Perley A. Thomas Car Works

Perley A. Thomas Car Works, Inc. was a 20th century builder of wooden and steel streetcars, based in High Point, North Carolina in the United States. It was named for its founder, Perley A. Thomas.

The company built many of the wooden electric overhead-trolley powered streetcars used throughout the United States primarily in the first half of the 20th century. Known for their workmanship and durability, some of the cars built by Perley A. Thomas Car Works in the early 1920s are still operating today in New Orleans. A famous Tennessee Williams play and later film of the same name was set in New Orleans, Louisiana where Perley A. Thomas streetcars were operated on the route labeled Desire around the period of 1947 in which the story was set, hence the name: "A Streetcar Named Desire".

The Perley A. Thomas Car Works was reorganized as Thomas Built Buses, Inc., and became one of the three principal builders of large school buses in the United States by the end of the 20th century. It is still based in High Point, and is part of the Freightliner Group of DaimlerChrysler.

Perley A. Thomas, who died in 1958, was inducted into the North Carolina Hall of Fame.

Perley Thomas cars continue to run on New Orleans' historic St. Charles Avenue Streetcar line.

A few Perley Thomas cars have been preserved outside of New Orleans. Examples include #966 at the Seashore Trolley Museum and #850 at the Shore Line Trolley Museum. Two cars, Car #913 and Car #952, are preserved in San Francisco's F Market & Wharves line. Car #913 is currently undergoing restoration.

Products

* 900 series DE streetcar

External links

* [http://www.thomasbus.com/corporate/history.asp History of Thomas Built Buses]
* [http://www.ironhorse129.com//rollingstock/builders/perleyt.htm Company history] at ironhorse129.com
* [http://bywater.org/strtcar.htm History of the Desire streetcar line]