CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html> <html class="client-nojs vector-feature-language-in-header-enabled vector-feature-language-in-main-page-header-disabled vector-feature-page-tools-pinned-disabled vector-feature-toc-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-main-menu-pinned-disabled vector-feature-limited-width-clientpref-1 vector-feature-limited-width-content-enabled vector-feature-custom-font-size-clientpref-1 vector-feature-appearance-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-night-mode-enabled skin-theme-clientpref-day vector-sticky-header-enabled vector-toc-available" lang="en" dir="ltr"> <head> <meta charset="UTF-8"> <title>Merchants Despatch - Wikipedia</title> <script>(function(){var className="client-js vector-feature-language-in-header-enabled vector-feature-language-in-main-page-header-disabled vector-feature-page-tools-pinned-disabled vector-feature-toc-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-main-menu-pinned-disabled vector-feature-limited-width-clientpref-1 vector-feature-limited-width-content-enabled vector-feature-custom-font-size-clientpref-1 vector-feature-appearance-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-night-mode-enabled skin-theme-clientpref-day vector-sticky-header-enabled vector-toc-available";var cookie=document.cookie.match(/(?:^|; )enwikimwclientpreferences=([^;]+)/);if(cookie){cookie[1].split('%2C').forEach(function(pref){className=className.replace(new RegExp('(^| )'+pref.replace(/-clientpref-\w+$|[^\w-]+/g,'')+'-clientpref-\\w+( |$)'),'$1'+pref+'$2');});}document.documentElement.className=className;}());RLCONF={"wgBreakFrames":false,"wgSeparatorTransformTable":["",""],"wgDigitTransformTable":["",""],"wgDefaultDateFormat":"dmy", "wgMonthNames":["","January","February","March","April","May","June","July","August","September","October","November","December"],"wgRequestId":"7df37af1-e7bf-4d1c-b7b8-27463d52f9ad","wgCanonicalNamespace":"","wgCanonicalSpecialPageName":false,"wgNamespaceNumber":0,"wgPageName":"Merchants_Despatch","wgTitle":"Merchants Despatch","wgCurRevisionId":1149783085,"wgRevisionId":1149783085,"wgArticleId":3124299,"wgIsArticle":true,"wgIsRedirect":false,"wgAction":"view","wgUserName":null,"wgUserGroups":["*"],"wgCategories":["Articles with short description","Short description matches Wikidata","Articles lacking in-text citations from February 2018","All articles lacking in-text citations","Refrigerator car lines of the United States","American Express","American companies established in 1857","Transport companies established in 1857"],"wgPageViewLanguage":"en","wgPageContentLanguage":"en","wgPageContentModel":"wikitext","wgRelevantPageName":"Merchants_Despatch","wgRelevantArticleId":3124299, "wgIsProbablyEditable":true,"wgRelevantPageIsProbablyEditable":true,"wgRestrictionEdit":[],"wgRestrictionMove":[],"wgNoticeProject":"wikipedia","wgCiteReferencePreviewsActive":false,"wgFlaggedRevsParams":{"tags":{"status":{"levels":1}}},"wgMediaViewerOnClick":true,"wgMediaViewerEnabledByDefault":true,"wgPopupsFlags":0,"wgVisualEditor":{"pageLanguageCode":"en","pageLanguageDir":"ltr","pageVariantFallbacks":"en"},"wgMFDisplayWikibaseDescriptions":{"search":true,"watchlist":true,"tagline":false,"nearby":true},"wgWMESchemaEditAttemptStepOversample":false,"wgWMEPageLength":7000,"wgEditSubmitButtonLabelPublish":true,"wgULSPosition":"interlanguage","wgULSisCompactLinksEnabled":false,"wgVector2022LanguageInHeader":true,"wgULSisLanguageSelectorEmpty":false,"wgWikibaseItemId":"Q6818432","wgCheckUserClientHintsHeadersJsApi":["brands","architecture","bitness","fullVersionList","mobile","model","platform","platformVersion"],"GEHomepageSuggestedEditsEnableTopics":true,"wgGETopicsMatchModeEnabled": false,"wgGEStructuredTaskRejectionReasonTextInputEnabled":false,"wgGELevelingUpEnabledForUser":false};RLSTATE={"ext.globalCssJs.user.styles":"ready","site.styles":"ready","user.styles":"ready","ext.globalCssJs.user":"ready","user":"ready","user.options":"loading","ext.cite.styles":"ready","skins.vector.search.codex.styles":"ready","skins.vector.styles":"ready","skins.vector.icons":"ready","jquery.makeCollapsible.styles":"ready","ext.wikimediamessages.styles":"ready","ext.visualEditor.desktopArticleTarget.noscript":"ready","ext.uls.interlanguage":"ready","wikibase.client.init":"ready","ext.wikimediaBadges":"ready"};RLPAGEMODULES=["ext.cite.ux-enhancements","mediawiki.page.media","site","mediawiki.page.ready","jquery.makeCollapsible","skins.vector.js","ext.centralNotice.geoIP","ext.centralNotice.startUp","ext.gadget.ReferenceTooltips","ext.gadget.switcher","ext.urlShortener.toolbar","ext.centralauth.centralautologin","mmv.bootstrap","ext.popups", "ext.visualEditor.desktopArticleTarget.init","ext.visualEditor.targetLoader","ext.echo.centralauth","ext.eventLogging","ext.wikimediaEvents","ext.navigationTiming","ext.uls.interface","ext.cx.eventlogging.campaigns","ext.cx.uls.quick.actions","wikibase.client.vector-2022","ext.checkUser.clientHints","ext.growthExperiments.SuggestedEditSession"];</script> <script>(RLQ=window.RLQ||[]).push(function(){mw.loader.impl(function(){return["user.options@12s5i",function($,jQuery,require,module){mw.user.tokens.set({"patrolToken":"+\\","watchToken":"+\\","csrfToken":"+\\"}); }];});});</script> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=ext.cite.styles%7Cext.uls.interlanguage%7Cext.visualEditor.desktopArticleTarget.noscript%7Cext.wikimediaBadges%7Cext.wikimediamessages.styles%7Cjquery.makeCollapsible.styles%7Cskins.vector.icons%2Cstyles%7Cskins.vector.search.codex.styles%7Cwikibase.client.init&only=styles&skin=vector-2022"> <script async="" src="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=startup&only=scripts&raw=1&skin=vector-2022"></script> <meta name="ResourceLoaderDynamicStyles" content=""> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=site.styles&only=styles&skin=vector-2022"> <meta name="generator" content="MediaWiki 1.44.0-wmf.17"> <meta name="referrer" content="origin"> <meta name="referrer" content="origin-when-cross-origin"> <meta name="robots" content="max-image-preview:standard"> <meta name="format-detection" content="telephone=no"> <meta property="og:image" content="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/MDT_11329.jpg"> <meta property="og:image:width" content="1200"> <meta property="og:image:height" content="626"> <meta property="og:image" content="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2a/MDT_11329.jpg/800px-MDT_11329.jpg"> <meta property="og:image:width" content="800"> <meta property="og:image:height" content="417"> <meta property="og:image" content="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2a/MDT_11329.jpg/640px-MDT_11329.jpg"> <meta property="og:image:width" content="640"> <meta property="og:image:height" content="334"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=1120"> <meta property="og:title" content="Merchants Despatch - Wikipedia"> <meta property="og:type" content="website"> <link rel="preconnect" href="//upload.wikimedia.org"> <link rel="alternate" media="only screen and (max-width: 640px)" href="//en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchants_Despatch"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/x-wiki" title="Edit this page" href="/w/index.php?title=Merchants_Despatch&action=edit"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="/static/apple-touch/wikipedia.png"> <link rel="icon" href="/static/favicon/wikipedia.ico"> <link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" href="/w/rest.php/v1/search" title="Wikipedia (en)"> <link rel="EditURI" type="application/rsd+xml" href="//en.wikipedia.org/w/api.php?action=rsd"> <link rel="canonical" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchants_Despatch"> <link rel="license" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/atom+xml" title="Wikipedia Atom feed" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:RecentChanges&feed=atom"> <link rel="dns-prefetch" href="//meta.wikimedia.org" /> <link rel="dns-prefetch" href="login.wikimedia.org"> </head> <body class="skin--responsive skin-vector skin-vector-search-vue mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject mw-editable page-Merchants_Despatch rootpage-Merchants_Despatch skin-vector-2022 action-view"><a class="mw-jump-link" href="#bodyContent">Jump to content</a> <div class="vector-header-container"> <header class="vector-header mw-header"> <div class="vector-header-start"> <nav class="vector-main-menu-landmark" aria-label="Site"> <div id="vector-main-menu-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-main-menu-dropdown vector-button-flush-left vector-button-flush-right" title="Main menu" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-main-menu-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-main-menu-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Main menu" > <label id="vector-main-menu-dropdown-label" for="vector-main-menu-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-menu mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-menu"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Main menu</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-main-menu-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> <div id="vector-main-menu" class="vector-main-menu vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-main-menu-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-unpinned" data-feature-name="main-menu-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-main-menu" data-pinned-container-id="vector-main-menu-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-main-menu-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Main menu</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-main-menu.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-main-menu.unpin">hide</button> </div> <div id="p-navigation" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-navigation" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Navigation </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="n-mainpage-description" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Main_Page" title="Visit the main page [z]" accesskey="z"><span>Main page</span></a></li><li id="n-contents" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Contents" title="Guides to browsing Wikipedia"><span>Contents</span></a></li><li id="n-currentevents" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Portal:Current_events" title="Articles related to current events"><span>Current events</span></a></li><li id="n-randompage" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:Random" title="Visit a randomly selected article [x]" accesskey="x"><span>Random article</span></a></li><li id="n-aboutsite" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:About" title="Learn about Wikipedia and how it works"><span>About Wikipedia</span></a></li><li id="n-contactpage" class="mw-list-item"><a href="//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Contact_us" title="How to contact Wikipedia"><span>Contact us</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-interaction" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-interaction" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Contribute </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="n-help" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Help:Contents" title="Guidance on how to use and edit Wikipedia"><span>Help</span></a></li><li id="n-introduction" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Help:Introduction" title="Learn how to edit Wikipedia"><span>Learn to edit</span></a></li><li id="n-portal" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Community_portal" title="The hub for editors"><span>Community portal</span></a></li><li id="n-recentchanges" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:RecentChanges" title="A list of recent changes to Wikipedia [r]" accesskey="r"><span>Recent changes</span></a></li><li id="n-upload" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:File_upload_wizard" title="Add images or other media for use on Wikipedia"><span>Upload file</span></a></li><li id="n-specialpages" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:SpecialPages"><span>Special pages</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <a href="/wiki/Main_Page" class="mw-logo"> <img class="mw-logo-icon" src="/static/images/icons/wikipedia.png" alt="" aria-hidden="true" height="50" width="50"> <span class="mw-logo-container skin-invert"> <img class="mw-logo-wordmark" alt="Wikipedia" src="/static/images/mobile/copyright/wikipedia-wordmark-en.svg" style="width: 7.5em; height: 1.125em;"> <img class="mw-logo-tagline" alt="The Free Encyclopedia" src="/static/images/mobile/copyright/wikipedia-tagline-en.svg" width="117" height="13" style="width: 7.3125em; height: 0.8125em;"> </span> </a> </div> <div class="vector-header-end"> <div id="p-search" role="search" class="vector-search-box-vue vector-search-box-collapses vector-search-box-show-thumbnail vector-search-box-auto-expand-width vector-search-box"> <a href="/wiki/Special:Search" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only search-toggle" title="Search Wikipedia [f]" accesskey="f"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-search mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-search"></span> <span>Search</span> </a> <div class="vector-typeahead-search-container"> <div class="cdx-typeahead-search cdx-typeahead-search--show-thumbnail cdx-typeahead-search--auto-expand-width"> <form action="/w/index.php" id="searchform" class="cdx-search-input cdx-search-input--has-end-button"> <div id="simpleSearch" class="cdx-search-input__input-wrapper" data-search-loc="header-moved"> <div class="cdx-text-input cdx-text-input--has-start-icon"> <input class="cdx-text-input__input" type="search" name="search" placeholder="Search Wikipedia" aria-label="Search Wikipedia" autocapitalize="sentences" title="Search Wikipedia [f]" accesskey="f" id="searchInput" > <span class="cdx-text-input__icon cdx-text-input__start-icon"></span> </div> <input type="hidden" name="title" value="Special:Search"> </div> <button class="cdx-button cdx-search-input__end-button">Search</button> </form> </div> </div> </div> <nav class="vector-user-links vector-user-links-wide" aria-label="Personal tools"> <div class="vector-user-links-main"> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-preferences" class="vector-menu mw-portlet emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-userpage" class="vector-menu mw-portlet emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> <nav class="vector-appearance-landmark" aria-label="Appearance"> <div id="vector-appearance-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown " title="Change the appearance of the page's font size, width, and color" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-appearance-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-appearance-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Appearance" > <label id="vector-appearance-dropdown-label" for="vector-appearance-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-appearance mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-appearance"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Appearance</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-appearance-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-notifications" class="vector-menu mw-portlet emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-overflow" class="vector-menu mw-portlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="pt-sitesupport-2" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item user-links-collapsible-item"><a data-mw="interface" href="https://donate.wikimedia.org/?wmf_source=donate&wmf_medium=sidebar&wmf_campaign=en.wikipedia.org&uselang=en" class=""><span>Donate</span></a> </li> <li id="pt-createaccount-2" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item user-links-collapsible-item"><a data-mw="interface" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CreateAccount&returnto=Merchants+Despatch" title="You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory" class=""><span>Create account</span></a> </li> <li id="pt-login-2" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item user-links-collapsible-item"><a data-mw="interface" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&returnto=Merchants+Despatch" title="You're encouraged to log in; however, it's not mandatory. [o]" accesskey="o" class=""><span>Log in</span></a> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> <div id="vector-user-links-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-user-menu vector-button-flush-right vector-user-menu-logged-out" title="Log in and more options" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-user-links-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-user-links-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Personal tools" > <label id="vector-user-links-dropdown-label" for="vector-user-links-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-ellipsis mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-ellipsis"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Personal tools</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="p-personal" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-personal user-links-collapsible-item" title="User menu" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="pt-sitesupport" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="https://donate.wikimedia.org/?wmf_source=donate&wmf_medium=sidebar&wmf_campaign=en.wikipedia.org&uselang=en"><span>Donate</span></a></li><li id="pt-createaccount" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CreateAccount&returnto=Merchants+Despatch" title="You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-userAdd mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-userAdd"></span> <span>Create account</span></a></li><li id="pt-login" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&returnto=Merchants+Despatch" title="You're encouraged to log in; however, it's not mandatory. [o]" accesskey="o"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-logIn mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-logIn"></span> <span>Log in</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-user-menu-anon-editor" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-user-menu-anon-editor" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Pages for logged out editors <a href="/wiki/Help:Introduction" aria-label="Learn more about editing"><span>learn more</span></a> </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="pt-anoncontribs" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:MyContributions" title="A list of edits made from this IP address [y]" accesskey="y"><span>Contributions</span></a></li><li id="pt-anontalk" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:MyTalk" title="Discussion about edits from this IP address [n]" accesskey="n"><span>Talk</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </header> </div> <div class="mw-page-container"> <div class="mw-page-container-inner"> <div class="vector-sitenotice-container"> <div id="siteNotice"></div> </div> <div class="vector-column-start"> <div class="vector-main-menu-container"> <div id="mw-navigation"> <nav id="mw-panel" class="vector-main-menu-landmark" aria-label="Site"> <div id="vector-main-menu-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="vector-sticky-pinned-container"> <nav id="mw-panel-toc" aria-label="Contents" data-event-name="ui.sidebar-toc" class="mw-table-of-contents-container vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-toc-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> <div id="vector-toc" class="vector-toc vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-toc-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-pinned" data-feature-name="toc-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-toc" > <h2 class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Contents</h2> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-toc.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-toc.unpin">hide</button> </div> <ul class="vector-toc-contents" id="mw-panel-toc-list"> <li id="toc-mw-content-text" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a href="#" class="vector-toc-link"> <div class="vector-toc-text">(Top)</div> </a> </li> <li id="toc-References" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#References"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">1</span> <span>References</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-References-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-External_links" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#External_links"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2</span> <span>External links</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-External_links-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="mw-content-container"> <main id="content" class="mw-body"> <header class="mw-body-header vector-page-titlebar"> <nav aria-label="Contents" class="vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-titlebar-toc vector-button-flush-left" title="Table of Contents" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Toggle the table of contents" > <label id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-label" for="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-listBullet mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-listBullet"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Toggle the table of contents</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading mw-first-heading"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Merchants Despatch</span></h1> <div id="p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown mw-portlet mw-portlet-lang" > <input type="checkbox" id="p-lang-btn-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox mw-interlanguage-selector" aria-label="This article exist only in this language. Add the article for other languages" > <label id="p-lang-btn-label" for="p-lang-btn-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--action-progressive mw-portlet-lang-heading-0" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-language-progressive mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-language-progressive"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Add languages</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> <div class="after-portlet after-portlet-lang"><span class="uls-after-portlet-link"></span><span class="wb-langlinks-add wb-langlinks-link"><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:EntityPage/Q6818432#sitelinks-wikipedia" title="Add interlanguage links" class="wbc-editpage">Add links</a></span></div> </div> </div> </div> </header> <div class="vector-page-toolbar"> <div class="vector-page-toolbar-container"> <div id="left-navigation"> <nav aria-label="Namespaces"> <div id="p-associated-pages" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs mw-portlet mw-portlet-associated-pages" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-nstab-main" class="selected vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Merchants_Despatch" title="View the content page [c]" accesskey="c"><span>Article</span></a></li><li id="ca-talk" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Talk:Merchants_Despatch" rel="discussion" title="Discuss improvements to the content page [t]" accesskey="t"><span>Talk</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="vector-variants-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown emptyPortlet" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-variants-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-variants-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Change language variant" > <label id="vector-variants-dropdown-label" for="vector-variants-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">English</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="p-variants" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-variants emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> <div id="right-navigation" class="vector-collapsible"> <nav aria-label="Views"> <div id="p-views" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs mw-portlet mw-portlet-views" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-view" class="selected vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Merchants_Despatch"><span>Read</span></a></li><li id="ca-edit" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Merchants_Despatch&action=edit" title="Edit this page [e]" accesskey="e"><span>Edit</span></a></li><li id="ca-history" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Merchants_Despatch&action=history" title="Past revisions of this page [h]" accesskey="h"><span>View history</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> <nav class="vector-page-tools-landmark" aria-label="Page tools"> <div id="vector-page-tools-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-tools-dropdown" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-tools-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-tools-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Tools" > <label id="vector-page-tools-dropdown-label" for="vector-page-tools-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Tools</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-page-tools-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> <div id="vector-page-tools" class="vector-page-tools vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-page-tools-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-unpinned" data-feature-name="page-tools-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-page-tools" data-pinned-container-id="vector-page-tools-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-page-tools-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Tools</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-page-tools.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-page-tools.unpin">hide</button> </div> <div id="p-cactions" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-cactions emptyPortlet vector-has-collapsible-items" title="More options" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Actions </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-more-view" class="selected vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Merchants_Despatch"><span>Read</span></a></li><li id="ca-more-edit" class="vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Merchants_Despatch&action=edit" title="Edit this page [e]" accesskey="e"><span>Edit</span></a></li><li id="ca-more-history" class="vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Merchants_Despatch&action=history"><span>View history</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-tb" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-tb" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> General </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="t-whatlinkshere" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:WhatLinksHere/Merchants_Despatch" title="List of all English Wikipedia pages containing links to this page [j]" accesskey="j"><span>What links here</span></a></li><li id="t-recentchangeslinked" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:RecentChangesLinked/Merchants_Despatch" rel="nofollow" title="Recent changes in pages linked from this page [k]" accesskey="k"><span>Related changes</span></a></li><li id="t-upload" class="mw-list-item"><a href="//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:File_Upload_Wizard" title="Upload files [u]" accesskey="u"><span>Upload file</span></a></li><li id="t-permalink" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Merchants_Despatch&oldid=1149783085" title="Permanent link to this revision of this page"><span>Permanent link</span></a></li><li id="t-info" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Merchants_Despatch&action=info" title="More information about this page"><span>Page information</span></a></li><li id="t-cite" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CiteThisPage&page=Merchants_Despatch&id=1149783085&wpFormIdentifier=titleform" title="Information on how to cite this page"><span>Cite this page</span></a></li><li id="t-urlshortener" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UrlShortener&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FMerchants_Despatch"><span>Get shortened URL</span></a></li><li id="t-urlshortener-qrcode" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:QrCode&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FMerchants_Despatch"><span>Download QR code</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-coll-print_export" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-coll-print_export" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Print/export </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="coll-download-as-rl" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:DownloadAsPdf&page=Merchants_Despatch&action=show-download-screen" title="Download this page as a PDF file"><span>Download as PDF</span></a></li><li id="t-print" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Merchants_Despatch&printable=yes" title="Printable version of this page [p]" accesskey="p"><span>Printable version</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-wikibase-otherprojects" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-wikibase-otherprojects" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> In other projects </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li class="wb-otherproject-link wb-otherproject-commons mw-list-item"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Merchants_Despatch" hreflang="en"><span>Wikimedia Commons</span></a></li><li id="t-wikibase" class="wb-otherproject-link wb-otherproject-wikibase-dataitem mw-list-item"><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:EntityPage/Q6818432" title="Structured data on this page hosted by Wikidata [g]" accesskey="g"><span>Wikidata item</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-column-end"> <div class="vector-sticky-pinned-container"> <nav class="vector-page-tools-landmark" aria-label="Page tools"> <div id="vector-page-tools-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> </div> </nav> <nav class="vector-appearance-landmark" aria-label="Appearance"> <div id="vector-appearance-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> <div id="vector-appearance" class="vector-appearance vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-appearance-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-pinned" data-feature-name="appearance-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-appearance" data-pinned-container-id="vector-appearance-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-appearance-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Appearance</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-appearance.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-appearance.unpin">hide</button> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div id="bodyContent" class="vector-body" aria-labelledby="firstHeading" data-mw-ve-target-container> <div class="vector-body-before-content"> <div class="mw-indicators"> </div> <div id="siteSub" class="noprint">From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</div> </div> <div id="contentSub"><div id="mw-content-subtitle"></div></div> <div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content"><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr"><div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none">Rolling stock manufacturer</div> <figure class="mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:MDT_11329.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2a/MDT_11329.jpg/350px-MDT_11329.jpg" decoding="async" width="350" height="182" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2a/MDT_11329.jpg/525px-MDT_11329.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2a/MDT_11329.jpg/700px-MDT_11329.jpg 2x" data-file-width="915" data-file-height="477" /></a><figcaption>Merchants Despatch Transportation Co. refrigerator car #11329, on display at the <a href="/wiki/Pan-American_Exposition" title="Pan-American Exposition">Pan-American Exposition</a> in 1901.</figcaption></figure> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1251242444">.mw-parser-output .ambox{border:1px solid #a2a9b1;border-left:10px solid #36c;background-color:#fbfbfb;box-sizing:border-box}.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+style+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+style+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+link+.ambox{margin-top:-1px}html body.mediawiki .mw-parser-output .ambox.mbox-small-left{margin:4px 1em 4px 0;overflow:hidden;width:238px;border-collapse:collapse;font-size:88%;line-height:1.25em}.mw-parser-output .ambox-speedy{border-left:10px solid #b32424;background-color:#fee7e6}.mw-parser-output .ambox-delete{border-left:10px solid #b32424}.mw-parser-output .ambox-content{border-left:10px solid #f28500}.mw-parser-output .ambox-style{border-left:10px solid #fc3}.mw-parser-output .ambox-move{border-left:10px solid #9932cc}.mw-parser-output .ambox-protection{border-left:10px solid #a2a9b1}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-text{border:none;padding:0.25em 0.5em;width:100%}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-image{border:none;padding:2px 0 2px 0.5em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-imageright{border:none;padding:2px 0.5em 2px 0;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-empty-cell{border:none;padding:0;width:1px}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-image-div{width:52px}@media(min-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .ambox{margin:0 10%}}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .ambox{display:none!important}}</style><table class="box-More_footnotes_needed plainlinks metadata ambox ambox-style ambox-More_footnotes_needed" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td class="mbox-image"><div class="mbox-image-div"><span typeof="mw:File"><span><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a4/Text_document_with_red_question_mark.svg/40px-Text_document_with_red_question_mark.svg.png" decoding="async" width="40" height="40" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a4/Text_document_with_red_question_mark.svg/60px-Text_document_with_red_question_mark.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a4/Text_document_with_red_question_mark.svg/80px-Text_document_with_red_question_mark.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="48" data-file-height="48" /></span></span></div></td><td class="mbox-text"><div class="mbox-text-span">This article includes a list of <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources#General_references" title="Wikipedia:Citing sources">general references</a>, but <b>it lacks sufficient corresponding <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources#Inline_citations" title="Wikipedia:Citing sources">inline citations</a></b>.<span class="hide-when-compact"> Please help to <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Reliability" title="Wikipedia:WikiProject Reliability">improve</a> this article by <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:When_to_cite" title="Wikipedia:When to cite">introducing</a> more precise citations.</span> <span class="date-container"><i>(<span class="date">February 2018</span>)</i></span><span class="hide-when-compact"><i> (<small><a href="/wiki/Help:Maintenance_template_removal" title="Help:Maintenance template removal">Learn how and when to remove this message</a></small>)</i></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1257001546">.mw-parser-output .infobox-subbox{padding:0;border:none;margin:-3px;width:auto;min-width:100%;font-size:100%;clear:none;float:none;background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .infobox-3cols-child{margin:auto}.mw-parser-output .infobox .navbar{font-size:100%}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data:not(.notheme)>div:not(.notheme)[style]{background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data:not(.notheme) div:not(.notheme){background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media(min-width:640px){body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table{display:table!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>caption{display:table-caption!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>tbody{display:table-row-group}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table tr{display:table-row!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table th,body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table td{padding-left:inherit;padding-right:inherit}}</style><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1242257876">.mw-parser-output .ib-company .infobox-label{padding-right:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .ib-company .infobox-data,.mw-parser-output .ib-company .infobox-below{line-height:1.35em}.mw-parser-output .ib-company-logo img{background-color:#f8f9fa}.mw-parser-output .ib-company-locality,.mw-parser-output .ib-company-country{display:inline}</style><table class="infobox ib-company vcard"><caption class="infobox-title fn org" style="font-size: 125%;">Merchants Despatch Transportation Company</caption><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Founded</th><td class="infobox-data">1857</td></tr></tbody></table> <p>The <b>Merchants Despatch Transportation Company</b> (<b>MDT</b>, also known as the <b>Merchants Despatch Refrigerator Line</b>) was established in 1857 or 1858 by the <a href="/wiki/American_Express" title="American Express">American Express Company of New York</a> (then a freight forwarding service). The entity was reformed as a joint stock trading company on June 1, 1869, with ownership divided among the <a href="/wiki/Cleveland,_Columbus,_Cincinnati_and_Indianapolis_Railway" title="Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis Railway">Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis Railway</a> (CCC&I), the <a href="/wiki/Lake_Shore_and_Michigan_Southern_Railway" title="Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway">Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway</a>, and the <a href="/wiki/New_York_Central_Railroad" title="New York Central Railroad">New York Central Railroad</a> (NYC), all part of the <a href="/wiki/Cornelius_Vanderbilt" title="Cornelius Vanderbilt">Cornelius Vanderbilt</a> rail empire. </p><p>The MDT entered the refrigerated transit business around 1880, and within five years had 1,900 <a href="/wiki/Refrigerator_car" title="Refrigerator car">reefers</a> in service, making it one of the largest such concerns in the United States. Historian and author John H. White describes MDT as "the oldest corporate name connected with refrigerated transit to survive into modern times." The company began manufacturing cars on a small scale in 1883 and in spring of 1887 constructed a large manufacturing facility near <a href="/wiki/Rochester,_New_York" title="Rochester, New York">Rochester, New York</a> in a town they named <b>Despatch</b> (present-day <a href="/wiki/East_Rochester,_New_York" title="East Rochester, New York">East Rochester</a>). MDT hired 900 workers and embarked on an aggressive car building program; by 1900 the firm owned 6,687 units, slightly more than half of which were <a href="/wiki/Refrigerator_car" title="Refrigerator car">refrigerator cars</a>. </p> <figure class="mw-halign-left" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:MDT_East_Rochester_Car_Shops_circa_1905.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/MDT_East_Rochester_Car_Shops_circa_1905.jpg/300px-MDT_East_Rochester_Car_Shops_circa_1905.jpg" decoding="async" width="300" height="123" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/MDT_East_Rochester_Car_Shops_circa_1905.jpg/450px-MDT_East_Rochester_Car_Shops_circa_1905.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/MDT_East_Rochester_Car_Shops_circa_1905.jpg/600px-MDT_East_Rochester_Car_Shops_circa_1905.jpg 2x" data-file-width="655" data-file-height="268" /></a><figcaption>Row upon row of reefers in various stages of construction fill MDT's car shop, <i>circa</i> 1905.</figcaption></figure> <p>The East Rochester plant would grow in time to encompass some 64 <a href="/wiki/Acre" title="Acre">acres</a> (with an adjacent rail yard of equal size), and would produce on the order of 36 cars per day. The installation became the main car plant within the New York Central system. MDT adopted the Wickes Patent into its refrigerator car design. Even with its own substantial manufacturing capacity, MDT at times purchased rolling stock from outside companies such as <a href="/wiki/Pullman_Company" title="Pullman Company">Pullman</a> in order to meet the demands imposed by its rapidly expanding shipping service. </p> <figure class="mw-default-size mw-halign-left" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Illinois_Central_Railroad_freight_terminal,_Chicago,_Ill_Restored.png" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Illinois_Central_Railroad_freight_terminal%2C_Chicago%2C_Ill_Restored.png/220px-Illinois_Central_Railroad_freight_terminal%2C_Chicago%2C_Ill_Restored.png" decoding="async" width="220" height="162" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Illinois_Central_Railroad_freight_terminal%2C_Chicago%2C_Ill_Restored.png/330px-Illinois_Central_Railroad_freight_terminal%2C_Chicago%2C_Ill_Restored.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Illinois_Central_Railroad_freight_terminal%2C_Chicago%2C_Ill_Restored.png/440px-Illinois_Central_Railroad_freight_terminal%2C_Chicago%2C_Ill_Restored.png 2x" data-file-width="6106" data-file-height="4492" /></a><figcaption>MDT cars in Chicago, 1943.</figcaption></figure> <p>The company incorporated in the State of <a href="/wiki/New_York_(state)" title="New York (state)">New York</a> in May, 1911. 3,400 reefers were sold to the NYC in December 1912, and 2,988 to the Lake Shore line, though all of the units were in turn leased back to the MDT. The firm was reincorporated as a <a href="/wiki/Delaware" title="Delaware">Delaware</a> corporation in 1923. Circa 1925, the NYC established a new subsidiary, the <b>Eastern Refrigerator Despatch</b> (mirroring the expansion strategy of the rival <a href="/wiki/Fruit_Growers_Express" title="Fruit Growers Express">Fruit Growers Express</a>). Operation of the ERD, along with its 2,100 reefers, was quickly absorbed by Merchants Despatch. In November, 1928 the MDT purchased the <b>Northern Refrigerator Car Line</b> (founded by <a href="/wiki/Milwaukee" title="Milwaukee">Milwaukee's</a> <a href="/wiki/Michael_Cudahy_(meat_packing)" class="mw-redirect" title="Michael Cudahy (meat packing)">Cudahy</a> brothers) and its 1,800 cars. </p><p>A holding company, Merchants Despatch, Inc., merged with the MDT in 1936; the new venture was chartered in Delaware on December 18. In 1962 the NRC was combined with Merchants Despatch. At the same time, greater emphasis was placed on auto carrier business; from 1961 to 1966, the company acquired nearly 1,200 <a href="/wiki/Autorack" title="Autorack">autorack</a> cars (although the base <a href="/wiki/Flatcar" title="Flatcar">flatcars</a> were owned by MDT, the rack structures were owned by the New York Central). MDT also entered the <a href="/wiki/Intermodal_freight_transport" title="Intermodal freight transport">Intermodal freight transport</a> business, and purchased 572 Flexi-Van <a href="/wiki/Containerization" title="Containerization">container</a> flats (intended mainly for use in mail service on <a href="/wiki/Train" title="Train">passenger trains</a>) between 1958 and 1965. </p> <figure class="mw-default-size mw-halign-left" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Merchants_Dispatch_Transportation_Refrigerator_Car_No._14070.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/86/Merchants_Dispatch_Transportation_Refrigerator_Car_No._14070.jpg/220px-Merchants_Dispatch_Transportation_Refrigerator_Car_No._14070.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="146" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/86/Merchants_Dispatch_Transportation_Refrigerator_Car_No._14070.jpg/330px-Merchants_Dispatch_Transportation_Refrigerator_Car_No._14070.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/86/Merchants_Dispatch_Transportation_Refrigerator_Car_No._14070.jpg/440px-Merchants_Dispatch_Transportation_Refrigerator_Car_No._14070.jpg 2x" data-file-width="4288" data-file-height="2848" /></a><figcaption>Preserved MDT car in a rail museum. Car is ca. 1958.</figcaption></figure> <p>As part of the consolidation of facilities planned for the Penn Central merger, the car shop was closed down on April 1, 1970, and the 72-acre property was sold off.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In July, 1985 the MDT assumed the responsibility for car weighing and inspection previously under the purview of the <b>Eastern Weighing and Inspection Bureau</b>. </p><p>After ceasing construction, MDT would continue as a repair shop, and a car lessor to both railroad and private companies. As an independent lessor, it was able to outlast NYCs merger into Penn Central, and their collapse into Conrail. However, after the 1998 purchase of Conrail, MDT's assets were merged and the company dissolved in 2000. </p><p><b>Merchants Despatch Transportation Company Roster, 1900–1970:</b> </p> <table class="toccolours"> <tbody><tr> <td align="center">  <b>1900</b> </td> <td align="center">  <b>1910</b> </td> <td align="center">  <b>1920</b> </td> <td align="center">  <b>1930</b> </td> <td align="center">  <b>1940</b> </td> <td align="center">  <b>1950</b> </td> <td align="center">  <b>1960</b> </td> <td align="center">  <b>1970</b>   </td></tr> <tr> <td align="center">  3,550 </td> <td align="center">  5,388 </td> <td align="center">  308 </td> <td align="center">  11,938 </td> <td align="center">  13,346 </td> <td align="center">  9,690 </td> <td align="center">  6,714 </td> <td align="center">  7,181   </td></tr></tbody></table> <p><b>Northern Refrigerator Car Line Roster, 1930–1960:</b> </p> <table class="toccolours"> <tbody><tr> <td align="center">  <b>1930</b> </td> <td align="center">  <b>1940</b> </td> <td align="center">  <b>1950</b> </td> <td align="center">  <b>1960</b>   </td></tr> <tr> <td align="center">  3,494 </td> <td align="center">  4,651 </td> <td align="center">  4,064 </td> <td align="center">  3,747   </td></tr></tbody></table> <p><small>Source: <i>The Great Yellow Fleet</i>, p. 16.</small> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Merchants_Despatch&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-references-wrap"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><cite id="CITEREFBaer2015" class="citation web cs1">Baer, Christopher T. (April 2015). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prrths.com/newprr_files/Hagley/PRR1970.pdf">"A General Chronology of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company"</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span>. <i>Pennsylvania Railroad Historical & Technical Society</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">April 8,</span> 2019</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=Pennsylvania+Railroad+Historical+%26+Technical+Society&rft.atitle=A+General+Chronology+of+the+Pennsylvania+Railroad+Company&rft.date=2015-04&rft.aulast=Baer&rft.aufirst=Christopher+T.&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.prrths.com%2Fnewprr_files%2FHagley%2FPRR1970.pdf&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMerchants+Despatch" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> </ol></div> <ul><li>White, John H. (1986). <i>The Great Yellow Fleet</i>. <a href="/wiki/Golden_West_Books" title="Golden West Books">Golden West Books</a>, San Marino, CA. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-87095-091-6" title="Special:BookSources/0-87095-091-6">0-87095-091-6</a>.</li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFWhite1993" class="citation book cs1"><a href="/wiki/John_H._White_Jr." title="John H. White Jr.">White, John H. Jr.</a> (1993). <i>The American Railroad Freight Car: From the Wood-Car Era to the Coming of Steel</i>. Baltimore: <a href="/wiki/Johns_Hopkins_University_Press" title="Johns Hopkins University Press">Johns Hopkins University Press</a>. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8018-4404-5" title="Special:BookSources/0-8018-4404-5"><bdi>0-8018-4404-5</bdi></a>. <a href="/wiki/OCLC_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="OCLC (identifier)">OCLC</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/26130632">26130632</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+American+Railroad+Freight+Car%3A+From+the+Wood-Car+Era+to+the+Coming+of+Steel&rft.place=Baltimore&rft.pub=Johns+Hopkins+University+Press&rft.date=1993&rft_id=info%3Aoclcnum%2F26130632&rft.isbn=0-8018-4404-5&rft.aulast=White&rft.aufirst=John+H.+Jr.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMerchants+Despatch" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li>Hinman, Roger C. (2011). <i>Merchant's Despatch; Its Equipment and History</i>. Signature Press, Wilton, CA. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-93001-329-9" title="Special:BookSources/1-93001-329-9">1-93001-329-9</a>.</li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Merchants_Despatch&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: External links"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.rochester.lib.ny.us/rochimag/erpath/industry.htm">Rochester Images</a> — contains images of the MDT car shops along with the Foster-Armstrong Company (later known as the American Piano Company and then Aeolian American Corporation).</li></ul> <div class="navbox-styles"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1129693374">.mw-parser-output .hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul{margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt,.mw-parser-output .hlist li{margin:0;display:inline}.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul ul{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .hlist .mw-empty-li{display:none}.mw-parser-output .hlist dt::after{content:": "}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li::after{content:" · ";font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li:last-child::after{content:none}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dd:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dt:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dd:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dt:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dd:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dt:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li li:first-child::before{content:" (";font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd li:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt li:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li li:last-child::after{content:")";font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .hlist ol{counter-reset:listitem}.mw-parser-output .hlist ol>li{counter-increment:listitem}.mw-parser-output .hlist ol>li::before{content:" "counter(listitem)"\a0 "}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd ol>li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt ol>li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li ol>li:first-child::before{content:" ("counter(listitem)"\a0 "}</style><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236075235">.mw-parser-output .navbox{box-sizing:border-box;border:1px solid #a2a9b1;width:100%;clear:both;font-size:88%;text-align:center;padding:1px;margin:1em auto 0}.mw-parser-output .navbox .navbox{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .navbox+.navbox,.mw-parser-output .navbox+.navbox-styles+.navbox{margin-top:-1px}.mw-parser-output .navbox-inner,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup{width:100%}.mw-parser-output .navbox-group,.mw-parser-output .navbox-title,.mw-parser-output .navbox-abovebelow{padding:0.25em 1em;line-height:1.5em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .navbox-group{white-space:nowrap;text-align:right}.mw-parser-output .navbox,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup{background-color:#fdfdfd}.mw-parser-output .navbox-list{line-height:1.5em;border-color:#fdfdfd}.mw-parser-output .navbox-list-with-group{text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid}.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-abovebelow,.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-group,.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-image,.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-list{border-top:2px solid #fdfdfd}.mw-parser-output .navbox-title{background-color:#ccf}.mw-parser-output .navbox-abovebelow,.mw-parser-output .navbox-group,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup .navbox-title{background-color:#ddf}.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup .navbox-group,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup .navbox-abovebelow{background-color:#e6e6ff}.mw-parser-output .navbox-even{background-color:#f7f7f7}.mw-parser-output .navbox-odd{background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td dl,.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td ol,.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td ul,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist ul{padding:0.125em 0}.mw-parser-output .navbox .navbar{display:block;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .navbox-title .navbar{float:left;text-align:left;margin-right:0.5em}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .navbox-image img{max-width:none!important}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .navbox{display:none!important}}</style></div><div role="navigation" class="navbox" aria-labelledby="Major_private_refrigerator_car_lines_of_the_United_States61" style="padding:3px"><table class="nowraplinks mw-collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2" style="background:#c96;"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239400231">.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:inline;font-size:88%;font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .navbar-collapse{float:left;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .navbar-boxtext{word-spacing:0}.mw-parser-output .navbar ul{display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;line-height:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::before{margin-right:-0.125em;content:"[ "}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::after{margin-left:-0.125em;content:" ]"}.mw-parser-output .navbar li{word-spacing:-0.125em}.mw-parser-output .navbar a>span,.mw-parser-output .navbar a>abbr{text-decoration:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-mini abbr{font-variant:small-caps;border-bottom:none;text-decoration:none;cursor:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-full{font-size:114%;margin:0 7em}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-mini{font-size:114%;margin:0 4em}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .navbar li a abbr{color:var(--color-base)!important}@media(prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .navbar li a abbr{color:var(--color-base)!important}}@media print{.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:none!important}}</style><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Refrigerator_Car_Lines_of_the_United_States" title="Template:Refrigerator Car Lines of the United States"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Refrigerator_Car_Lines_of_the_United_States" title="Template talk:Refrigerator Car Lines of the United States"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Refrigerator_Car_Lines_of_the_United_States" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Refrigerator Car Lines of the United States"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="Major_private_refrigerator_car_lines_of_the_United_States61" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em">Major private <a href="/wiki/Refrigerator_car" title="Refrigerator car">refrigerator car</a> lines of the United States</div></th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/American_Refrigerator_Transit_Company" title="American Refrigerator Transit Company">American Refrigerator Transit Co.</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Armour_Refrigerator_Line" title="Armour Refrigerator Line">Armour Refrigerator Line</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Burlington_Refrigerator_Express" title="Burlington Refrigerator Express">Burlington Refrigerator Express</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fruit_Growers_Express" title="Fruit Growers Express">Fruit Growers Express</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/General_American_Transportation_Corporation" class="mw-redirect" title="General American Transportation Corporation">General American Transportation Corporation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hormel" class="mw-redirect" title="Hormel">Hormel and Co.</a></li> <li><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Merchants Despatch</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/North_Western_Refrigerator_Line" title="North Western Refrigerator Line">North Western Refrigerator Line</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pacific_Fruit_Express" title="Pacific Fruit Express">Pacific Fruit Express</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Railway_Express_Agency" title="Railway Express Agency">Railway Express Agency</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Santa_Fe_Refrigerator_Despatch" title="Santa Fe Refrigerator Despatch">Santa Fe Refrigerator Despatch</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/St._Louis_Refrigerator_Car_Company" title="St. Louis Refrigerator Car Company">St. Louis Refrigerator Car Co.</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Swift_Refrigerator_Line" title="Swift Refrigerator Line">Swift Refrigerator Line</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Juice_Train" title="Juice Train">Tropicana Products</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Union_Refrigerator_Transit_Line" title="Union Refrigerator Transit Line">Union Refrigerator Transit Line</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Western_Fruit_Express" title="Western Fruit Express">Western Fruit Express</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Western_Refrigerator_Line" title="Western Refrigerator Line">Western Refrigerator Line</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table></div> <div class="navbox-styles"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236075235"></div><div role="navigation" class="navbox" aria-labelledby="American_Express269" style="padding:3px"><table class="nowraplinks hlist mw-collapsible mw-collapsed navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1239400231"><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:American_Express" title="Template:American Express"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:American_Express" title="Template talk:American Express"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:American_Express" title="Special:EditPage/Template:American Express"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="American_Express269" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="/wiki/American_Express" title="American Express">American Express</a></div></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Payment products</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Accolades_Card" title="Accolades Card">Accolades Cards</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Charge_card" title="Charge card">Charge cards</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Credit_card" title="Credit card">Credit cards</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/ExpressPay" class="mw-redirect" title="ExpressPay">ExpressPay</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Traveler%27s_cheque" class="mw-redirect" title="Traveler's cheque">Traveler's cheques</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Centurion_Card" title="Centurion Card">Centurion Card</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/American_Express_Plum_Card" class="mw-redirect" title="American Express Plum Card">Plum Card</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Corporate_spin-off" title="Corporate spin-off">Spun-off</a> companies</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Ameriprise_Financial" title="Ameriprise Financial">Ameriprise Financial</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/First_Data" title="First Data">First Data Corp.</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lehman_Brothers" title="Lehman Brothers">Lehman Brothers</a></li> <li><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Merchants Despatch</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Railway_Express_Agency" title="Railway Express Agency">Railway Express Agency</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Warner-Amex_Satellite_Entertainment" class="mw-redirect" title="Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment">Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Executives</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Henry_Wells" title="Henry Wells">Henry Wells</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/William_Fargo" title="William Fargo">William Fargo</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/J._C._Fargo" title="J. C. Fargo">J. C. Fargo</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Howard_L._Clark_Sr." title="Howard L. Clark Sr.">Howard L. Clark Sr.</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ralph_Reed_(American_Express)" title="Ralph Reed (American Express)">Ralph Reed</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/James_D._Robinson_III" title="James D. Robinson III">James D. Robinson III</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lou_Gerstner" title="Lou Gerstner">Louis V. Gerstner Jr.</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sanford_I._Weill" title="Sanford I. Weill">Sanford I. Weill</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Harvey_Golub" title="Harvey Golub">Harvey Golub</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kenneth_Chenault" title="Kenneth Chenault">Kenneth Chenault</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gary_Crittenden" title="Gary Crittenden">Gary Crittenden</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Corporation" title="Corporation">Corporate</a> <a href="/wiki/Board_of_directors" title="Board of directors">directors</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Stephen_Squeri" title="Stephen Squeri">Stephen Squeri</a> (Chairman)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Daniel_Akerson" title="Daniel Akerson">Daniel Akerson</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Charlene_Barshefsky" title="Charlene Barshefsky">Charlene Barshefsky</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ursula_Burns" title="Ursula Burns">Ursula Burns</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Peter_Chernin" title="Peter Chernin">Peter Chernin</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Vernon_Jordan" title="Vernon Jordan">Vernon Jordan Jr.</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jan_Leschly" title="Jan Leschly">Jan Leschly</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Rick_Levin" title="Rick Levin">Rick Levin</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Edward_D._Miller_(businessperson)&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Edward D. Miller (businessperson) (page does not exist)">Edward D. Miller</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Frank_Popoff" title="Frank Popoff">Frank Popoff</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Robert_D._Walter" title="Robert D. Walter">Robert D. Walter</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ron_Williams" title="Ron Williams">Ron Williams</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Other</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><i><a href="/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Seinfeld_%26_Superman" title="The Adventures of Seinfeld & Superman">The Adventures of Seinfeld & Superman</a></i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Salad_Oil_scandal" class="mw-redirect" title="Salad Oil scandal">Salad Oil scandal</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/World_Monuments_Fund" title="World Monuments Fund">World Monuments Watch</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/65_Broadway" title="65 Broadway">65 Broadway</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Falmer_Stadium" title="Falmer Stadium">Falmer Stadium</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Small_Business_Saturday" title="Small Business Saturday">Small Business Saturday</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/200_Vesey_Street" title="200 Vesey Street">Three World Financial Center</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/American_Express_%E2%80%93_Virtual_Reality" title="American Express – Virtual Reality">Virtual Reality (advertisement)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kabbage" title="Kabbage">Kabbage</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow hlist" colspan="2"><div> <ul><li><span class="noviewer" typeof="mw:File"><span title="Category"><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/96/Symbol_category_class.svg/16px-Symbol_category_class.svg.png" decoding="async" width="16" height="16" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/96/Symbol_category_class.svg/23px-Symbol_category_class.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/96/Symbol_category_class.svg/31px-Symbol_category_class.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="180" data-file-height="185" /></span></span> <a href="/wiki/Category:American_Express" title="Category:American Express">Category</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table></div>    </div><noscript><img src="https://login.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAutoLogin/start?useformat=desktop&type=1x1&usesul3=0" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border: none; position: absolute;"></noscript> <div class="printfooter" data-nosnippet="">Retrieved from "<a dir="ltr" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Merchants_Despatch&oldid=1149783085">https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Merchants_Despatch&oldid=1149783085</a>"</div></div> <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" data-mw="interface"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="/wiki/Help:Category" title="Help:Category">Categories</a>: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Refrigerator_car_lines_of_the_United_States" title="Category:Refrigerator car lines of the United States">Refrigerator car lines of the United States</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:American_Express" title="Category:American Express">American Express</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:American_companies_established_in_1857" title="Category:American companies established in 1857">American companies established in 1857</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Transport_companies_established_in_1857" title="Category:Transport companies established in 1857">Transport companies established in 1857</a></li></ul></div><div id="mw-hidden-catlinks" class="mw-hidden-catlinks mw-hidden-cats-hidden">Hidden categories: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Articles_with_short_description" title="Category:Articles with short description">Articles with short description</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Short_description_matches_Wikidata" title="Category:Short description matches Wikidata">Short description matches Wikidata</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Articles_lacking_in-text_citations_from_February_2018" title="Category:Articles lacking in-text citations from February 2018">Articles lacking in-text citations from February 2018</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:All_articles_lacking_in-text_citations" title="Category:All articles lacking in-text citations">All articles lacking in-text citations</a></li></ul></div></div> </div> </main> </div> <div class="mw-footer-container"> <footer id="footer" class="mw-footer" > <ul id="footer-info"> <li id="footer-info-lastmod"> This page was last edited on 14 April 2023, at 11:47<span class="anonymous-show"> (UTC)</span>.</li> <li id="footer-info-copyright">Text is available under the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_the_Creative_Commons_Attribution-ShareAlike_4.0_International_License" title="Wikipedia:Text of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License">Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License</a>; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the <a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Terms_of_Use" class="extiw" title="foundation:Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Terms of Use">Terms of Use</a> and <a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Privacy_policy" class="extiw" title="foundation:Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Privacy policy">Privacy Policy</a>. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://wikimediafoundation.org/">Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.</a>, a non-profit organization.</li> </ul> <ul id="footer-places"> <li id="footer-places-privacy"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Privacy_policy">Privacy policy</a></li> <li id="footer-places-about"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:About">About Wikipedia</a></li> <li id="footer-places-disclaimers"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:General_disclaimer">Disclaimers</a></li> <li id="footer-places-contact"><a href="//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Contact_us">Contact Wikipedia</a></li> <li id="footer-places-wm-codeofconduct"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Universal_Code_of_Conduct">Code of Conduct</a></li> <li id="footer-places-developers"><a href="https://developer.wikimedia.org">Developers</a></li> <li id="footer-places-statslink"><a href="https://stats.wikimedia.org/#/en.wikipedia.org">Statistics</a></li> <li id="footer-places-cookiestatement"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Cookie_statement">Cookie statement</a></li> <li id="footer-places-mobileview"><a href="//en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Merchants_Despatch&mobileaction=toggle_view_mobile" class="noprint stopMobileRedirectToggle">Mobile view</a></li> </ul> <ul id="footer-icons" class="noprint"> <li id="footer-copyrightico"><a href="https://wikimediafoundation.org/" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button--enabled"><picture><source media="(min-width: 500px)" srcset="/static/images/footer/wikimedia-button.svg" width="84" height="29"><img src="/static/images/footer/wikimedia.svg" width="25" height="25" alt="Wikimedia Foundation" lang="en" loading="lazy"></picture></a></li> <li id="footer-poweredbyico"><a href="https://www.mediawiki.org/" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button--enabled"><picture><source media="(min-width: 500px)" srcset="/w/resources/assets/poweredby_mediawiki.svg" width="88" height="31"><img src="/w/resources/assets/mediawiki_compact.svg" alt="Powered by MediaWiki" width="25" height="25" loading="lazy"></picture></a></li> </ul> </footer> </div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-header-container vector-sticky-header-container"> <div id="vector-sticky-header" class="vector-sticky-header"> <div class="vector-sticky-header-start"> <div class="vector-sticky-header-icon-start vector-button-flush-left vector-button-flush-right" aria-hidden="true"> <button class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-sticky-header-search-toggle" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="ui.vector-sticky-search-form.icon"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-search mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-search"></span> <span>Search</span> </button> </div> <div role="search" class="vector-search-box-vue vector-search-box-show-thumbnail vector-search-box"> <div class="vector-typeahead-search-container"> <div class="cdx-typeahead-search cdx-typeahead-search--show-thumbnail"> <form action="/w/index.php" id="vector-sticky-search-form" class="cdx-search-input cdx-search-input--has-end-button"> <div class="cdx-search-input__input-wrapper" data-search-loc="header-moved"> <div class="cdx-text-input cdx-text-input--has-start-icon"> <input class="cdx-text-input__input" type="search" name="search" placeholder="Search Wikipedia"> <span class="cdx-text-input__icon cdx-text-input__start-icon"></span> </div> <input type="hidden" name="title" value="Special:Search"> </div> <button class="cdx-button cdx-search-input__end-button">Search</button> </form> </div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-sticky-header-context-bar"> <nav aria-label="Contents" class="vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-sticky-header-toc" class="vector-dropdown mw-portlet mw-portlet-sticky-header-toc vector-sticky-header-toc vector-button-flush-left" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-sticky-header-toc-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-sticky-header-toc" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Toggle the table of contents" > <label id="vector-sticky-header-toc-label" for="vector-sticky-header-toc-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-listBullet mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-listBullet"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Toggle the table of contents</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-sticky-header-toc-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <div class="vector-sticky-header-context-bar-primary" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="mw-page-title-main">Merchants Despatch</span></div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-sticky-header-end" aria-hidden="true"> <div class="vector-sticky-header-icons"> <a href="#" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only" id="ca-talk-sticky-header" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="talk-sticky-header"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-speechBubbles mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-speechBubbles"></span> <span></span> </a> <a href="#" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only" id="ca-subject-sticky-header" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="subject-sticky-header"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-article mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-article"></span> <span></span> </a> <a href="#" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only" id="ca-history-sticky-header" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="history-sticky-header"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-history mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-wikimedia-history"></span> <span></span> </a> <a href="#" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only mw-watchlink" id="ca-watchstar-sticky-header" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="watch-sticky-header"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-star mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-wikimedia-star"></span> <span></span> </a> <a href="#" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only" id="ca-edit-sticky-header" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="wikitext-edit-sticky-header"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-wikiText mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-wikimedia-wikiText"></span> <span></span> </a> <a href="#" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only" id="ca-ve-edit-sticky-header" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="ve-edit-sticky-header"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-edit mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-wikimedia-edit"></span> <span></span> </a> <a href="#" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only" id="ca-viewsource-sticky-header" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="ve-edit-protected-sticky-header"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-editLock mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-wikimedia-editLock"></span> <span></span> </a> </div> <div class="vector-sticky-header-buttons"> <button class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet mw-interlanguage-selector" id="p-lang-btn-sticky-header" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-p-lang-btn-sticky-header"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-language mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-wikimedia-language"></span> <span>Add languages</span> </button> <a href="#" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--action-progressive" id="ca-addsection-sticky-header" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="addsection-sticky-header"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-speechBubbleAdd-progressive mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-speechBubbleAdd-progressive"></span> <span>Add topic</span> </a> </div> <div class="vector-sticky-header-icon-end"> <div class="vector-user-links"> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-settings" id="p-dock-bottom"> <ul></ul> </div><script>(RLQ=window.RLQ||[]).push(function(){mw.config.set({"wgHostname":"mw-web.codfw.main-6cc877bdc-8gjwm","wgBackendResponseTime":132,"wgPageParseReport":{"limitreport":{"cputime":"0.370","walltime":"0.529","ppvisitednodes":{"value":1821,"limit":1000000},"postexpandincludesize":{"value":29945,"limit":2097152},"templateargumentsize":{"value":974,"limit":2097152},"expansiondepth":{"value":14,"limit":100},"expensivefunctioncount":{"value":2,"limit":500},"unstrip-depth":{"value":1,"limit":20},"unstrip-size":{"value":29954,"limit":5000000},"entityaccesscount":{"value":1,"limit":400},"timingprofile":["100.00% 468.473 1 -total"," 24.26% 113.636 1 Template:Infobox_company"," 19.70% 92.285 2 Template:Navbox"," 19.28% 90.343 1 Template:Infobox"," 18.00% 84.319 1 Template:Refrigerator_Car_Lines_of_the_United_States"," 17.38% 81.424 1 Template:Cite_web"," 15.93% 74.614 1 Template:Short_description"," 12.75% 59.722 1 Template:More_footnotes"," 10.88% 50.987 1 Template:Ambox"," 9.01% 42.197 2 Template:Pagetype"]},"scribunto":{"limitreport-timeusage":{"value":"0.244","limit":"10.000"},"limitreport-memusage":{"value":4780739,"limit":52428800}},"cachereport":{"origin":"mw-web.eqiad.main-64f8f8dcdb-5z57d","timestamp":"20250221234149","ttl":2592000,"transientcontent":false}}});});</script> <script type="application/ld+json">{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"Article","name":"Merchants Despatch","url":"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Merchants_Despatch","sameAs":"http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q6818432","mainEntity":"http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q6818432","author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Contributors to Wikimedia projects"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.wikimedia.org\/static\/images\/wmf-hor-googpub.png"}},"datePublished":"2005-11-10T08:10:52Z","dateModified":"2023-04-14T11:47:40Z","image":"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/2\/2a\/MDT_11329.jpg","headline":"rolling stock manufacturer"}</script> </body> </html>