Theodore Tuttle Woodruff

Theodore Tuttle Woodruff (April 8, 1811 – May 2, 1892) was an American inventor who was an early developer of sleeping cars.

Born in New York State, Woodruff became a wagon maker at a young age before working on railroad cars in Massachusetts. It is through his work on cars that led to Woodruff's invention of the Woodruff sleeping car, which entered operation in 1858. It is in this position that Woodruff was an early competitor to George Pullman and his company up until Pullman purchased Woodruff's company and patents in 1889. Woodruff also invented a coffee-hulling machine, a surveyor's compass and a steam plow.

Biography Interior of the Woodruff sleeping car, published in the Scientific American Magazine in 1858. Theodore Tuttle Woodruff was born in Jefferson County, New York on April 8, 1811. At age 16, he left his family farm to pursue an apprenticeship in wagon-making. After three years as a wagon maker, Woodruff began to learn pattern making at a foundry. With this skill, he became a journeyman who worked in Springfield, Massachusetts on railroad cars.

When the Central Transportation Company (CTC) was established in 1862, Woodruff became its principal stockholder while his older brother, Jonah (1809-1876), became its manager. All of Woodruff's patents were subsequently assigned to the company and he retired in 1864. After a patent infringement suit with the Pullman Company, many of the CTC's patents were assigned to Pullman.

Legacy One of Woodruff's descendants was the 20th-century diplomat Charles Woodruff Yost.