This post concerns the MILW’s Touralux sleeping cars operated on the “Olympian Hiawatha”.
“Car Names, Numbers, and Consists” states that these were Milwaukee Road built. Where they staffed by Pullman or Milwaukee porters?
The coach/sleepers were rebuilt to straight coaches while the 14 section were rebuilt at a later date. It appears that they were run on the “Olympian” only for a relatively few years.
Did these sleepers require a coach or first class ticket plus section space?
I’d venture it would be Pullman porters. By the time the Olympian was replaced with the Olympian Hiawatha, the operating wing of Pullman had been sold to a consortium of pretty much all passenger carrying railroads…so there was no danger of Pullman refusing to staff a non-Pullman built car, as Pullman was part owned by the Milwaukee. Some railroads (like New York Central or Rock Island) eventually used their own employees in sleeping cars rather than have Pullman employees, but I don’t think Milwaukee Road ever did(??)
The Touralux cars were operated as coach with just a space charge for the upper or lower. No upgrade to first class was required. Travel on the Olympian Hiawatha was probably one of the more scenic routes over the Mountain passes in Washington, Idaho and Montana. The only shortcoming I found with this train was the Dome offered no forward viewing and the windows distorted photos from the dome. Train always seemed old even though the equipment was new compared to Empire Builder City of Portland and North Coast Limited. I realize the cars except for the domes and sleepers were Milwaukee built but had the occasion to ride the domes when owned by CN and they brightened them up but did not improve photography from cars unless shooting through the glass on the lower level.
Except that at least some railroads that operated their own sleepers did not have separate sleeping-car conductors, but simply added those duties to the duties of the regular conductor. Penn Central for example. I cannot say what Milwaukee did, but I suspect they similarly economized. Also, of course, Amtrak.
And, when Pullman ceased operating the sleepers at the end of 1968, the railroad’s conductors were in charge of them–more paperwork to turn over to the next conductor.
I wonder: if there were more than one sleeper on a train, was one porter responsible for all of the porters and he, in turn, was directly responsible to the railroad conductors?
Pullman went to the porter-in-charge system in the late 1940s or 1950s for Pullman “lines” that had only a single car assigned. Otherwise a Pullman conductor was usually assigned. Railroad operated cars sometimes had a sleeping car conductor, sometimes not. I’m pretty sure that when New York Central dropped its Pullman contract in 1958, the regular conductor pulled the sleeping car tickets, too. Amtrak sort of reverted to the Pullman model with the on board passenger service agents in the mid 1970s, except that the train conductor handled tickets.
PRR and NYNH&H had parlor car conductors on trains with multiple parlor cars. After about 1950 PRR and Wabash were the only companies with Pullman parlor cars, and the Blue Bird didn’t get its second (dome) parlor until 1952.
Other carriers besides Milwaukee had Pullman-operated cars that charged only a coach fare. The Denver Zephyr Slumbercoaches (and the competing City of Denver service operated with repainted PRR-owned 21 roomette cars) were Pullman-operated, as were the NPs North Coast Limited Slumbercoaches.
And the slumbercoach on the Blackhawk with a Pullman Porter in Charge — rode it twice, one time a roomette car substituted! The slumbercoach outlasted the regular sleeper and may have outlasted the competing Pioneer! (Ovenright Chi -Twins)
Both trains may have been discontinued at the same time. The April, 1970, issue of the Guide shows both trains; the October issue shows no overnight service between Chicago and the Twin Cities.
The Hiawatha Story by Jim Scribbins is the best source for information on the Olympian Hiawatha.
I feel that the Milwaukee Road deserves kudos for its passenger operations. The Olympian Hiawatha competed against the GN’s Empire Builder and Western Star; the NP’s North Coast Limited AND Northwest Airlines and US10. Northwest did operate an all tourist class DC-6B from Milwaukee and Minneapolis to Seattle during the time the Touralux sleeping cars worked on the Olympian Hiawatha. The Olympian Hiawatha route, while beautiful through the mountains traveled through a very lightly populated area and served both Aberdeen South Dakota and Spokane Washington in the middle of the night.
Having the Touralux sleepers was an attempt to attract passengers to the train and compete with GN and NP. The GN’s Empire Builder did operate tourist class sleepers in the 1930’s but did not after World War II instead developing the Sleepy Hollow coach seat for long distance travel which proved popular. The Touralux was a risky move by Milwaukee Road; I’m not sure there was a sufficient market for it. The Olympian Hiawatha was an early casualty of the train off petitions. The Olympian Hiawatha was a good train which faced very stiff competition. It was truncated to Deer Lodge Montana in 1961 and lost its name; and to Aberdeen South Dakota the following year. Amazingly, that Aberdeen to Minneapolis train did run until 1968. I think that both the Morning Hiawatha and Pioneer Limited ran until the advent of Amtrak.
It is my opinion that the BN should have had single RDC’s (x-NP cars) on the “Blackhawk”. I hauled a crew for a Lacrosse bound train and the conductor told me he was the conductor on the last “Blackhawk”.
I also believe that the GN should have leased idle NP RDC’s for the Superior to St. Paul run. Then they needed only a two man crew.