The Story of the Pullman Car — Themes and Context

They were forty-four feet long, had flat roofs like box cars, single sash windows, of which there were fourteen on a side, the glass in each sash being only a little over one foot square. The roof was only a trifle over six feet from the floor of the car. Into this car we got ten sleeping-car sections, besides a linen locker and two washrooms--one at each end.

The wood used in the interior finish was cherry. Mr. Pullman was anxious to get hickory, to stand the hard usage which it was supposed the cars would receive. I worked part of the summer of 1858, employing an assistant or two, and the cars went into service in the fall of 1858. There were no blue-prints or plans made for the remodelling of these first two sleeping-cars, and Mr. Pullman and I worked out the details and measurements as we came to them. The two cars cost Mr. Pullman not more than $2,000, or $1,000 each. They were upholstered in plush, lighted by oil lamps, heated with box stoves, and mounted on four-wheel trucks with iron wheels. There was no porter in those days; the brakeman made up the beds.

In the construction of these first sleeping cars Mr. Pullman introduced his invention of upper berth construction by means of which the upper berth might be closed in the day time and also serve as a receptacle for bedding. Other improvements and devices were worked out and tested, and from these first experiments were drawn the detailed plans from which the first cars entirely constructed by him were made. Although without technical training himself, Mr. Pullman was quick to recognize the necessity of skilled assistance to express and improve his embryonic ideas. To this end he soon established a small workshop, and employing a number of skilled mechanics set himself to the mastery of the problems which confronted him.

Another interesting personal reminiscence of the first days of the Pullman car is afforded by J. L. Barnes, who was in charge of the first car run from Bloomington to Chicago over the Chicago & Alton.

Mr. Pullman had an office on Madison Avenue just west of LaSalle Street and I boarded with a family very close to his office. I used to pass his office on my to meals, and having read in the paper that he was working on a sleeping car, one day I stopped in and made application to Mr. Pullman personally for a place as conductor. I gave him some references and called again and he said the references were all right and promised me the place. I made my first trip between Bloomington, Illinois, and Chicago on the night of September 1, 1859. I was twenty-two years old at the time. I wore no uniform and was attired in citizen's clothes. I wore a badge, that was all. One of my passengers was George M. Pullman, inventor of the sleeping car.... All the passengers were from Bloomington and there were no women on the car that night. The people of Bloomington, little reckoning that history was being made in their midst, did not come down to the station to see the Pullman car's first trip. There was no crowd, and the car, lighted by candles, moved away in solitary grandeur, if such it might be called.... I remember on the first night I had to compel the passengers to take their boots off before they got into the berths. They wanted to keep them on--seemed afraid to take them off.

The first month business was very poor. People had been in the habit of sitting up all night in the straight back seats and they did not think much of trying to sleep while traveling.... After I had made a few trips it was decided it did not pay to employ a Pullman conductor, and the car was placed in charge of the passenger conductor of the train which carried the sleeping car, and I was out of a job.

The first Pullman car was a primitive thing. Beside being lighted with candles it was heated by a stove at each end of the car. There were no carpets on the floor, and the interior of the car was arranged in this way: There were four upper and four lower berths. The backs of the seats were hinged and to make up the lower berth the porter merely dropped the back of the seat until it was level with the seat itself. Upon this he placed a mattress and blanket. There was no sheets. The upper berth was suspended from the ceiling of the car by ropes and pulleys attached to each of the four corners of the berth. The upper berths were constructed with iron rods running from the floor of the car to the roof, and during the day the berth was pulled up until it hugged the ceiling, there being a catch which held it up. At night it was suspended about half-way between the ceiling of the car and the floor. We used curtains in front and between all the berths. In the daytime one of the sections was used to store all the mattresses in. The car had a very low deck and was quite short. It had four wheel trucks and with the exception of the springs under it was similar to the freight car of today. The coupler was "link and pin;" we had no automatic brakes or couplers in those days. There was a very small toilet room in each end, only large enough for one person at a time. The wash basin was made of tin. The water for the wash basin came from the drinking can which had a faucet so that people could get a drink.

The two remodeled Chicago & Alton coaches were instantly accepted by the public, but despite their popularity, and the popularity of a third car which followed them, their originator considered them merely as experiments and in 1864 plans for the first actual Pullman car were completed which gave promise of a car radically different in its construction, appointments, and arrangement from anything heretofore attempted. Into this car Pullman resolutely cast the small capital that he had accumulated; in its success he placed the unswerving confidence that characterized his clear vision and indomitable determination to succeed. This model car was built in Chicago on the site of the present Union Station in a shed belonging to the Chicago & Alton Railroad, at a cost of $18,239.31, without its equipment, and almost a year was required before it was ready for service. Fully equipped and ready for service it represented an investment of $20,178.14. The "Pioneer" was the name chosen for its designation, and with the faith that other cars would soon be required the letter "A" was added, an indication that even Mr. Pullman's vision failed to anticipate the possible demand beyond the twenty-six letters of the alphabet.

Never before had such a car been seen; never had the wildest flights of fancy imagined such magnificence. Up to the building of the "Pioneer" $5,000 had represented the maximum that had ever been spent on a single railroad coach. It was unbelievable that this $18,000 investment could yield a remunerative return. The "Pioneer" had improved trucks with springs reinforced by blocks of solid rubber; it was a foot wider and two and a half feet higher than any car then in service, the additional height being necessary to accommodate the hinged upper berth of Mr. Pullman's invention. Combined with its unusual strength, weight, and solidity, its beauty and the artistic character of its furnishing and decoration were unprecedented. At one stride an advance of fifty years had been effected.

A further proof of Mr. Pullman's faith in the success of the "Pioneer" type of car is illustrated by the fact that due to its increased height and breadth the dimensions of station platforms and bridges at the time of its construction would not permit its passage over any existing railroad. It is said that these necessary changes were hastened in the spring of 1865 by the demand that the new "Pioneer" be attached to the funeral train which conveyed the body of President Lincoln from Chicago to Springfield. In this way one railroad was quickly adapted to the new requirements, and a few years later when the "Pioneer" was engaged to take General Grant on a trip from Detroit to his home town of Galena, Illinois, another route was opened to its passage.

Other roads soon made the necessary alterations to permit the passage of the "Pioneer" and its sister cars which were now under construction. The "Pioneer" had, by this time, won wide recognition and popularity, and a few months later was put in regular service on the Alton Road. So well were its dimensions calculated by Mr. Pullman that the "Pioneer" immediately became the model by which all railroad cars were measured, and to this day practically the only changes in dimensions have been in increased length.

To secure the continuous use of the "Pioneer" and other similar cars an agreement was effected between Mr. Pullman and the Chicago & Alton which marked the beginning of the vast system which today embraces the entire country and makes possible continuous and luxurious travel over a large number of distinct railroads. 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.

THE RISE OF A GREAT INDUSTRY

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.

The new cars were larger, heavier, and more substantial than any previously constructed. Increased safety was one of their advantages. Moreover, they were far more beautiful from every aspect--artistically painted, richly decorated, and furnished with fittings for that day remarkable for their elaborate nature. They were universally admired, and quickly became the topic of interest among the traveling public. 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; while those whose nature usually inclines to haggling when the purse is touched, were convinced of the worth of the innovation by the assurance against disaster which the weight and strength of the Pullman cars assured.

The next car constructed by Mr. Pullman, after the "Pioneer" cost $24,000. And very soon after several additional cars were built at approximately the same cost, and were put in operation on the Michigan Central Railroad. Here was the great test. In these luxurious carriages and in the verdict of the traveling public rested the future of Mr. Pullman's project. The question simply resolved itself to this: Did the public want them? In the old sleeping cars a berth had cost considerably less than it was necessary to charge for one in the new Pullman cars. In the mind of the inventor there was no question as to the verdict. The railroad authorities were equally certain the other way. They did not think the public would pay the extra sum.

There was but one way to decide, and Mr. Pullman made the suggestion that both Pullman cars and old style sleeping cars be operated on the same train at their respective prices. The results would show.

What happened is best described in the words of a contemporary writer.

Mr. Pullman suggested that the matter be submitted to the decision of the traveling public. He proposed that the new cars, with their increased rate, be put on trains with the old cars at the cheaper rate. If the traveling public thought the beauty of finish, the increased comfort, and the safety of the new cars worth $2 per night, there were the $24,000 cars; if, on the other hand, they were satisfied with less attractive surroundings at a saving of 50 cents, the cheaper cars were at their disposal. It was a simple submission without argument of the plain facts on both sides of the issue--in other words, an application of the good American doctrine of appealing to the people as the court of highest resort.

The decision came instantly and in terms which left no opening for discussion. The only travelers who rode in the old cars were those who were grumbling because they could not get berths in the new ones. After running practically empty for a few days, the cars in which the price for a berth was $1.50 were withdrawn from service, and Pullmans, wherein the two-dollar tariff prevailed, were substituted in their places, and this for the very potent reason, that the public insisted upon it. Nor did the results stop there. The Michigan Central Railway, charging an extra tariff of fifty cents per night as compared with other eastern lines, proved an aggressive competitor of those lines, not in spite of the extra charge, but because of it, and of the higher order of comfort and beauty it represented. Then followed a curious reversal of the usual results of competition. Instead of a levelling down to the cheaper basis on which all opposition was united, there was a levelling up to the standard on which the Pullman service was planted and on which it stood out single-handed and alone.

Within comparatively a short period all the Michigan Central's rival lines were forced by sheer pressure from the traveling public to withdraw the inferior and cheaper cars and meet the superior accommodations and the necessarily higher tariff. In other words, the inspiration of that key-note of vigorous ambition for excellence of the product itself, irrespective of immediate financial returns, which was struck with such emphasis in the building of the "Pioneer," and which ever since has rung through all the Pullman work, was felt in the railroad world of the United States at that early date, just as it is even more commonly felt at the present time. At one bound it put the American railway passenger service in the leadership of all nations in that particular branch of progress, and has held it there ever since as an object lesson in the illustration of a broad and far-reaching principle.[1]

[1]: _Contemporary American Biography_, p. 260.

It will probably be interesting at this point to describe with some detail the Pullman car of this early period. In the _Daily Illinois State Register_, Springfield, May 26, 1865, appears an interesting description of one of the new Pioneer type of cars just installed on the Chicago & Alton Railroad.

To the train on the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad, which passed up at noon today, was attached one of Pullman's improved and beautiful sleeping carriages, containing a party of excursionists from the Garden City [Chicago], to whom the trip was complimentarily extended by the company of the road, and among whom was George M. Pullman, Esq., of Chicago, the patentee of the car. This carriage, which we had the pleasure of inspecting during the stay of the train at our depot, we found to be the most comfortable and complete in all its appurtenances, and decidedly superior in many respects to any similar carriage we have ever seen. 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.

Westlake's patent heating and ventilating apparatus is applied so that a constant current of pure and pleasant air is kept in circulation through the car. In fact, it was useless to attempt to enumerate, in so brief a notice, even a few of the many improvements which have been introduced by the patentees into the carriage, rendering it as they have, superior to any that we have ever inspected. To one fact, however, we will refer in this connection, as especially conducive to the comfort of the traveling public, viz., that a daily change of linen is made in the berths of this new carriage, thereby keeping them constantly clean and comfortable, and rendering the car much more attractive than are similar carriages where this is neglected. As we are informed by Mr. Pullman that these cars will hereafter be run on the St. Louis and Chicago line, we would especially direct the attention of travelers to the fact, and recommend them to investigate the matter of our notice for themselves.

Exactly how "upwards of a hundred passengers" could have been accommodated is hardly clear, but the enthusiasm of the reporter, fired perhaps by the luxury of clean linen for each berth each day, may account for this apparent exaggeration. In the _Illinois Journal_, another Springfield paper, of May 30, the reporter reduces the estimate of the capacity to fifty-two and comments with perhaps more detail on the decorative features of the car.

We are reminded by a prophecy which we heard some three years since--that the time was not far distant when a radical change would be introduced in the manner of constructing railroad cars; the public would travel upon them with as much ease as though sitting in their parlors, and sleep and eat on board of them with more ease and comfort than it would be possible to do on a first-class steamer. We believed the words of the seer at the time, but did not think they were so near fulfillment until Friday last, when we were invited to the Chicago & Alton depot in this city to examine an improved sleeping-car, manufactured by Messrs. Field & Pullman, patentees, after a design by George M. Pullman, Esq., Chicago.

The writer describes his impressions of the interior. The absence of "mattresses or dingy curtains" by day, the beauty of the window curtains "looped in heavy folds," the "French plate mirrors suspended from the walls," as well as the "several beautiful chandeliers, with exquisitely ground shades" hanging from a ceiling "painted with chaste and elaborate design upon a delicately tinted azure ground," while the black walnut woodwork and "richest Brussels carpeting" make the picture complete. It is small wonder that the Pullman car excited admiration, and that its first appearance in the Illinois towns was probably recorded by similar editorial appreciation.

But perhaps one of the most interesting insights into the condition which the new Pullman cars were so quick to remedy, is found in the _Chicago Tribune_, June 20, 1865. After a veritable eulogy on the elegance and comfort of the Pullman car, the writer draws the following enviable contrast.

It leaves to others to ticket the actual transit, so many miles for so much money, and comes in with its cars as the Ticket Agent of Comfort, sells you coupons to rest and ease by the way. So you wish to go through to New York or Baltimore, yourself, Belinda, Biddy and the baby, baskets, bundles, etc? You think of changes of cars by night, and rushes for seats for your party by day, of seats foul with the scrapings of dirty boots, of floors flowing with saliva, of coarse faces and coarse conversation, of seats you cannot recline in, of the ordinary discomforts of a long journey by rail!

It is small wonder that the new Pullman cars found an appreciative welcome!