In the 1880s and 1890s Ensign's production of wood freight cars made the company one of the three largest sawmill operators in Cabell County.
[4] For the first ten years of production, Ensign manufactured iron parts such as railroad car wheels.
[7] A car of this design, built at Ensign, was shown at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893.
[8] After the exposition and Panic of 1893, Ensign Car Works closed for seven months, reopening on January 3, 1894.
During World War II, a number of cars were built there to British designs for export.