Private company
Merchants Despatch
Rolling stock manufacturer
The Merchants Despatch Transportation Company (MDT, also known as the Merchants Despatch Refrigerator Line) was established in 1857 or 1858 by the American Express Company of New York (then a freight forwarding service). The entity was reformed as a joint stock trading company on June 1, 1869, with ownership divided among the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis Railway (CCC&I), the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, and the New York Central Railroad (NYC), all part of the Cornelius Vanderbilt rail empire.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0
Last updated Oct 21, 2026.
Overview
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The Merchants Despatch Transportation Company (MDT, also known as the Merchants Despatch Refrigerator Line) was established in 1857 or 1858 by the American Express Company of New York (then a freight forwarding service). The entity was reformed as a joint stock trading company on June 1, 1869, with ownership divided among the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis Railway (CCC&I), the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, and the New York Central Railroad (NYC), all part of the Cornelius Vanderbilt rail empire.2
Links
- WikipediaMerchants Despatch
- More imagesWikimedia Commons
- WikidataQ6818432
Sources
The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.
- 1WikidataMerchants Despatch on Wikidata
- 2WikipediaMerchants Despatch on Wikipedia
- 3Wikimedia CommonsMerchants Despatch photo by unknown, Public domain