Carlisle & Finch

Carlisle & Finch is a manufacturer of nautical equipment founded in 1893 or 1894 in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, where it still has its headquarters. For most of its history, the company has focused on searchlights, especially for marine applications. Variants of the basic searchlight design have also been used for navigation beacons by airports and lighthouses.

The company is often considered the first in the US to produce electric toy trains, introducing innovations such as using the rails to conduct electrical power to the cars. Although other US companies had produced trains, Carlisle & Finch were the first to manufacture and market them in volume, which they did for about the first 20 years of operation. Their sets have become highly prized by model train collectors.

Other early products included electric generators (powered either by water pressure or by gasoline engine). The earliest models were small, intended to power train sets, but they later produced larger units. Gasoline engines for marine use were made under the Clifton Motor Works brand. They also produced electric-powered appliances such as clothes dryers. Since the start of World War I, Carlisle & Finch has concentrated on high-power lighting.