Major competitor to the Pullman’s Palace Car Co. formed in 1866 as the New York Central Sleeping Car Co. and renamed the Wagner Palace Car Co. in 1886 after its deceased founder, Webster Wagner. Controlled by Vanderbilt interests and run by William Seward Webb, a Vanderbilt son-in-law, Wagner worked to expand its lines and spent lavishly on new equipment in an attempt to compete With Pullman. That attempt ended in 1899, when the Pullman’s palace Car Company purchased Wagner for 36.5 million dollars.

Corporate, financial, operating and securities records of the Wagner Palace Car Co., dating primarily from 1886 to 1899. Included are a Board of Directors minute book, 1886-1899; financial ledgers and journals, 1887-1899; financial statements and balance sheets, 1889-1900; operating contracts with several railroads; fare books; stockholder ledgers, lists, certificates, and proxies; and records pertaining to the company’s dissolution in 1899. There is also a 1940 digest of New York Central Sleeping Car Co. and Wagner minute books, 1866-1900.

Board of Directors minute book, 1886-1899, also available on microfilm.

See also records of the New York Central Sleeping Car Company, Record Group 10/00/03, Wagner advertising pamphlets, Record Group 09/00/03, and drawings of Pullman-purchased Wagner cars, Record Group 05/02/03, Pullman Company Archives.