Elgin, Joliet & Eastern 5676 side dump car at Ralston Steel Car Co 5 x 7 Photo

Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railroad side dump car at the Ralston Steel Car Company.

Photograph of a used Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railroad steel framed, side dump car built by the American Car & Foundry Company, of Detroit, Michigan at the Ralston Steel Car Company for repairs. The Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway (reporting mark EJE) was a Class II railroad, operating between Waukegan, Illinois and Gary Indiana. American Car and Foundry (often abbreviated as ACF) is a manufacturer of railroad rolling stock. For forty-eight years the Ralston Steel Car Co. was a fixture on the eastside of Columbus, Ohio. It purchased its facilities from the Rarig Engineering Co. in 1905, and was bounded on the west by Cassady Ave, the south by the Pennsylvania Railroad/Baltimore and Ohio Railroad shared trackage and on the north by Fourth Street. The original purchase was 10 acres which would grow to about 24 acres over the years. Joseph S. Ralston and Anton Becker, both of Chicago, were entering the freight car business at a prime time. One of Ralston's very first commercial activities involved installing steel underframes in older wooden cars. The Ralston Co. was a big success expanding rapidly in its first eight years, however, the railroads eventually fell onto hard times and by 1953 the Ralston Co. couldn't continue as a freight car manufacturer or make a go of it repairing freight cars. The company declared bankruptcy and the facility evolved into a warehouse service. Some of the shop buildings can be seen in the background of this image.