Nostalgia & History > Sleeper Saturday: Oak Glen, Oak Post & Oak Tree

Continuing this series of slides taken in the early 60's by Dick Kuelbs, this time of Plan #4172 12RM-1SB-4DB sleepers.

In order to meet demand for more of the various rooms/spaces that had become popular with the introduction of lightweight equipment, during the initial postwar years, Pullman dipped into their supply of stored/surplus heavyweight sleepers to produce rebuilt cars with the traveler of that time in mind, offering bedrooms, roomettes, and the like, with several different series to new Plans, all with various "tree" names. One of these series was the Plan #4172 Oak-series, with 12 roomettes, a single bedroom, and 4 double bedrooms.

1) Oak Glen, in New Orleans, on April 21st, 1963. Rebuilt in October 1949 from the Plan #3410 12S-1DR McGlasson (Lot #4845, April 1925, Los Angeles Limited, later assigned to the ACL, then the CB&Q, 1939-1940), painted dark gray until changed to the Two-Tone Gray (TTG) seen here in October 1958, sold to Morris C. Frazer in July 1969, no further info...one of a small number of cars that went to private owners directly from Pullman during the 60's, and one of a handful I have yet to see any info on regarding where it ended up, or how long it may have lasted.

2) Oak Post, in Dallas, on August 13th, 1961. Rebuilt in October 1949 from the Plan #3410 12S-1DR McKinnon (Lot #4844, February 1925, general service pool, later assigned to the UP 1940-1941), also painted in dark gray until changed to TTG in September 1954, sold for scrap to Hyman-Michaels in May 1964.

3) Oak Tree, in Fort Worth, on October 20th, 1963. Rebuilt in September 1949 from the Plan #3410 12S-1DR McSweyn (lot #4845, May 1925, initially leased to CN during 1925, later assigned to the SOU 1938-1942), again, in dark gray until changed to TTG in March 1957, sold for scrap to Hyman-Michaels in September 1966.

Here's a link to the previous post in this series, of Blue Bird Lake, Sentinel Range, and Chief American Horse: https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,5107015

Here's a link to the following post in this series, of Beech Forest, Elm Queen, and Elm Manor: https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,5115070

Sources:

1. "The Complete Roster of Heavyweight Pullman Cars" by Robert J. Wayner (Wayner Publications, 1985)

2. "Passenger Car Catalog: Pullman Operated Equipment, 1912-1949" by William W. Kratville (Kratville Publications, 1968)

3. Tom Madden's Pullman Project CCR database: http://pullmanproject.com/Database.htm

4. Tom Madden's Pullman Project AC assignments (1937-1943) database.

5. "Railway Prototype Cyclopedia Vol. 33: Pullman Heavyweight Sleepers, Part IV: The Color Photographs by Dick Kuelbs" (RP CYC Publishing Co., 2016)

I highly recommend the last source listed, an excellent pictorial "cross section" of what the Pullman heavyweight fleet looked like in its later years, jammed with hundreds of slides taken by Mr. Kuelbs, way more than those of his that I have in my own collection.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 10/04/20 00:30 by Rainier_Rails.

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Thanks for posting these great pics of  rebuilt Pullmans.  I wish I could have ridden in a roomette on one of these rebuilds to see if the roomette was any different from a streamline car.  I'm sure the ride was better in the rebuilds.