From Farm Implements to Railroad Cars: Jackson and Woodin in Columbia County
This is the story of how a small-town blacksmith shop grew into the largest freight car manufacturer in the Eastern United States, and how its founders literally reshaped the town to keep the gears turning.
September 17, 2026
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Terry Diener
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Additional Credits:
Battle, J. H. History of Columbia and Montour Counties, Pennsylvania. Chicago: A. Warner & Co., 1887; Historical Publishing Company. Industries of Pennsylvania: Columbia, Montour, and Northumberland Counties. Philadelphia: Historical Publishing Company, 1882; American Car and Foundry Company. The First Fifty Years: A History of the American Car and Foundry Company, 1899–1949. New York: American Car and Foundry Company, 1949; Mid-Continent Railway Museum. "Jackson & Woodin Manufacturing Company;" Berwick Historical Society. "The Jackson and Woodin Legacy & The Jackson Mansion;" Berwick Industrial Development Association (B.I.D.A.); "Our History: The Industrial Evolution of Berwick." BIDA Corporate History Project; United States Department of War. Record of Army Ordnance Production: The Stuart Tank and the American Car & Foundry Co. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1945; "American Car and Foundry Company, Berwick, PA." PreservedTanks.com Registry. Accessed September 17, 2026. preservedtanks.com; Advertisement: The Car Builder’s Dictionary, The Railroad Gazette, 1879, Page 13
