PA State Archives Hours, Directions, & Fees Research Topics Online Catalog Land Records

 

 

 


Pennsylvania State Archives
Manuscript Group 393

PULLMAN-STANDARD CAR MANUFACTURING COMPANY
OF BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA
RECORDS
[ca. 1902-1982]
155 cu. ft.


The Pullman-Standard Car Manufacturing Company was a manufacturing branch of Pullman Incorporated of Chicago, and was the result of the 1930 merger between the Pullman Car and Manufacturing Corporation and the Standard Steel Car Company. The Standard Steel Car Company had been incorporated in 1902 by former executives of the Pressed Steel Car Company. Standard Steel Car Company’s major production facilities were established in Butler, Pennsylvania. In 1912, Standard acquired the Middletown Car Company, which it held until 1930. In addition to the Butler and Middletown plants, production took place at a plant in Hammond, Indiana and, through the Middletown subsidiary, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. After the merger with Pullman, the Middletown and Rio holdings were divested. During World War Two, the Butler plant produced artillery and naval shells and aerial bombs. With the increase in air and highway travel after the war, use of railroads began  to decline. Pullman-Standard was affected by the reduction in demand for their rail cars and in 1981 production ceased.

Records of the Butler branch of Pullman-Standard consist primarily of general arrangement volumes, tracings and mechanical drawings of railroad freight cars and components manufactured between 1902 and 1969. Other technical material consists of trade association manuals and standards. Also included are employee indexes from 1909 to 1937 and employee records from 1949 to 1982. Audio-visual materials, including photographs, motion picture films and audio tapes, are available. Unusual items include a volume of car drawings produced by the Rio de Janeiro plant; die drawings of all the components used in the manufacture of artillery and naval shells; and a volume from the Imperial Railways of North China which contains drawings of the parts of road beds, rolling stock and locomotives, as well as pages on the operation of the railroad, conduct of personnel, and precautions to be taken during the flood season.

A related series, Middletown Car and Manufacturing Company Assignee Account Record, 1874. (1 volume) {series #47.83}can be found in Record Group 47, Records of County Governments.

Gift of Pullman-Standard Car Manufacturing Company, 1986 and South Suburban Genealogical and Historical Society, 1992.

ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS
PERSONNEL RECORDS
PUBLICITY RECORDS
TECHNICAL RECORDS

Drawings and Specifications

Industry Trade Association Standards
Order Tracking Registers, Indexes, Parts Specifications

PA State Archives Hours, Directions, & Fees Research Topics Online Catalog Land Records