Cascadia 2.0 Notebook: A Look at Pullman Restaurant Cars

New arrivals in Cascadia coach yard include a pair of Pullman 'Restaurant Cars' assigned to Northern Pacific's The Mainstreeter. 

Showcasing passenger trains and their operations effectively requires a different kind of layout - one built to handle larger and highly-specialized equipment, with nearly perfect trackwork and larger curves, having specialized facilities such as depots and coach yards, and ample scenic mainline to run them in their natural habitat. Rules of operation, facilities, specialized equipment and details are different, obviously.  It is not an unfair statement that passenger operations force the modeler to up his or her game at every level. The complexity of passenger train operation has a definite learning curve above and beyond freight operation, and I often wonder if it is this learning curve that scares modelers away from passenger trains.  Passenger trains are just different: because they carried people, they were more regulated, had more specialized operating rules, and required the most senior, experienced railroaders to operate.  

It's about equipment: In the 1950s, often described Golden Era of American passenger trains, the variety of equipment and the specialization of procedures for operating the different car types make them worth modeling.  In the 1950s, passenger trains were at the zenith of their variety in all things: by function, by design (streamlined versus heavyweight), by age and by color.  With airlines becoming a serious threat to rail travel, passenger trains had to up their game with modern 'image' trains - the first class name trains that are now legendary.  Although colorful streamliners heralded a railroad's brand and got most of the attention of photographers and the press, it was actually the heavyweight equipment on secondary trains that paid the bills for passenger service.  

The ubiquitous heavyweight car: In the 1950s, heavyweight cars on railroads outnumbered streamlined cars by a 3:1 ratio.  Fully depreciated and still going for 25 years or more, the railroads recognized the value of keeping their heavyweight cars in service with upgrades and new paint.  Many railroads 'stream-styled' heavyweight cars to make them look and feel modern, integrating them into the streamlined image they wanted. Union Pacific, for example, launched an overhaul campaign for its aging heavyweight fleet starting in 1950, adding modern 'Thermopane' double-pane insulated windows, new rooflines, Timken bearing truck upgrades for smooth rides, and fresh new interior furnishings.  

Excellent illustration of Union Pacific's heavyweight modernization campaign of the 1950s is this 1952-outshopped dormitory-lounge car assigned to the upgraded 'Portland Rose' (trains 17-18).  (This recent offering from The Coach Yard is in the author's collection photographed by the author.:

Enter Pullman: As if passenger trains and their equipment weren't complex enough, the specialized shared services of mail, express and sleeping car operation layered on unique complexities for operators to manage. Here I will focus on sleeping car fleet operation. From its inception by a 1947 order of the US Supreme Court until 1968, The Pullman Company was America's sleeping car operator and the only truly transcontinental passenger 'railroad.' Virtually all sleeping cars on American railroads in the 1950s were booked, maintained, repaired, provisioned, staffed and managed by The Pullman Company.  Whether the cars were owned by the railroads themselves (most sleeping cars became the property of railroads on January 1, 1949) or by the Pullman Pool (1800 cars, mainly heavyweight), it was Pullman, not the railroads, that operated sleeping car services. When it came to sleeping cars and accommodation, Pullman's authority superseded the railroads and their territories - a fact that makes for some very interesting modeling and operation.  

This essay takes a brief look at one specialized Pullman offering of the 1950s - the 'Restaurant Car' - and their recent introduction as modeled by The Coach Yard.

The Pullman Pool and Restaurant Car Service

With the creation of The Pullman Company in 1947, which officially entered service on January 1, 1949, sleeping cars became a co-owned shared service among all 58 Class 1 railroads.  Because the operation of sleeping cars through highly-variable demand would be too onerous for the railroads, Pullman filled that role, providing these car services wherever they were needed.  This service kept sleeping cars on the rails earning money.  It also was a service that placed the car above railroad boundaries, and sleeping cars - whether owned by specific railroads or Pullman - moved freely across the country.  This service model created the first 'rainbow trains' of many-colored cars in trains - especially the countless secondary trains that were more about revenue than streamlined image.

The Depression Era and the creation of the Restaurant Car: The Great Depression of the 1930s hit railroads especially hard, as travel became an expendable luxury.  Faced with mounting losses in passengers and revenue, Pullman devised a series of improvements to their fleet and services to attract economy-minded passengers back to the rails.  These improvements launched a massive rebuilding campaign lasting well into the 1940s, where thousands of cars were rebuilt to add enclosed bedrooms, experimental roomettes and economy food services.  

A perfect illustration of this new service is the Restaurant Car.  Starting in 1933, Pullman rebuilt 51 mostly open-section sleeping cars to provide economical food service for economy-minded travelers.  These cars typically retained 8 sleeping sections but added a small galley for fresh food service in a buffet-style cafe lounge.  Pullman Restaurant Cars had two main variations: the buffet lounge and coffee shop-style restaurant.  

Northern Pacific's 'The Mainstreeter': The Restaurant Car model proved a success and remained a standard popular service on passenger trains into the 1960s.  By the 1950s, these cars were often assigned to secondary passenger trains, offering lower-cost light meal service to attract the economy traveler. One exemplary 1950s train that made the Restaurant Car shine was 'The Mainstreeter.' Inaugurated in 1950 by Northern Pacific (NP) to meet the economy traveler's demands on the same route as its famous first class North Coast Limited, The Mainstreeter repurposed heavyweight equipment to carry mail and express, railway post office, comfortable coach, affordable dining and economical sleeping car service - all innovations that made the train profitable from its start.  Its mostly older heavyweight equipment saved money, and NP's decision to source the train's entire sleeping car service (including equipment) to The Pullman Company kept the train profitable.

Early film (c1954) of NP's Mainstreeter with newly-assigned 8 section buffet-lounge car 'Washington Club,' still in its Pullman Green livery from Pullman Pool service, after the car's reassignment from the Atlantic Coast Line's 'Southland.'  Bringing up the markers behind Washington Club is NP Business Car #1, in its Pine Tree scheme.  Ahead of the car is a 12-1 sleeper from the Pennsylvania Railroad via the Pullman Pool. (Film still from 'Empire of the North,' Charles Smiley Productions)

Pool and railroad-owned Pullmans: Pullman provided cars from its pool or leased them from other railroads (photos of the Mainstreeter show a wide variety of sleepers from Pennsylvania, Baltimore and Ohio, New York Central and Pullman Pool) provided all levels of accommodation, from open sections to bedrooms, compartments and drawing rooms.  Regardless of demand, Pullman assigned its 8 section buffet lounge cars (plan 3989) to The Mainstreeter, painting several of them in 1954-56 in NP's stylish 'Loewy Scheme' of two-tone greens minus the road's famous monad emblem.  A common practice for Pullman, it painted cars from its pool to match the railroad's specified color scheme to which they were assigned.  While Union Pacific bought a pair of Restaurant Cars from Pullman (Harvard Club and Yale Club) for assignment to its train 'The Spokane' (trains 19-20), the cars were maintained, staffed, provisioned and operated on the 'Pullman lease.'  The Mainstreeter's buffet-lounge cars, though painted in NP colors, remained Pullman property. 

Protection: Since the Pullman contract with NP stipulated the provision of a buffet-lounge-sleeper for the Mainstreeter, Pullman was required to 'protect' this service from its pool.  Protection is a unique part of passenger train service, whereby types of service (sleeping car, dining, lounge, lunch counter, railway post office, for example) were guaranteed by regulation or law to be provided on a train.  If any 'protected' service car had to be removed from a train, the railroad had to provide a comparable 'relief' car from its pool.  Often relief cars were older heavyweights, accounting for odd variations in an otherwise pristine consist of newer streamlined cars. This rule also applied to Pullman service, where the Pool was full of variations of paint that could stand out in their trains.  The above photo showing 'Washington Club' illustrates this practice, where popularity of the train as a daily could leave Pullman short of assigned buffet-lounge cars to meet demand, so Pullman reassigned cars from its pool to fill the gap in service. 

Naming cars: Pullman's practice of naming cars in series was very practical, making it easier for its 20,000 employees to identify cars by type for everything from booking accommodation to locating and servicing them.  Cars of type were named in a series - for example, cars containing 6 compartments and 3 drawing rooms were named 'Glen ...' while cars containing 10 sections, 1 drawing room and 2 compartments were named in the 'Lake' series.  This rule applied to the restaurant car fleet as well, each car name ending in 'Club.' This naming was consistent with the railroads' convention of assigning a club-lounge car for the exclusive use of its sleeping car passengers.  Pullman's restaurant 'Club' cars, however, targeted the economy-minded traveler who booked section or roomette accommodation, making it a popular selling point of trains like the Mainstreeter.

The Mainstreeter is particularly interesting to model as an illustration of the 1950s mostly heavyweight secondary passenger train because of its variety of equipment and protected services.  Because the train's sleeping cars were furnished and operated by Pullman, meeting regular booking demands, together with protecting its contractual service levels, meant for some very interesting variety.  For this reason, having an ample pool of Pullman 8 section buffet lounge cars can only be a good idea.
The Coach Yard Pullman Restaurant Cars.

The Coach Yard's New Pullman Restaurant Cars

After much anticipation (I ordered the cars 3 years ago), my fleet of Pullman Restaurant Cars has finally arrived in time for Christmas.  In all, I ordered 4 cars and bought 4 more to ensure this service is 'protected' on the trains my layout will offer.  Although I had acquired two such cars from other manufacturers (W&R Enterprises 'Washington Club' in Loewy paint, and NBL's 'Mount Jefferson' in Spokane Portland & Seattle's green with gold stripes), the newest The Coach Yard (TCY) cars raised the bar on many levels.  

First, the construction:  These cars are of excellent quality, arriving flawless from the manufacturer with all of the unique variations by railroad and model fully captured in each model.   TCY produced both car types - buffet-lounge and restaurant (plans 3989 and 4025 respectively) - assigned to trains of the Pacific Northwest, ensuring my trains will be properly equipped.  This newest generation of TCY cars are built to run, and they roll beautifully - better in many respects than their plastic counterparts. Painting and variations specific by car name are beautifully modeled in these excellent limited-run cars.

Second, the details: Full interior details per prototype are included, and the cars are illuminated by LED-equipped table lamps and correct marker lights.  Also unique, which immediately stands out in the TCY versus the other variants, is correct window shade details and Pullman Pool black roof, as this comparison photo illustrates. 

The Photo Gallery

This album shows the exquisite details and impression that make TCY's Restaurant Cars an impressive addition to my NP Mainstreeter fleet.  

The Garrison Club (Pullman Restaurant Cars had 'Club' in their names) is ready for service in Cascadia's coach yard.  Painted in Northern Pacific's 'Loewy Scheme,' the car announces its Pullman ownership in its omission of the famous NP monad (yin-yang symbol) and railroad name in favor of the simple designation 'Pullman.'  This is one of two outstanding models of NP's 8 section buffet-lounge cars recently offered by The Coach Yard (car and photo by author).

Side-by-side comparison of older W&R Enterprises 'Washington Club' and TCY 'Garrison Club' models in the Cascadia coach yard shows some obvious differences.  TCY car at right stands out with window shades correct to prototype, along with its Pullman Pool black roof.  The W&R car has a Loewy roof and no shades. Both are fine models, but TCY's details give it the clear edge. 

 Washington Club, by W&R Enterprises, shows the car after its assignment to, and repainting for, NP's Mainstreeter. 

The first of two images of  Ridgeway County Club shows a closeup of the 'sunroom' configuration of the 8 section buffet-lounge car.  Its lounge-end windows all the same height is the main spotting feature for the sunroom variation of the buffet-lounge car.  

The first of two images of  Ridgewood County Club show a 'Sunroom' variant of the Pullman 8 section buffet-lounge 'sunroom' car never before available in finished brass.  With table lamps and markers illuminated, one can see the exquisite details of these TCY beauties, which includes shades, black roof with antenna.  

This second image of Ridgewood County Club shows the main spotting feature for this variation of the 8 section buffet-lounge car. This 'sunroom' variation can be spotted by the even height of its lounge-end windows. This picture shows the rooftop antenna, which provided radio telephone and music service for the car - not commonly available on Pullman cars.   

View of the marker end of 'Ridgewood County Club' shows the unusual tail signs of this car.  On either side of the diaphragm, under the rear window panes, is 'The Mainstreeter' sign as a red placard.  Barely visible and illuminated in the diaphragm is the sign for 'The Southland,' an Atlantic Coast Line train.  There are a few explanations are available for this anomaly: 1) the car ran through on both railroads, most likely interchanged in Chicago, or 2) the car was protecting this service for both NP and ACL trains.  Either way, this is a gem of 1950s Pullman Pool equipment.

'Garrison Club' is the other variation of the 8 section buffet-lounge car TCY recently offered.  Called a 'Solarium Lounge' because of its extra-height windows at the end of the car, it offered the same accommodation as its 'Sunroom' sister.  With this minor variation, these two cars became interchangeable on The Mainstreeter throughout the 1950s.  

Another recent addition to the fleet is a pair of  TCY 'Lake' series 10-1-2 Pullman sleepers.  Offering 10 sections, 1 drawing room and 2 compartments, these sleepers were a popular configuration in passenger trains of the the 1950s.  This Pullman Pool example shows one variation of the 10-1-2 sleeper with only 1 vestibule.  The other variation had a vestibule at each end.  This car could be assigned to the NP Mainstreeter or any other railroad I model (UP, SP, GN) as protection and peak season demand. (Both photos by author)

The second 10-1-2 is 2-vestibule Lake Sibley, a car purchased by Union Pacific in 1948, immediately leased back to Pullman for operation on its trains.  Painted in UP colors Armour Yellow and Harbor Mist Gray in 1952, this car was a regular on UP's Portland Rose (Trains 17-18). When not needed on the Portland Rose, the car would show up on The Spokane (Trains 19-20) or be leased to the Pullman Pool.  This distinctive car would see regular service in the Pacific Northwest in and around Cascadia.

Conclusions: The Elevated Role of Pullman in Cascadia 2.0

My first layout proved one important thing for model railroading, that passenger trains and their operations are both worth modeling and are feasible even in a smaller space.  My next layout will take this lesson as its guiding principle and main attraction. 

In its current form, Cascadia Union Station and its downtown operations are a training ground for learning to build the layout I ultimately want.  Over the course of building this layout, my fascination with 1950s passenger trains took an unexpected turn into the world Pullman and its indispensable role in passenger train operations of the era.  With a large Pullman sleeping car fleet, along with ample passenger cars owned and operated by the railroads I model, I have outgrown the current Cascadia 1.0 sandbox.  

Accordingly, Cascadia 2.0 will expand Pullman and passenger train capacity by offering a full-scale coach yard and Pullman Pool yard on par with prototype operations in the West.  As noted in an earlier post, the passenger staging yard would be modeled and operated as a full coach yard with full capacity to handle complete passenger consists and the added capabilities of actively managing a full complement of Pullman Pool cars for building special trains.  The Pullman yard often was an adjunct to main coach yards for maintaining a ready fleet of sleeping cars to be dispatched wherever needed, with examples in Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle, the Bay Area coming immediately to mind. With the addition of 8 new TCY Restaurant Cars, my pool of this class at a dozen, the new coach yard will have a holding area for cleaning, provisioning (from specialized Pullman commissary) and dispatching these cars to their next assignment.

The expanded Pullman yard capacity also will service the sleeping car needs of all passenger trains on the layout.  This added capacity should support the building of Pullman Specials (a common sight in the 1950s), as well has having room to store relief cars for protected railroad services, such as dining and lounge cars.  With all of my fleets completely equipped, the expanded coach yard operation will upgrade this vital aspect of railroading, seldom modeled, from static parking lot to active hub of passenger operations.  The opportunity to build and prove this out will be worth it.