FEATURED RELEASE
The Edwards Railway Motor Car Company And its Visionary Founder, H.P. Edwards, "The Doctor of
Sick Shortlines"by Cary Franklin Poole
A contemporary of Brill and EMC, the Edwards company produced gasoline powered motorcars for railroads in the U.S., Mexico, and Central and South America. From its humble beginnings in Sanford, North Carolina in the 1920s, when the first car was built utilizing a bus body and a chain and sprocket drive, to the flashy streamlined models of the 1930s and 1940s, Edwards, along with the Edwards company and the Edwards car, is examined in detail.
H. P. Edwards led a fascinating life and his work as "The doctor of sick shortlines" is examined as well. Edwards's work with the Atlantic & Western; Atlantic & St. Andrews Bay (Bay Line); Marrianna & Blountstown; Watauga & Yadkin River; Georgia, Florida & Alabama; Atlantic & East Carolina is all documented and brought to life with numerous photographs, maps, and locomotive rosters.
Poole doesn't stop here, however. Owing to both a recent surge in nostalgia for Edwards motorcars and to a fundamental rethinking of modern transportation needs, the Edwards Company was revived in 1998 as the Edwards Rail Car Co. Poole follows the Edwards cars up to the present day. Someday soon you may be riding one. Wouldn't you like to know a little bit more about them first?
