Cars

railcar manufacturing plant in Renton on February 1, 1908.

HistoryLink.org Essay 4271

Printer-Friendly Format

On February 1, 1908, the Seattle Car Manufacturing Co. opens a modern railcar manufacturing plant in Renton. The destruction of Seattle Car’s Youngstown plant by fire, coupled with the repercussions of the national financial panic of 1907, has placed the company in voluntary receivership. The new plant gives the business new momentum and company president William Pigott (1860-1929) and vice president Oliver D. Colvin will successfully shepherd the company through this difficult period. This company will evolve into Pacific Car and Foundry (1917), and eventually PACCAR (1972).

Designing Transportation for Logs

Seattle Car manufactured railcars, many specifically designed to meet the unique needs of Northwest loggers. From its inception in 1905, Pacific Car had placed a high value on creative, innovative thinking when it came to solving customers’ design problems. The first innovation to come out of the Renton plant was the so-called "connected truck," a vehicle for the logging industry designed to carry the massive logs then coming out of Northwest forests. "Seattle Car’s innovation was to tie the trucks together with strong lengthwise members, and install bunks to keep the logs in place and chocks to hold the ends securely" (Groner, 34). The cars were assigned the trade name "Hercules."

The company’s next railcar innovation was an all-steel, 50-ton logging truck. The firm also introduced safer logging cars with air brakes and cars specifically designed to carry steam donkeys -- the portable, steam-powered winches that helped mechanize logging in the 1880s.

Invention and Innovation

In 1911, the company changed its name to Seattle Car and Foundry Company. The Federated Employees’ Union represented the employees and secured for them (among other benefits) an eight-hour day.

The company was perfectly positioned to serve and benefit