Perley A. Thomas Car Works, Inc. was an American manufacturer of streetcars based in High Point, North Carolina. Following the liquidation of Southern Car Works, its engineer Perley A. Thomas in 1916 founded the new company named for himself. Along with the manufacture of complete streetcars, Thomas Car Works also renovated and repaired existing cars to supplement its production.
At the beginning of the Great Depression, mass transit in the United States largely transitioned in format from streetcars to automotive-based buses, leading Thomas Car Works to convert to bus production. From the mid-1930s onward, the company dedicated its production towards school buses. Following World War II, the company became one of the primary manufacturers of large school bus bodies in the United States, leading Perley A. Thomas Car Works to be renamed as Thomas Built Buses, Inc. in 1972.
As Thomas Built Buses, the company is still based in High Point, operating as a subsidiary of Freightliner Trucks (of Daimler AG) since 1998.
History
1910s
In 1910, Perley A. Thomas joined Southern Car Company in High Point, North Carolina as an engineer and designer. By 1915, the company had begun its transition from wood-bodied designs to all-steel vehicles. However, Southern Car was unable to remain competitive, leading to its closure in early 1916. Following the closure of Southern Car Company, Thomas relied on his woodworking background and the furniture industry of High Point to found his own company, producing fireplace mantles and other home furnishings.
In the summer of 1916, Thomas was contracted by Southern Public Utilities Company in Charlotte, North Carolina to enclose its fleet of streetcars. As they were Southern Car Company streetcars designed by Thomas, the utility company sought him out for the renovation. Along with a small crew of former Southern Car Company builders, Thomas performed the work in a Charlotte car barn.
One month after securing the contract in Charlotte, Perley A. Thomas Car Works was officially organized in High Point, with Thomas hiring 30 employees from the former Southern Car Company. With a $6,000 loan, Thomas acquired the equipment of his former employer at auction, opening an assembly facility in a former ice manufacturing plant in High Point. By the end of the year, four additional cars were renovated for Southern Public Utilities in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. During 1917, Thomas Car Works renovated 9 streetcars for the United States Navy in Mobile, Alabama and a group of streetcars for Montgomery, Alabama.
In 1918, Thomas Car Works would see several company milestones, commencing production of new streetcars for the first time. The factory was capable of producing wooden or steel bodies, with the latter quickly becoming the most common (Southern Car had introduced all-steel bodies in 1911). At the end of the year, a 30-acre property was secured outside of High Point; the company constructed a larger assembly facility, allowing for simultaneous construction and repair/renovation of streetcars. In total, 25 streetcars were produced in the first year of production.
1920s
As a streetcar manufacturer, Thomas Car Works saw its greatest success during the 1920s, becoming one of the largest manufacturers of electric streetcars in the United States. In 1921, the company secured its largest-ever order of streetcars, from NOPSI (New Orleans Public Service Inc.). In total, 173 streetcars were ordered from 1921 to 1924, as NOPSI sought to standardize their fleet. The steel-bodied 800-900-series streetcars were double-ended (two sets of operating controls and two trolley poles), double-trucked, with an arched roof. Unable to fill the massive order entirely on their own, Thomas Car Works subcontracted a portion of the order to Philadelphia-based competitor J. G. Brill (using the Thomas design).
In September 1922, after the company had delivered 25 streetcars to NOPSI, the High Point factory was destroyed by fire, causing $225,000 in damage (along with 14 streetcars under construction). In response, Perley Thomas secured $100,000 from NOPSI to secure the parts to construct an order of 55 streetcars; a second order of 25 streetcars was delivered by the end of 1923. In total, NOPSI would order 173 800-900-series streetcars, with Thomas Car Works producing 98 (not including the 14 destroyed in the factory fire). The High Point factory was rebuilt to hold three tracks inside the factory; three stations on each track allowed 9 cars to be worked on simultaneously. The factory employed a 125-employee workforce, with seven complete streetcars produced each week on average.