I am doing some research on modern passenger cars. and was wondering if anyone knows where i can find the Budd website? or even if they have one.
thanks,
Peter
I’m not at all sure the Budd Company even exists anymore. They sold the last remnants of their passenger rail car business to Bombardier a long time ago. Last I knew they manufactured truck trailers, but it’s been a while since I have seen any new Budd trailers on the highway.
LC
I have a pretty extensive listings and history of all of the Budd lightweight streamlined cars up to Amtrak. If you have specific questions of that period I will try to answer them for you if I have the information.
Just a few seconds on Google using “The Budd Company” as a search term turned up the following, including the official Budd Company site. It seems the remaining portion of the Budd Company is now part of Thyssen Krupp and manufactures automobile parts.
http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Budd-Company
LC
Hmmm. THyssen Krupp That was all i came up with too when i did my searches.
I was mainly looking for just standard information on the AMT budd cars. A corospondent from another forum said that budd also made the supperliner cars. but now that i think about it I think they were made by Pullman.
If you have any cross sections or basic info (eg. Length, #seats, how long AMT has had them, etc.) I would love to see it.
peter
Peter, if you’re not limited to the Internet, you might look at the book “Travel by Pullman,” by Joe Welsh & Bill Howes. It’s mainly about the Pullman company, as the title suggests, but it also covers the effect of the Budd built Zephyrs. The book has to cover Budd because modern lightweight cars evolved from the intense competition between Pullman and Budd. The signal event in the history of the Budd company was that their antitrust lawsuit caused the bustup of Pullman.
Pullman-Standard built 284 Superliners (their last cars) 1979-1981.
Bombardier built 140 Superliner II cars in Quebec and put them together in Barre Vermont 1993-1994. Was Barre a Budd plant ?
Peter,
This site gives good details of Amtrak passenger cars
http://www.hebners.net/amtrak/index.html
The Budd plant that built most of their cars was called the “Red Lion” plant and was located in Philadelphia PA.
The Budd patent that covered their stainless steel cars was related to the electric “Shot Weld” process, which was a development of the spot welders used in automobile construction. Budd was always involved in the automotive industry, I believe.
Peter
Barre Vt was never a budd plant, it was never a railplant, but assembly hall for bombardier kits to comply with built in america.
The Budd company sold their rail division in early 80’s to a German company, they renamed it Transit America.
Transit America went belly up in 1884 or so due to lack of orders.
the last cars built at red lions plant were some Chicago CTA cars and the View liner demonstrator shells, not finished and not even on their own wheels.
Every stainless steel shell in USA after those few viewliners was inported from Brasil/Portugal/ Japan/Korea
There is a history book , probably out of print about the Budd Co., very detailed, Iwouldn’t try the library, unless they could order it in from some where else. I use the web site of Karens books .com to search out books, she will try her darndest to find it if she doesn’t have it.
Note that after the anti-trust suit, and actually before for a limited extent on the Sante Fe, the Pullman Company did operate Budd-built sleepers. The Caliifornia Zephyr and Denver Zephyr were all-Budd consists, and for some time the sleepers were Pullman Company operated. This was possible, because the settlement of the court case came before these consists started operating, and then the Pullman operating company and the Pullman car-building company were two different organizations and businesses.
thanks for the help. now that pullman has been brought i couldn’t find a website for pullman. does any one know if they have mergered with anyone?
peter
If Pullman became Pullman Standard, it was bought out by Trinity Industries.
OK, so there’s a line nearby that NS wants to abandon… and a BUDD car would do well in carrying passengers on it for excursions.
Where would one find such a car? And I think the only ones left are 'way up North with CN… or VIA.
Erik
Via is running some in Northern Ontario to White River and on Vancouver Island (North of Seattle) through Nanaimo (!) everyday.
Some of the former BC Rail RDC’s are now operating west of Tacoma. There is a thread about those that started yesterday.
The Alaska Railway has or had some as well.
I understand Trinity Express, Dallas-Fort Worth, does operate some Budd Cars in addition to its regular double-deck diesel locomotive hauled (or pushed) coaches.
If I recall, Trinity Rail Express bought at least 6 of the Budd RDC’s (and I’m pretty sure they arrived in Canadian markings several years ago). I see a 3-car trainset usually every morning driving to work running between Ft. Worth and Dallas, but I have yet to ride one.
Forgive me if I missed this earlier, but wasn’t Budd in on the original Metroliners?
Speaking of Budd…KATO USA recently contacted the NSSR and LSRM about coming down and recording the sounds of our RDC car because it is one of the only ones with the original horn,bell,and engine.
Indeed they were, and since the MU cars and rapid transit equipment they were building were heavily dependent on subcontractors and outside suppliers, Budd decided to leave the passenger car business.
Although the passenger car business was quite high-profile, Budd was always primarily an automotive supplier and the passenger cars were more of a sideline.