In 1867, at the age of 36, George M. Pullman established the Chicago-based Pullman Palace Car Company bolstered by the attention gained from his luxurious passenger cars seen on Abraham Lincoln's funeral train in May 1865. Pullman included such luxuries as freshly prepared gourmet meals in Pullman-operated dining cars, chandeliers, electric lighting, table lamps with silk shades, leather seating, and advanced heating and air conditioning systems. Gracious Pullman porters were available to cater to the passenger's every need. The Pullman Company constructed, owned and operated its vast fleet of sleeping cars until December 31, 1948, at which time Pullman transferred ownership to the railroads on which they operated and arranged a lease-back contract with the railroads by which Pullman would operate and maintain the cars. This transfer was the result of a federal government anti-trust action, which mandated that Pullman separate its car manufacturing from its car operations and required the sale of its fleet of cars. Older heavyweight cars were replaced by more modern, streamlined sleeping cars with private rooms. Postwar railroad travel saw a long decline in the need for sleeping cars as other means of travel eclipsed the passenger train and ultimately the Pullman Company ceased operations on December 31, 1968. The Museum of the American Railroad's heavyweight Pullman sleeping cars recall an era when the Pullman Company provided accommodations for over 100,000 people a night.
Glengyle
Built: 1910
Plan: 2522E
Lot: 3837
Diagram: 47
The Pullman Company
Glengyle was part of an order built in 1910 and had accommodations consisting of 7 compartments and 2 drawing rooms. The car was used in Florida-New York service on the Atlantic Coast Line but ended its career on the Southern Railway. The car was in use as a dormitory by the Texas & Northern before donation to the State Fair of Texas Age of Steam exhibit in 1964. Today the Glengyle is the only existing car of 10,000 cars of its configuration and is the earliest known survivor of the fleet of heavyweight, all-steel sleepers built by The Pullman Company. Glengyle represents a shift in technology from cars of wooden construction to steel, a change which brought improved safety to rail travel. It has been designated an engineering landmark by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
Glen Nevis
Built: 1925
Plan: 3523F
Lot: 4922
Diagram: 83
The Pullman Company/Halliburton
Glen Nevis was a 6-3 (6 compartments, 3 drawing rooms) which was Pullman's most common all-room car and one of its most luxurious designs. Following its career in Pullman Company service, Glen Nevis was rebuilt into a research car used to develop cushioned underframes for railroad cars. While it still has the external appearance of a Pullman sleeping car with a few of the drawing rooms retained, Glen Nevis was modernized with its own kitchen and generator so it could serve as a self sufficient rolling laboratory while on the railroad. A gift of the FreightMaster division of Halliburton.
McQuaig
Built: 1925
Plan: 3410A
Lot: 4845
Diagram: 5
The Pullman Company
McQuaig was built by Pullman in 1925 as one of the nearly 4,000 sleepers of its type operated by the Pullman company. Known as a "12-1," this car had twelve open sections with a fold-down upper berth and lower berth made by folding the seats down in each section, and one drawing room - a large enclosed room with three beds and its own toilet and sink. Of these 12-1 sleepers, about 400 were given names with the "Mc" prefix. A gift of the Texas & Northern.
Goliad
Built: 1926
Plan: 3410A
Lot: 4945
Diagram:5
The Pullman Company/Southern Pacific
The Goliad was one of 44 "12-1s" put into service on Southern Pacific's New Orleans - San Francisco "Sunset Limited" in 1926. Many of the cars in this series were named for cities, counties and rivers along the Southern Pacific's route, such as Alamo, Aransas, Bexar, Brazos, Iberia, Pecos, Presidio and Trinity. Goliad was doubly significant as the site of the Battle of Coleto Creek and subsequent massacre of Colonel James Fannin and his men during the Texas Revolution. Because of the warm climates in which it operated, the car was equipped with mechanical air conditioning in 1935. After the Pullman divestiture, Southern Pacific purchased the car though it was still operated and maintained by Pullman. The Sunset Ltd. received new streamlined, stainless steel cars in 1950 leaving the older equipment available for other service. Goliad last served with the Ft. Worth & Denver Railway in December, 1963 and was donated by the Southern Pacific Company in January 1964.
Additional resources:
Pullman State Historic Site, Pullman,
Illinois
Historic Pullman Foundation
A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter
Museum
Pullman Company archives at the Newberry
Library
Chicago Historical Society