Document Type
Finding Aid
Publication Date
8-2026
Abstract
The collection includes only documents that were found in the plant in 2021. These primarily consist of files on capital projects from the 1970s through the 1990s. Also included are notebooks with job descriptions and classifications; ledger books containing maintenance purchase orders; quality assurance manuals; visitors register books from 1973-2019; drawings of plant machinery and operations; slides and photographs; and miscellaneous materials.
The forerunner to ACF was Ensign Manufacturing Company, founded in 1871 at Huntington, West Virginia, by William H. Barnum and Ely Ensign, both from prominent families of Lime Rock, Connecticut. It was chartered (incorporated) on November 1, 1872, in the state of West Virginia. The incorporators included Collis P. Huntington, D.W. Emmons (Huntington’s brother-in-law), Ely Ensign, Henry M. Ensign and several other businessmen. It employed 70 men when it opened and began by manufacturing only railroad car wheels and axles. In 1881 the Ensign shops opened to produce coal cars. Skilled men were brought in from other states to build wooden railroad cars.
By 1895 Ensign was turning out more than 4,000 cars a year, including box cars, stock cars, gondolas, mine cars and snowplows, as well as car wheels and castings of different kinds. Between 1896 and 1898, Ensign received contracts and orders for 500 coal cars, and three of the Russell patented snowplows, with most of the coal cars being to the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad.
American Car and Foundry (ACF) was organized on February 20 and incorporated March 17, 1899, in New Jersey by the merger of 13 railroad car manufacturers including Ensign. On February 28, 1899, Ensign Manufacturing sold all its lands and buildings for $1 and other considerations to ACF. Ely Ensign stayed on with the new company as district manager until his death in 1902. His son, John W. Ensign, remained as a manager at ACF until his death in 1931. For a few years following its formation, ACF continued to make wooden rail cars. By 1915, the total annual capacity of ACF, including all locations, was 125,000 freight cars, 1,500 passenger cars, and 350,000 tons of wheels.
At its peak, the Huntington plant employed 1,600 people, and worked 24 hours a day, supporting an annual payroll of $30 million, producing about 4,000 gondola cars per year. In 1992, the Huntington plant celebrated building the 100,000th center flow gondola car. The Huntington plant closed completely in 2010, and most of the buildings were demolished. The site is currently undergoing redevelopment. Other American Car and Foundry records are preserved at the corporation archives in the St. Louis Mercantile Library.
Rights
Special collections material is obtained from many sources and is intended primarily for research and educational purposes. Certain works may be protected by copyright, trademark, or related interests not governed by the department. It is up to the researcher to verify that they have permission to use these materials for publication or other activities.
Accession Number
2026/08.0905
Access and Use
For more information or to use any of these collections, contact:
Special Collections, Morrow Library
Marshall University
One John Marshall Drive
Huntington, WV 25755
(304) 696-2343
[email protected]
Recommended Citation
American Car and Foundry (ACF) Collection, 1916-2019, Accession No. 2026/08.0905, Special Collections Department, Marshall University, Huntington, WV.
