The American Car & Foundry Company has been busy!

The car pictured on the front of this post card is the first of 400 R-10 subway cars built after World War 2 by the American Car & Foundry Company.

Here, it poses for its portrait at the builder’s plant. These 400 cars, delivered in 1948 and 1949, were intended for joint Independent-Brooklyn Manhatten Transit service but they were used initially on the New York City built Independent Lines. I posted a picture earlier this month (June 4, 2025) of another car that was built by this company. Here is the link to that post: https://www.blogger.com/u/1/blog/post/edit/2934863145319975648/1792440136948994381 In this post I will focus on the builder of the car. I have taken the information below from this website which gives great information about the history of the American Car & Foundry Company: https://www.midcontinent.org/rollingstock/builders/amercar&foundry1.htm By 17 March 1899, when the American Car & Foundry Company (AC&F) came into being at New York City, a few all-steel cars were being built, most cars were still built largely of wood, though with an ever-increasing amount of steel. Hopper cars were early made entirely of steel, with gondola and flat cars following (though with wood floors). House cars first had steel frames with wooden sheathing. It would be almost the time of the 1st World War before the majority of box cars, tank cars and passenger cars were made entirely of steel. There were 13 independent car builders consolidated into AC&F in 1899. During the previous year, those 13 had accounted for 53% of all freight cars built outside the railroads’ own shops. Additional companies were added in ensuing years such that there were 18 by 1920. AC&F was incorporated in New Jersey, with capital of $60 million. The initial Directors of the company were W.K. Bixby of Missouri Car & Foundry, George Hargreaves of Michigan-Peninsular Car Company, J.L. Swyser of Ohio Falls Car Mfg. Company, Fred H. Eaton of Jackson & Woodin Mfg. Company, J.J. Albright of Union Car Company, H.B. Denton of St. Charles Car Company and Charles T. Schoen of Pressed Steel Car Company. William Keeny Bixby (1857-1931) is credited with forming the American Car & Foundry Company. Born in Adrian, MI, he began his railway career in 1870 as a night watchman and baggage man for the International Great Northern Railroad at Palestine, Texas. He was soon promoted to the post of general baggage agent in San Antonio. He next moved to St. Louis, where he became printing and stationery buyer for all the Gould lines. After several years he became a lumber agent for the Missouri Car & Foundry Company of St. Louis. He was promoted to Vice-President within two years and later became its President. As head of Missouri Car & Foundry, Bixby engineered a consolidation with the Michigan-Peninsular Car Company of Detroit, then added 12 other independent car builders to become the American Car & Foundry Company, of which he was the first President, serving from 1899 to 1901. He thereafter became Chairman of the Board, then retired in 1905.

The post card was published by Audio Visual Designs (AVD) from Earlton, New York. AVD was started in 1964 by Carl Sturner for the sole purpose of providing railfans with sound recordings of locos and trains as well as with photochrome postcards of trackside photos. These stunning color images were taken all over the country by some well-known photographers such as David Sweetland. The history and product line of AVD can be found on the company's website at https://www.audiovisualdesigns.com/