Chapter I: Front Matter

[Transcriber's Note: Underscores are used as delimiters for _italics_]

THE STORY OF THE
PULLMAN CAR

1831-1897]

The Story of the
Pullman Car

BY
JOSEPH HUSBAND
Author of "America at Work" and "A Year in a Coal-Mine."

_ILLUSTRATED_

CHICAGO
A. C. McCLURG & CO.
1917

Copyright
A. C. McCLURG & CO.
1917

Published May, 1917

W. F. HALL PRINTING COMPANY, CHICAGO

To
George Mortimer Pullman

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Of the many books from which information was drawn for the preparation of this volume the author wishes to make particular acknowledgment to _The Modern Railroad_, by Mr. Edward Hungerford, to the article "Railway Passenger Travel," by Mr. Horace Porter, published in _Scribner's Magazine_, September, 1888; and to _Contemporary American Biography_, as well as to the many newspapers and magazines from whose files information and extracts have been freely drawn.

J. H.

Chicago, April, 1917

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I The Birth of Railroad Transportation 1

II The Evolution of the Sleeping Car 19

III The Rise of a Great Industry 39

IV The Pullman Car in Europe 61

V The Survival of the Fittest 73

VI The Town of Pullman 89

VII Inventions and Improvements 99

VIII How the Cars are Made 123

IX The Operation of the Pullman Car 133

Index 159

ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

George Mortimer Pullman _Frontispiece_

One of the earliest types of American passenger car 8

First locomotive built for actual service in America 9

Early passenger cars 11

American "Bogie" car in use in 1835 12

Cars and locomotive of 1845 14

Car in use in 1844 20

Car of 1831 21

Midnight in the old coaches 23

"Convenience of the new sleeping cars" 24

Early type of sleeping car 28

J. L. Barnes, first Pullman car conductor 32

One of the first cars built by George M. Pullman 42

The car in the daytime 42

Making up the berths 42

George M. Pullman explaining details of car construction 46

One of the first Pullman cars in which meals were served 52

The first parlor car, 1875 58

Interior of Pullman car of 1880 64

The rococo period car 68

More ornate interiors 74

The latest Pullman parlor car 76

First step in building the car 84

Fitting the car for steam and electricity 90

Work on steel plates for inside panels 90

Preparing the steel frame for an upper section 94

Sand blasting brass trimmings 94

Machine section, steel erecting shop 100

Fitting up the steel car underframe 100

Making cushions for the seats 104

Making chairs for parlor cars 104

Making frame end posts 106

Assembling steel car partitions 106

The vestibule in its earliest form 108

Axle generator for electric lighting 110

The sewing room, upholstering department 114

Forming steel parts for interior finish 118

Forming steel shapes for interior framing 118

Punching holes for screws 124

Shaping steel panelling 124

Riveting the underframe 126

Steel end posts in position 126

Type of early truck 128

Modern cast-steel truck 128

Ready for the interior fittings 130

Interior work 130

Pullman sleeping car, latest design 134

Front end of a private car dining room 136

Rear end of a private car dining room 136

Robert T. Lincoln, ex-President 138

Bedroom of a private car 142

Observation section of a private car 142

Modern Pullman steel sleeping car ready for the night 146

Modern Pullman steel sleeping car during the day 146

Cleaning and disinfecting the Pullman car 152

John S. Runnells, President 156

THE STORY OF THE PULLMAN CAR