Passenger Trains > Articulated passenger cars made by Pullman

Hello,
Would anyone be able to suggest where I might be able to get mechanical information or blueprints for the articulated passenger coaches?
Cars are presently in use on private train in western US - MRL - I believe.

Thanks for any help.
Have a great weekend!

611

Posted from iPhone

How detailed? Pullman built streamlined Articulated Chair Cars and
Articulated Dining Cars for Southern Pacific in the 1930s to 1940s.
There has been some information published in various books about
Southern Pacific passenger equipment.

The cars were originally built for the SP Coast Daylight, I would check with the SP historical society or pick up a copy of the Book on the Daylight "Southern Pacific, Vol. 1: Daylight, Train 98-99. It has photos, floor plans, drawings of the trucks and much more.
Andre

As mentioned below these cars were used heavily by the SP on the "Daylight" train sets which even had triple unit diners. Amtrak used these cars early on on their version of the "Daylight" and some even ran on the San Diego runs until the new(then) Amfleets were started.The book mentioned below on the "Daylight Trains 98 and 99" is by Richard Wright. I have copy number 76 and those days it coats a whopping $30. Today it is likely $80 if even available. Articulated chair cars also ran on the SP San Joaquin Daylight line up the valley from LAUPT to Oakland and back until May 1,1971.

Phil Blommendahl
Getzville, NY

I rode one of the SP articulated coaches once from Tucson, Arizona to Rock Island, Illinois on SP/RI #40. There were literally enough seats for hundreds, but when I rode it in 1962, there were only five of us. The cars rode well, but I remember thinking with all that space, why can't I stretch out and sleep somewhere. The only space to stretch out was the men's room, and it had a glaring overhead light that was always on. I lost a lot of sleep on that trip, but there were some positives: we stopped for meals along the way at various depot restaurants (El Paso, Tucumcari, Kansas City) and ate together with the crews. One time, somewhere in Kansas, they parked Train #40 on the main line and the passengers and crew walked into town for lunch at a local restaurant. Later that day, the crew asked who would like to buy a boxed chicken dinner for the evening meal. That Kansas boxed chicken, homemade, was certainly a culinary triumph. Good memories of at least one of the SP articulated coaches!

Phil1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The book mentioned below on the "Daylight Trains 98 and 99" is by Richard
> Wright. I have copy number 76 and those days it coat a whopping $30. Today it is likely $80 if
> even available...


It was reprinted and is about that price. Originals such as yours and mine (all originals, as
far as I know, were autographed by the late Mr. Wright) go for much more.

You will have a PM from the folks restoring Articulated Chair Car SP 2473-74 at the Niles Canyon Railway.

~ Bob Z.

David Randall published several years ago, a series of books
of passenger cars built by Pullman for SP and various railroads

Perhaps you can Google David Randall Passenger rail car books....

If you want copies of the original - of any of the articulated cars (those made for the CoSF, CoLA, Lark, Daylight, Cascade, T&NO, UP, IC, Pullman and others) - the Pullman Library at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, IL has the original drawings, specifications and drawing lists. Oh...and just a hint - several recent models of articulated cars have the incorrect 3 axle truck (they were swapped out in the early 50s - OK for as built).

Depends on what it is you want, and how detailed.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/11/13 14:09 by rswebber.

Hi,
I wanted to say thank you to each of you for your input.

I will pass this info along to a man who will being involved with these cars.

Very helpful!

Have a nice evening!

611

Posted from iPhone

The MRL car still has triple-bolster four-wheel trucks. (Sometimes called "Napoleons" because the shape of the pedestals resembles the Emperor's new hat.) SP changed out the four-wheel triple-bolster trucks on the non-articulated ends of several of their cars, including the 1941 car being restored in Niles Canyon, CA by the Pacific Locomotive Association, SP 2473-74. That car, incidentally, shares a May, 1941 birthday with GS-4 SP 4449, both built for the same "Daylight" train service.

The MRL car looks to have the original 1937-style truck, modified by the SP with bolster anchors and roller journals. Those upgraded roller journals were commonly mismatched from axle to axle on a given car as it moved through shoppings, although they were required to be the same type on each side of one wheelset.

I'm curious about the reference to incorrect three-axle trucks on recent scale models. Three-axle trucks were used only at the articulations of the triple-unit Diners (like the MTH and BLI plastic models) and Diner Lounges (Lark Club and Cascade Club, done relatively recently by The Coach Yard in brass). These trucks were the same basic drop-equalizer cast pedestal style, with two brake cylinders per side and clasp brakes. Two classes of this six-wheel truck were used, the 6-TCA-1 with solid journals on the prewar "Daylight" and "Lark" cars, and 6-TCA-2 with roller bearing journals and Decelostats on the postwar "Shasta" and "Cascade" cars. SP did modify the journals of the prewar cars, converting to roller bearings.

Not aware that SP changed out trucks here, as the articulation joint demanded a specialized cup fitting and bolster. It's why the center trucks on the two-unit Articulated Chair Cars stayed in place while the ends got the more common drop-equalizer style truck, which required less maintenance.

I've been told that SP immobilized the secondary bolsters on some of the triple-bolster trucks, reducing maintenance requirements by eliminating wear and lube points. I also understand that was the cause for severely deteriorated ride qualities on cars so modified. I can recall some Artics simply gliding over the rails, and others being a jolt-fest. I was really tickled to see that the nicely-done MRL car still has its Napoleons. I very much hope all the inside guts are still hanging and swinging as Pullman-Standard intended!

~ Bob Z.

PS: Thanks to you, 611, and best of operations to MRL!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/11/13 15:28 by Notch16.

There are orders & receipts for the different truck (along with a variety of other fittings) at the Pullman Library in the financial (yearly) boxes. These are purchases from railroads to Pullman-Standard. i can't go into details as there is an article in preparation with the details.

The Lark set, that was recently purchased by the City of Grapevine, will be refurbished for operation as well, making (a minimum of) 3 sets running in the relatively near future.

Sadly, it appears that a set of Articulated Chairs that were formerly in Arizona and left derelict to
the effects of the weather and vandalism is meeting its end. Transferred by Rail America to Iowa Pacific
in exchange for money owed, they are reported in a recent TRAINS article as in the process of being scrapped.

There wasn't much left to save but it's still sad to consider, among the several sets that are being saved.