Pullman Palace Car

“ The dreaded journey to New York becomes a mere holiday excursion in his delightful coaches, and, by the way, he will soon have a through line from Chicago to New York, in which a man need never leave his place from one city to the other.
The year 1867 marks the incorporation of Pullman's Palace Car Company, for the purpose of the manufacture and operation of sleeping cars. At the time of incorporation George M. Pullman owned all of the sleeping cars on the Michigan Central Railroad, Great Western [Canada] Railroad, and the New York Central Railroad lines, a grand total of forty-eight cars. ”

“ The transition from the Pioneer to the steel sleeping car of today was not accomplished in a single step. A man does not have to be so very old or so very much traveled to recall the day when the Pullman was called a palace ear and did its enterprising best to justify that title. It was almost an apotheosis of architectural bad taste. Disfigured by all manner of moldings, cornices, grilles and dinky plush curtains—head-bumping, dust-catching, useless—it was a decorative orgy, as well as one of the very foundations of the newspaper school of humor. ”

“ The success of the company engendered competition; its success resulted only in a comparison of service injurious to the imitators. Behind all this lay the fundamental reason for Pullman supremacy. Created to give a standardized service everywhere for the convenience of travelers, it was quickly apparent that competition was but a reversal to the old order—the more companies, the less uniform service.
About a month previous, the Mann Boudoir Company and the Woodruff Sleeping Car Company had joined hands and formed the Union Palace Car Company. ”

“ Until within the last fifteen or twenty years we had but a single class of passenger cars in America, as the emigrant trains on a few of the trunk lines were hardly to be considered by travelers, but the invention of the palace and sleeping-coaches (generally coupled with the name of Pullman, their inventor) , has given us two classes which are virtually as distinct as are the first and second of a continental railway. Hardly a train runs on any road of consequence without a Pullman car attached, and a seat may be had in this vehicle on payment of an extra fee. ”

“ This annoying and astonishing cry was loudly made in the palace-car "City of Thebes," at Pittsburg, just as the babies were well asleep, and all the passengers adapting themselves to a quiet evening.
"Impossible!" said I mildly to the "gentlemanly conductor," who beamed before me in the majesty of gilt lace on his cap, and the embroidered letters P. P. C. These letters do not mean, as in French, "to take leave," for the peculiarity of this man is, that he does not leave you till your journey's end: they mean, in American, "Pullman's Palace Car." "Impossible!" ”

“ The modern Pullman sleeping car is a veritable palace on wheels furnished in the best materials, without regard to expense, comfort, convenience and the safety of the passengers being the main object. ”

“ Webster Wagner, the founder of the Wagner Palace Car Company, began his career as a wagon maker. The first cars which he constructed had a single tier of berths, and the bedding was packed away by day in a closet at the end of the car. Commodore Vanderbilt backed Wagner and became interested in his company, a connection which gave Wagner invaluable assistance and a hold on the sleeping-car business of the lines controlled by the Vanderbilt interests, a connection which enabled him for many years to be a keen competitor of the Pullman Company. ”

“ The car in itself was in no way remarkable. A twelve-section and drawing-room, mahogany-finish, wide-vestibule sleeper, done in cream brown, hangings shading into Indian reds—a type of the Pullman car so popular some years ago for transcontinental travel; neither too heavy for the mountains nor too light for the pace across the plains. ”

“ It is remarkable that at this early date the two features of the Pullman car which characterize it today—the features of safety and luxury—should have been so clearly defined.
It is human nature to accept each step forward as a new standard and it is characteristically American to refuse to accept an inferior article as soon as one superior is available, even if at greater cost. The "Pioneer" and its successors established such a standard, and immediately those accustomed and able to afford the increased rate required by the greater investment in the car, gladly and thankfully accepted it ”

“ Thus in the space of a few years George M. Pullman not only evolved a type of railroad car luxurious and beautiful in design and embracing in its construction patents of great originality and ingenuity, but, in addition, evolved the rudimentary conception of a system by which passengers might be carried to any destination in cars of uniform construction, equipped for day or night travel, and served and protected by trained employees whose sole function is to provide for the passengers' safety, comfort, and convenience. ”

“ To see the Pullman car at this stage is to see a network of steam-pipes and electric conduit lacing in and out between the gaunt steel frame of the car, and everywhere the white plaster-like insulation packed into every cavity. As soon as these gangs of workmen have finished, other workers fit into place the interior panel plates, partitions, lockers, and seat frames, and the car instantly assumes a new and almost completed aspect. Meanwhile the painters have completed their work on the exterior of the car and begin the finer finish of the interior. ”

“ With the realization constantly before him that the most perfect service could be given only by the most radically improved equipment and the widest extension of this company's activities, Mr. Pullman identified the early years of organization with a development of the passenger car to a degree of comfort, convenience, safety, and luxury that passed popular comprehension. Nothing was too good for the Pullman car ”

“ It is difficult to enumerate the countless little details that are constantly incorporated into Pullman car construction. The berth light has been frequently changed to embody some new idea to improve its convenience and efficiency. The coat hanger, and the mirror in the upper berth are minor details, but their convenience is attested by their constant use by passengers. In the washrooms the design of the wash basins has been frequently altered to afford a more convenient resting place for the toilet articles unpacked from the traveler's bag. ”

“ The second step in the evolution was inevitable. At best, the hotel car was only a sleeping car with restaurant accommodations. Eating and sleeping have never been associated in the modern mind; there must be a separate place for each.
To meet the demand, or rather to anticipate a demand which his keen eyes foresaw, Mr. Pullman set himself to the task of developing a car which would be only a dining car, serving no other purpose, and practical for operation in conjunction with through trains of the fastest speed. The first real dining car which Mr. ”

“ Back in the dark ages of blissful ignorance of germs, railroad coaches were hallowed breeding places for sickness. But times have changed, and today it is a pretty safe remark to make that the Pullman car is more healthful than almost any place where people frequently congregate. It does not take many gray hairs to remember the days of sleeping cars furnished with heavy carpets tacked to wooden floors, of stuffy hangings, and plush upholstery, of fancy woodwork rife with cracks and crannies, and of washrooms and toilets that no amount of cleaning could ever maintain entirely innocuous. ”

“ It is fifty-four feet in length by ten in width, and was built at a cost of $18,000, the painting alone costing upwards of $500. Besides the berths, sufficient in number to accommodate upwards of a hundred passengers, there are four state rooms formed by folding doors, and so constructed with the berths that the whole can easily be thrown into one apartment. When the car is not used for sleeping purposes, as in the day, every appearance of a berth or a bed is concealed, and in their stead appear the most comfortable of seats. ”

“ As the Pullman car was the first sleeping car to be installed for regular service in England, so credit should be given to Colonel Mann for affording the first sleeping car for public service ever operated on the Continent. ”

“ The "Pioneer" had cost Mr. Pullman $20,000. Compared with the finest sleeping cars previously in use, it was clearly evident that a new development in luxurious travel had been accomplished. The best ordinary sleeping cars were considered expensive at $4,000. There was no more comparison between the "Pioneer" and its predecessors in comfort than in cost. But it remained to be seen what the public would think of it; whether they preferred luxury, comfort, and real service, to hardship, discomfort, and no service at a lower cost. ”

“ Many of these improvements are of a technical character, and primarily affect the construction of the cars; others are of a more directly personal nature and contribute more to the comfort and convenience of the traveler. All that are passed by the committee serve to place still higher the standard that for fifty years has been constantly uplifted by the company.
At the end of its journey the Pullman car is thoroughly cleaned and disinfected. The first picture on this page shows the bedding being given a sun bath. ”

“ The Mann car was developed to suit European railroads and European wants. A Belgian company was organized to introduce sleeping cars by contracts with railroad companies, somewhat like those of the Pullman Company in America. The Mann cars which were put in service in the United States between Boston and New York in 1883 were divided into eight compartments, some accommodating two persons, some four. ”

“ But in the early fifties these very inconveniences fired the imagination of a young traveler who had bought a ticket on a night train between Buffalo and Westfield, and in his alert mind was inspired, as he tossed sleepless in his bunk, the first vision of a car that would revolutionize the railroad travel of the world and of a system that would present to the traveling public a mighty organization whose first purpose would be to contribute safety, convenience, luxury and a uniform and universal service from coast to coast. ”

“ Most frequent is the reason given that the wife has packed the tickets in the trunk, that the cab or taxi broke down, or that the last act of the theater caused unrealized delay. Often the tickets are lost, and not infrequently they are turned in by others for refund.
Bedroom and observation section of a costly private car. This car represents the apotheosis of railroad travel
But one of the most convenient features of the Pullman service is the ease with which the traveler may reserve in advance accommodations on the train which he intends to take. ”

“ INVENTIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS
The invention of the folding upper berth combination by Mr. Pullman was the first of many contributions by himself, and in later years by the Pullman Company and those associated with it, to the development of railway travel. Sleeping cars for a number of years had given night accommodations to travelers; there was nothing new in the idea that a night journey required sleeping accommodations. But in the new and radical berth construction devised by Mr. Pullman lay the difference between impracticability and practicability—between discomfort and luxury. ”

“ Tram cars often ran along the middle of the street, with barely room for a vehicle to pass on either side. The huge motor busses came tearing towards us in a manner most trying to novices, and it seemed, time after time, that the dexterity of the drivers of these big machines was all that saved our car from being wrecked. We obtained only the merest glimpse of Hampton Palace, and the time which we had consumed made it apparent that if we expected to reach our hotel that night, we must immediately retrace our way through the wild confusion we had just passed. ”

“ Nothing can surpass the comfort and luxury of the Pullman cars, unless it be the perfected Pullman that is called the Vestibule Train. Six or seven carriages, connecting one with another, allow of your moving about freely over a length of some hundred yards. Dining-room, sleeping car, drawing-room car, smoking-room, library, bath-room, lavatory, the whole fitted up in the most luxurious style. What can one desire more? It is a hotel on wheels. It is your appartement, in which you whirl from New York to Chicago in twenty-four hours. ”

“ Next to the racing car comes the touring car, engined to give sixty miles an hour on the level in the more powerful types, or a much lower speed in the car intended for quieter travel, and for people who are not prepared to face a big bill for upkeep. The luxury of the age has invaded the design of automobiles till the gorgeously [131] decorated and comfortably furnished Pullman of the railway has found a counterpart in the motor caravan with its accommodation for sleeping and feeding. ”

“ Until the Pullman sleepers were introduced into Britain, the sight of a car resting on eight wheels was unprecedented, as no one thought of doubting the entire security from danger of a carriage with only four points of support. Indeed, the conservative Briton saw no more real necessity for a railway carriage having eight wheels than for a horse to have more than four legs. ”

“ These men each week make personal inspection of cars in operation with the sole purpose of keeping the service up to the highest standard. In addition, a corps of electrical and mechanical inspectors constantly inspect and test the cars and their devices, at various places, and another corps of local inspectors carefully examine every departing and every incoming train with particular attention to the appearance and deportment of the car employees and the apparatus for heating, lighting and water.
The Pullman Company is today the greatest single employer of colored labor in the world. ”