the Rail Splitter Special is an awesome piece of art at the San Diego County Fair

Pullman train cars, the epitome of luxury Palace Cars, Superliners (284 of these), sleeping cars and passenger train cars, 1859-1981

When the legendary director Cecil B. DeMille first saw the baroque interior, he supposedly said, "Tell the madame I'll have a drink, but I'm too old to go upstairs."

Original owners of Pullman Palacecars were EF Hutton, the Vanderbilt's (at least 3 of them, Harry, Willie, and Alice had one of their own... cattle barons bought them too.
The most famous stock holders of the Pullman company were JJ Astor, Ellen Banker, Chauncey Depew, Jay Gould, Julia Grant, John Hay, Henry Morgan, J Pierpont Morgan, JD Rockefeller, Russell Sage, Robert Schell, William Scott, and Alice, Cornelius, Fred and William Venderbilt


These are steam locomotives at the factory to move the cars around. Not big, because they weren't moving a whole train

I've posted one photo somewhere in the past of a vehicle like the one above... can't recall where it is. This was just to move things about at the factory
The above shows the accordian wall device to allow people to travel between cars without being exposed to the outside soot from the locomotive exhaust and weather
Above and below show the factory method of moving the cars sideways on the "Table"








The above cutaway is similar to the Pullman Progress poster detail pieces below



the above poster has been put to use on a website http://thelibrary.org/lochist/frisco/history/pullman.cfm so that you can click on each of the railcars (like you see below) and get a full page, big detailed look at them, and their description.

the guys in the above photo are the Chicago White Sox

All of these unless noted otherwise, are from one website http://www.pullman-museum.org/cgi-bin/pvm/newGetSubjects.pl?subject=Pullman%20Train%20Cars which has much much more to see. This is just a quick look at the elegant luxury of the fortunately wealthy from 1860-1940's and the signature way of traveling in style and opulance that very few ever could manage.

One of the above articles in 1981 said about 500 Palace cars remained, and only about a handful were upgraded to Amtrak standards of new mechanical and electrical features to get pulled along by the Amtrak trains in America .

I guess very few were ever exported tot he wealithiest of other countries, but that those may have greater numbers that are allowed to ride the rails for he right price, condition irrelevant.

President Lincoln's son, Robert Todd Lincoln, assumed charge of the company after the founder, George Pullman died, 1898-1911, and renamed it 'Pullman Company.' Lincoln preferred a simple elegance to Pullman's previous luxury cars, and began revising the way Pullman cars were created. During Lincoln's tenure, Pullman purchased the Wagner Palace Car Company, and the Union Palace Car Company

The company continued to produce quality train cars. It suffered immensely when automobile ownership began to eschew passenger train travel, but continued working with freight cars and other means. It acquired the competition and enjoyed much success. The History of Pullman Cars eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/about_5142619_history-pullman-cars.html#ixzz1QPNwmuMD

For a big gallery of full size hi-def, hi-res photos of the restored Pullman at the Nethercutt Museum I visited a couple months ago: http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2011/05/private-pullman-palace-railcar-century.html

This whole post is due to a link from Mary D, she is writing a book that involves the characters using Pullmans, and shared the link with me to share with all of you. Thanks Mary D!

Unimogs, who knew they could pull railcars?

Found on http://blog.hemmings.com/ where you have no idea what you'll find!

unusual driven wheel design, because it wasn't effective. 1887 Swinerton

Swinerton Locomotive Driving Wheel Company, the locomotive was built by the Hinkley Locomotive Works in Boston in 1887.

The essence of the innovation, which emphasized the construction for the single leading axle was to make wheel contact with the rail in a much larger area (a length of at least two inches), which was supposed to radically raise the quality of the locomotive traction by reducing the likelihood of slippage of the driving wheel on the rail.

railway station in Budapest bombed in WW2 left to rest in peace, still shows a 1940's moment in time

photos from http://altoman.blog.hu/2011/05/28/urbex_mav_temeto_es_halott_palyaudvar_part_i found via the great guys who somehow keep astonishing us with incredble things http://stipistop.com

a private Pullman "palace" railcar, the century old social and economic equivalent of a private Gulfstream plane

except for the big glass case over the fine china, this private Pullman passenger car has been restored to the condition it was in before its delivery to Clara Baldwin Stocker, the woman who ordered it built and took it's delivery 99 years ago, in Dec 1912
the first few photos here aren't as luxurious as the last, and I'm guessing these were the butlers quarters



Note that the above and below photos in this sequence are two views of the same room, from different ends, and the dresser is the common point







gorgeous lighting fixtures and ceiling

the above isn't known to be, but thought to be the piano from this car, it was located 50 miles from the car when it was purchased by the musuem for restoration

this locomotive had no historical association with the Pullman car, but makes a fantastic display
330 ton, 1937 Canadian Pacific Royal Hudson high speed (90 mph) steam locomotive http://www.nethercuttcollection.org/EndPage.aspx?page=train




Pullman Palace Car Company in Chicago was founded in 1867 to build luxury sleeping cars for the railroads, their success dramatically changed rail travel worldwide. The luxuries of a private Pullman included chandeliers, electric lighting, advanced heating and air-conditioning systems, complete bath facilities, silk draperies, luxury bedding and elegant furniture.

In December of 1912, Clara Baldwin Stocker, eldest daughter of California pioneer E.J. "Lucky" Baldwin, took delivery of a Pullman railcar appropriately named the California. Lucky Baldwin's fortune came from mining shares, real estate, race horses, hotels and the world renowned Santa Anita Race Track. Clara and Anita inherited his fortune and both commissioned private railcars. Clara's car was beautifully decorated in a modern style with cream and gold painted staterooms, rather than the usual dark wood grained walls and ceilings. The railcar must have been an imposing and awe inspiring sight, resplendent in maroon, red, gold leaf striping and lettering with polished brass railings and grab handles.

The California, as ordered by Mrs. C.B. Stocker, had a floor plan that was very versatile, spacious and comfortable. It has one double large bedroom and two smaller staterooms for two. The large combination dining and observation room was paneled in elegant Cuban Mahogany and the private rooms were painted in cream and gold. The servant's section, including the passageway, was quarter-sawed native oak, which was dramatically different from the beautiful mahogany used in the family section. Beautiful decorative leaded glass adorned every window in the California, except in the servant's quarters. Information from http://everything2.com/user/cami/writeups/Pullman+Railcar+%2523100+California


for a much better gallery of the Pullman car, look at the photos Justacargal took: http://justacargal-s.blogspot.com/2011/03/nethercutt-museum-train.html