The Spark Plug Project
Restoring Badin’s Spark Plug
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A Rare and Urgent Mission
Only about one hundred Edwards railway motor cars were ever built—and few remain. Each surviving car is a precious link to America’s industrial past. Time is the greatest threat. Materials decay, expertise fades, and restoration costs rise. Preserving these machines is a race against time.
Connecting Past, Present, and Future
Our Edwards Model 10 isn’t just a relic—it’s a blueprint for modern thinking. Harry Edwards’ philosophy of right-sized, efficient design remains just as relevant today as communities explore sustainable and flexible transit solutions. By studying and preserving the Edwards railway motor car, we honor the problem-solvers of the past and draw inspiration for new generations of innovators.
The Edwards Self-Propelled Railway Motor Car
A North Carolina Innovation That Changed American Transportation
Efficiency, adaptability, and craftsmanship never go out of style. Between 1921 and 1942, in the small town of Sanford, North Carolina, the Edwards Railway Motor Car Company produced a line of self-propelled railcars that transformed short-line rail service across the United States and beyond. Harry P. Edwards, general manager of Atlantic & Western Railway and a second-generation railroad man, built his first self-propelled railway motor car in 1915.
As the Badin Historic Museum restores one of these rare vehicles, our Spark Plug, used on the Badin route by Yadkin Railways, we revisit why these machines mattered—and why preserving them is essential to understanding both North Carolina’s industrial heritage and America’s transportation evolution.
Description of early Edwards Model 10 motor rail car
In the quest to improve efficiencies over steam-powered passenger transportation, the self-propelled rail car brought to light the internal combustion possibilities years—if not decades—before the dieselization of American railroads took place.
As a number of well-established streetcar builders and coach manufacturers started to research and develop the self-propelled rail car, the new contraption began to develop a variety of nicknames, such as “rail bus” and “motor rail coach.” One nickname that seemed to catch on across the country was the moniker “doodlebug.”
The typical doodlebug was essentially a specially built, self-propelled, lightweight railway coach, which could also contain a baggage compartment. As the race to develop the doodlebug gained momentum after World War I, a variety of propulsion and mechanical drive combinations developed. Although the earliest doodlebugs were mechanically driven by means of chains and drive systems, eventually some builders equipped their cars with generators and electrical motors and transmissions, and others later experimented with diesel engines to power their cars.
During the period from 1914 to 1915, motor bus, truck, and jitney competition—together with the high operating costs of steam trains—was threatening the very existence of the branch and suburban railways.
One of the lifelong traits of Harry P. Edwards was his fastidious attention to records of expense. With all the competition in the self-propelled rail car business, Edwards had noticed one major omission: the lack of shortline participation. Not finding a suitable model of car at an affordable price, Edwards looked to the highway motor bus and trucking business for development of his own car.
The year 1922 was a period of transition for Edwards as he sought to perfect the prototype and define a production line of cars. The early units were built largely of components from Kelly-Springfield Truck Company. In 1922, however, Edwards began to rely less on Kelly-Springfield and started searching for other suppliers.
Until 1928, the standard Edwards Model 10 had employed the technique in which the chassis was built separately from the coach body, which was lowered onto the chassis and bolted on.
The year 1923 was a major turning point for Edwards and the fledgling company. Not only did Edwards finally develop and design a standard production model, to be known as the Model 10, but the firm was most prosperous in selling and building seventeen motor cars and five trailer cars for the year.
The standard Model 10 car was marketed to seat anywhere from fifteen to thirty, depending on the length of the chassis and coach body. Unlike the other major car builders whose models came as-is, a hallmark of the Edwards firm was the ability of the customers to have the car size somewhat customized to suit their traffic needs.
The Model 10s built before 1928 employed inside truck frames, with inside journal bearings, for both front and rear trucks. The front truck was a swiveling truck, and the rear was fixed. The typical mechanical setup was as follows: Engine mounted on the chassis frame in the most forward position; drive shaft running back to a four-speed transmission mounted amidships; drive shaft going to a reversing unit equipped with one or two sprockets mounted on each side. One or two chains were connected to the front axle of the rear truck. An additional chain was connected from the front axle of the rear truck to the rear axle of the rear truck, thus providing power to all four wheels of the rear truck. The front truck was not powered.
The typical weight of a standard Model 10 was sixteen thousand to nineteen thousand pounds. From the beginning all Edwards cars were equipped with roller bearings, instead of the common friction bearings, which accounted for their tremendously low operating costs.
The Badin Edwards Model 10 was built in 1924 for the Carolina & Northwestern Railway, and was built as described above.
Innovation Born of Necessity
In the 1920s and ’30s, railroads faced fierce competition from automobiles and buses. To survive, they needed economical ways to serve short or lightly traveled routes where full-size trains were no longer profitable. The Edwards self-propelled railway motor car—generally known as a doodlebug—offered a revolutionary solution.
Each unit combined its own engine with passenger and freight space, eliminating the need for a separate locomotive. This innovation reduced operating costs, fuel use, and crew size, allowing smaller lines to remain viable. A single Edwards car, operated by just a single driver, could serve routes that once required a steam locomotive crew of five. By the early 1940s, the company had built about one hundred railcars, roughly one-third exported to Central and South America—an extraordinary achievement that put Sanford, North Carolina, on the international rail map.
Here in Stanly County, the last passenger train left for Winston-Salem in 1932, leaving the Spark Plug as a jazzy souvenir of the Roaring Twenties. Most of these lightweight cars were scrapped by mid-century, making the survival of Badin’s Spark Plug an extraordinary piece of luck.
Engineering Excellence
What truly distinguished Edwards railway motor cars was not just their idea but their craftsmanship and engineering precision. The Model 10, like the one purchased by the Tonopah & Goldfield Railroad in Nevada in 1926 for $10,465, embodied the brand’s philosophy: reliable, efficient, and adaptable. Powered by a six-cylinder, 80-horsepower gasoline motor, an Edwards car could start quickly, run economically, and handle frequent stops with ease. Their simplicity and versatility made them indispensable to small railroads. Some models carried passengers only; others combined mail, express freight, and passenger space—an ideal configuration for rural lines linking small towns to major routes.
A Forgotten Industrial Achievement
North Carolina is often remembered for its textiles, tobacco, and furniture industries. But the Edwards Rail Car Company proved the state also excelled in advanced manufacturing and transportation technology. Competing with firms in major industrial centers, Edwards showed that innovation and craftsmanship could thrive in small-town America.
His success reveals a larger truth: transportation progress was driven not just by big cities, but by smaller towns where creativity met necessity. Preserving the Edwards legacy reminds us that technological innovation has always been geographically diverse—and that North Carolina played a proud part in that story.
That tradition of small-town ingenuity continues today in Badin’s effort to restore the Spark Plug.
Physical Preservation Matters
Badin Historic Museum’s restoration project is far more than a mechanical repair—it’s a cultural preservation mission. Standing beside a restored Spark Plug allows visitors to experience history firsthand—to see the craftsmanship, engineering, and design that written records can’t fully convey. The Spark Plug stood beside Badin Depot ready to depart for Salisbury, covering thirty-six miles in two hours with nine stops including New London, Gold Hill, Misenheimer Springs, and Granite Quarry. Passengers to Albemarle changed doodlebugs at Halls Ferry Junction.
A restored railcar becomes a living classroom for students, engineers, and enthusiasts. It illustrates lessons in transportation innovation, industrial economics, and mechanical design—all through a tangible, real-world artifact. We must preserve, reconstruct, and rediscover features that would otherwise vanish with time. Each restoration preserves not only an artifact, but the knowledge embedded in its creation. The restored Spark Plug returns us to an experience now lost in the shadows of time—and carries that living heritage forward, a moving attraction for generations ahead.
Cultural and Community Impact
Restoring our Spark Plug railway motor car carries deep meaning for Badin. These vehicles represent local pride, ingenuity, and achievement, linking today’s residents to their region’s industrious past. Restoration projects also foster collaboration—drawing in volunteers, historians, technicians, engineers, craftspeople, and students. Fundraising, research, and repair become opportunities for shared purpose and public learning.
Beyond heritage value, a restored railway car can serve as a tourist attraction, drawing railroad enthusiasts, school groups, and heritage travelers. Such restorations often boost local tourism and economic activity while strengthening civic identity. Railroads built Badin and connected this small town to the world. When restored to run again, this railway car will bring the world to Badin.
Preserving a Legacy of Innovation
Badin’s Spark Plug built in Sanford, North Carolina, symbolizes more than a historic machine. It represents the ingenuity, skill, and ambition that powered America’s growth. Each restored car serves as a living classroom, research artifact, and community symbol—telling the story of how local craftsmen in a small North Carolina town helped reshape rail transportation worldwide.
The Badin Historic Museum’s restoration effort keeps that story alive—celebrating North Carolina’s contribution to industrial innovation and ensuring that the spirit of Edwards engineering continues to inspire generations to come.