Al,
That would be the Budd Company who up to that time had little luck in the RR business. The Budd Company went on to introduce disc brakes to the RR industry, the first gallery commuter cars and far and away the best dome cars for viewing. They also produced the most Dome cars. And produced the Santa Fe Hi - Levels which were the forerunners of todays Superliners. I could go on but it is 4:00 AM here.
Al - in - Stockton
Absolutely right, West Coast Al. The company (or perhaps better said, its workers) developed a new kind of welding technique called “shot welding.” It was used to fabricate the then-new streamliners of the 1940s. The company also fabricated the Metroliner and provided the plans for Amfleet II (most of which was not, however, made by Budd–they begged off the contract in the 1970’s). Apparently the company built a lot of RT, too; I know they did a series of L cars in the seventies in Chicago and also the PATCO cars about that time. - a.s.
PS: Dude, you get to ask a question if you like.
Name the Builder, RR and the four car electric trains that ran between Chicago and Milwaukee?
Al - in - Stockton
St Louis car company built the Electroliners for the Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee RR in 1941. In the 20s there were 4 railroads offering dining car service between Kenosha and Milwaukee, name the railroads .
Chicago, North Shore and Milwaukee, Chicago Northwestern, Chicago Milwaukee St. Paul & Pacific and I don’t know the fourth.
Al - in - Stockton
Yep , thats three of the four .
Does the track the fourth line used still exist? - a.s.
The track between Kenosha and Racine was removed on Sept 13th 1947 and the Racine Milwaukee segment was removed around December 31st , 1947.
Was it a different interurban rwy. company, one perhaps based in Milwaukee? - a.s.
Correct , TMER&L . The Milwaukee electric railway and light company . They built 2 articulated dining cars to run between Kenosha and Milwaukee . Pity there really wasn’t enough time to enjoy a meal . They tried running thru trains from Kenosha to Watertown Wis but discovered that there simply weren’t many people traveling between those two cities. The two diners sat for a few years until the outbreak of WW2 and were rebuilt into coaches for service throughout the system and after the war they were really no longer needed as traffic went away . They were scrapped in the late 40s.
Incidently, the owners of the railway at the time of abandonement was KMCL (Kenosha motor coach lines) An affiliate of westland greyhound. The satisfying part is that after the rail lines were torn out , no one rode the buses either…
This was a rare instance of two interurban companys competing for buisness between the same 3 cities on parellel routes. Of course the CNS&M lasted until 1963.
“Back in the day” before Amtrak, was it possible to make interline transfers between different railroad stations? For example, suppose I took the 20th Century Limited from New York to Chicago (Dearborn) in 1958. I had several hours in between to eat at the Pump Room, visit Marshall Field’s, sightsee, whatever, before the Super Chief was ready to leave in midafternon.
Could my baggage be checked all the way thru NYC/Grand Central to L.A/Union? If instead they had to be claimed at the first station and checked back in at the second (Santa Fe - Chgo Union), would a redcap have been able to handle that task for me?
I’ve heard so many stories of celebrities and ordinary people passing thru Chicago and the glamour of eating at the Pump Room, etc., but I’ve never seen an account of how the baggage was handled.
Any takers out there? - a.s.
Parmelee transfer
I’m a little lost . . . was that a company of some sort? - a.s.
Parmelee was indeed a company that operated in Chicago for the purpose of moving people and thier luggage between the many train stations.
If you google them there is quite alot of information about them . Parmelee was founded in 1857 to cater to railroad passengers.
Often your railroad ticket for destinations beyond Chicago would have Parmelee costs charged to them (not including tips) as well as interline tickets for the serving railroad , Pullman berths were sold sometimes thru Chicago and were a seperate ticket.
Thanks!!
Parmalee also would take incoming passengers to hotels. I used that service in 1969.
Through tickets to Chicago that involved a transfer from station to station included a coupon for Parmalee; I do not remember that there was a separate charge for this but believe that the two railroads involved paid the cost. There was also a transfer coupon for through tickets to Birmingham, Alabama, which paid a part of the taxi fare between the L & N and Terminal stations; the traveler had to pay for this coupon, and it was required on such a ticket. The first time I had such was in 1970, and the taxi driver asked for the difference between what he would get from the SCL (Miami to Montgomery to Birmingham to Tuscaloosa) and what the fare actually was.
I think you or Randy should post a new question either here or at Gen Disc - History Quiz! Good job, guys! [:)] - a.s.
Chicago Union Station in 1943, photos by Jack Delano
Mike
Ok , here is an interesting question, we know that many stainless steel Buddcars exist, Budd was not the only one that produced stainless cars . Pullman also built shiney stainless cars but there are almost none left , Why is this ?
Time takes its toll. Pullman-Standard (or back then, maybe just Pullman) built sleeping cars and what are now called “Park” cars for CP’s THE CANADIAN, which entered service back in 1955. This wasn’t the last fluted, non-MU, non-RT equipment that entered service in N. America but close to it (a couple of Rock Island trains entered service in 1956-57 but I’m not sure if they used any P-S cars).
So the simple explanation is most of them have worn out and been scrapped, except for a few that VIA has kept in good order and kept running on THE CANADIAN, though the route is different and the train doesn’t run as often. I doubt back in 1955 anyone would have dreamed that some of the rolling stock would keep rolling fifty-plus years into the future. - a.s.