On Sun, Aug 28, 2022 at 07:55 AM, A&Y Dave in MD wrote:

1000 industrial lift trucks of all types in 1926 across the hundreds of thousands of stations/depots according to the naval history paper in the link. Less than 1 in a hundred railroad depots IF they were randomly distributed. The military or merchant marine might have them at docks and forts.

Got to be careful with the terminology. If that figure included "powered industrial trucks" of all types, it also includes the tractors designed to tow trains of carts as used by the post office and express companies. One common brand of fork lift trucks during the fifties was Tow Motor, which should give some hint as to the origins of the product line.

Dennis Storzek