Gilbert Car Company

[2][3][4][5][6] Founded by Orsamus Eaton (1792–1872) and Uri Gilbert (1809–1888), the company changed names several times as the partnership changed: In 1879, Gilbert leased the Buffalo Car Works facility in Buffalo, which had a capacity of five to twelve new cars per day.

[10] The Gilbert company saw some success in 1881 when it secured an order for several hundred refrigerator cars for the newly established American Refrigerator Transit Company.

[11] In 1886, Gilbert leased the Jones Car Works of Schenectady.

[13][14][9][15] Only a few months earlier, Gilbert had completed construction of a hundred cars for New York Central Railroad passenger trains.

[17] In 1899, the plant was rumored to be the target of acquisition for conversion into an automobile manufacturing facility.