Passenger Trains > Pullman car interior

Despite the very nice weather in Southern California today, I found myself taking interior photos today.

---

---

---

This car does not see the light of day very often so while we were in it today I took the opportunity to take these. This is the Former GM&O sleeper Timothy B Blackstone which is owned by Pacific Railroad Society.

---

---

---

Wow...Thank you very much for sharing these photos! I assume the photos at the top were a bedroom, and at the bottom a section? When I was a kid, dad took me on a round trip to Chicago from Cincinnati on the Cardinal, and we had a bedroom going back. Other than that, all I know are Viewliner and Superliner sleepers. Refreshing to see modern, color photos of these earlier accommodations.

This is a pre-WWII car. The first photo is of two adjacent double bedrooms with the center separation panel folded back to make a larger room (suite?). The giveaway is the cabinets under the sinks which has a fold-out toilet in it - straight drop to the tracks with a water flush to "move things along". Note that there is NO privacy enclosure - if someone else was in the room they were asked to take a short walk or something. No biggee if you were solo, I guess...?

After WWII Pullman built a small toilet annex (i.e., closet) around "the facility" for privacy; one of the BIG improvements in sleeping car travel!

sevenmilesiding Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I assume the photos at the top were a
> bedroom, and at the bottom a section?

Close, the first photo is a bedroom on the left and a compartment on the right, second photo is two bedrooms and the others were sections with the roomettes in the background. The bathroom shot shows the tile work which was uncommon.

I got the following info on the car from the PRS website:

Like many other railroads during the post-war period, the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad (GM&O) re-equipped its passenger trains with modern, streamline cars. Immediately following the war, GM&O placed orders with American Car Foundry to purchase coach, parlor, and sleeping cars. By fourth quarter of 1947, most of these cars had been delivered and integrated into the GM&O fleet with the exception of the sleeper cars.

By late 1947, the sleeper cars were still just a drawing. In addition to a shortage of materials, the inability of the Gulf, Mobile, and Ohio Railroad to make decisions on a variety of design options delayed the delivery of the sleeping cars until 1950. Originally, the four sleeping cars were supposed to be 22 or 24 roomette cars. In June 1947, the floor plan was changed to an 8-4-3-1 from the roomette configuration. This changed would allow better utilization of the cars by allowing an overnight trip to St. Louis from Chicago and back on the Midnight Special after a trip from Mobile to Chicago had been completed via the Gulf Coast Rebel/Abraham Lincoln trains.

Finally, after many months of delay, the 8-4-3-1 sleeper cars were delivered to the GM&O in 1950. The cars were named for prominent persons in the history of the railroad. Timothy B. Blackstone was the president of the railroad from the 1860's to the 1890's.

The last of these cars were mothballed in 1968 after the Pullman Company dropped out of the sleeping car business and the GM&O discontinued sleeper car service on the Midnight Special. The Timothy B. Blackstone was acquired by the Pacific Railroad Society in 1970.

In the February 1970, issue of Wheel Clicks, the contest to rename the Blackstone was announced. Sentiment at the time was that the name was not appropriate for Pacific Railroad Society use. Entries were solicited and new names were provided. The April Wheel Clicks revealed that the winning name was the Golden Sunset.

A few years later, the car was repainted as a result of an Amtrak requirement to paint all private cars in the platinum mist colors. At that time, the car was renamed the Timothy B. Blackstone. This was done because members thought the name closely identified the origins of the car and because replacement part ordering was complicated by the existence of a Rock Island car with the identical name.

Pix #1 - Double BR on left, open ensuite to compt
on right..had short sofa and folding chair

Pix #2 - Two Double BRs open ensuite both with long sofas
and shown with swingout pottys and tilt down basins above..

NICE PHOTOS..

So, these photos are recent? The car interior has never been altered since 1968?

MEKoch Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So, these photos are recent? The car interior has
> never been altered since 1968?

The pictures were taken on 1/2/2010. Some of the tile in the bathrooms was replaced, otherwise the car is a time capsule. The foam in those seats stays crunchy even in milk!

djansson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This is a pre-WWII car. The first photo is of two
> adjacent double bedrooms with the center
> separation panel folded back to make a larger room
> (suite?). The giveaway is the cabinets under the
> sinks which has a fold-out toilet in it - straight
> drop to the tracks with a water flush to "move
> things along". Note that there is NO privacy
> enclosure - if someone else was in the room they
> were asked to take a short walk or something. No
> biggee if you were solo, I guess...?
>
> After WWII Pullman built a small toilet annex
> (i.e., closet) around "the facility" for privacy;
> one of the BIG improvements in sleeping car
> travel!

The "open potty" option was still available after WW2. For example, Santa Fe had some post-war Pullmans with this type of facility. Not very popular with the public as you might imagine. It has always been curious to me why Santa Fe ordered some cars with this feature given their pro-passenger image.

ATSF3751 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> The "open potty" option was still available after
> WW2. For example, Santa Fe had some post-war
> Pullmans with this type of facility. Not very
> popular with the public as you might imagine. It
> has always been curious to me why Santa Fe ordered
> some cars with this feature given their
> pro-passenger image.

I believe Detroit did not restart civilian automobile production after WW2 until late 1946/early 1947 and the cars offered were essentially 1941 models. Likewise, It took Pullman until about 1950 I believe to change sleeper production to the new style annex toilets.

1moose Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ATSF3751 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> > The "open potty" option was still available
> after
> > WW2. For example, Santa Fe had some post-war
> > Pullmans with this type of facility. Not very
> > popular with the public as you might imagine.
> It
> > has always been curious to me why Santa Fe
> ordered
> > some cars with this feature given their
> > pro-passenger image.
>
> I believe Detroit did not restart civilian
> automobile production after WW2 until late
> 1946/early 1947 and the cars offered were
> essentially 1941 models. Likewise, It took
> Pullman until about 1950 I believe to change
> sleeper production to the new style annex toilets.

A very good point. I once owned a 1946 Packard which was essentially identical to the 1942 model that was released in late 1941.