back across the Pacific.

"Message from Barstow, Sir....."

By the way, where was that gas station located where John Belushi fueled up the P40? It looked like it might be around Hinckley, a great beach town, unfortunately not near the ocean.

MX

Dennis -

Actually, MCRM's claim states that only one other AC&Y Mather car has been saved. So perhaps other examples from other railroads might still exist out there.

Les[/b]

I believe the gas station in 1941 was near Acton, CA. The same location and actor were previously used by Spielberg in Duel starring Dennis Weaver. Duel was filmed in 1971 in Soledad Canyon and included several scenes of S.P. freights.

Thanks, Randolph. The gas station sequence with the P40 is one of Belushi's all time greats. Too bad 1941 doesn't get a bit more respect, it was an incredible movie if you can follow all the "insider" humor.

MX