WWPCM06771
"USPCC" (USA)
deck "Pullman", around 1950
narrow (standard 2) 1947 (sA1: J1976), 1948 (sA1: K1940), 1952 (sA1: R1951), 1955 (sA1: U1906), 1957 (sA3: X1902) |
d06771j01 | d06771sA1 | d06771sA3 | d06771r01b | box2 |
d06771r01 | box1 | d06771r01d | box4/1948 | d06771r01c | |
wide (standard 1a) 1947 (J1921), 1949 (L1944) |
d06771j02 | d06771sA2 | d06771r02 | box3b | |
d06771r02b | box3 |
HISTORY OF THE
PULLMAN COMPANY
The Pullman Palace Car Company, founded by George Pullman, manufactured railroad
cars in the mid to late 1800s through the early decades of the 20th century,
during the boom of railroads in the United States. Pullman developed the
sleeping car which carried his name into the 1980s.
The Pullman Company is also remembered for its porters. The company hired
African Americans for this position. While still a menial job in many respects,
it offered better pay and security than most jobs open to African Americans at
the time, in addition to a chance for travel, and was a well regarded job in the
African-American community of the time. Pullman porters were unionized in the
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters under A. Philip Randolph. All of the pullman
attendants, regardless of their true name, were referred to as "George" by the
travelers. This tradition finds its origins after the founder of the company's
founder, George Pullman. The Pullman company was the largest employer of African
Americans in the United States.
In 1900 the Pullman Palace Car Company was reorganized as The Pullman Co..
In 1924 Pullman Car & Manufacturing Co., was organized from the previous Pullman
manufacturing department, to consolidate the car building interests of The
Pullman Co.
In 1934 Pullman Car & Manufacturing merged with Standard Steel Car Co. to form
the Pullman-Standard Car Manufacturing Company, which remained in the car
manufacturing business until 1982.
George Pullman was inspired by an overnight train ride from Buffalo to Westfield,
New York to design an improved passenger railcar. He established his company in
1862 and built luxury sleeping cars which featured carpeting, draperies,
upholstered chairs, libraries and card tables and an unparalleled level of
customer service. Once a household name due to their large market share, the
Pullman Company is also known for the bitter Pullman Strike staged by their
workers and union leaders in 1894. During an economic downturn, Pullman reduced
hours and wages but not rents leading to the strike. Workers joined the American
Railway Union, led by Eugene V. Debs.
After George Pullman's death in 1898, Robert Todd Lincoln, son of Abraham
Lincoln became company president. The company closed its factory in the Pullman
neighborhood of Chicago in 1955. Pullman purchased the Standard Steel Car
Company in 1930 amid the Great Depression, and the merged entity was known as
Pullman-Standard Car Manufacturing Company. The company ceased production after
the Amtrak Superliner cars in 1982 and its remaining designs were purchased in
1987 when it was absorbed by Bombardier.
The original Pullman Palace Car Co., had been organized on February 22, 1867,
and after buying numerous associated and competing companies, was reorganized as
The Pullman Co., on January 1, 1900.
The best years for Pullman were the mid 1920s. In 1925 the fleet grew to 9800
cars. Twenty-eight thousand conductors and twelve thousand porters were employed
by the Pullman Co. A Pullman timeline is at The Pullman Virtual Museum.
Pullman Car & Manufacturing Co., had been organized on June 18, 1924, from the
previous Pullman Company Manufacturing Department, to consolidate the car
building interests of The Pullman Co. The parent company, The Pullman Co., was
reorganized as Pullman, Inc., on June 21, 1927.
Pullman purchased controlling interest in Standard Steel Car Company in 1929.
Pullman built its last standard heavyweight sleeping car in February 1931.
On December 26, 1934, Pullman Car & Manufacturing (along with several other
Pullman, Inc. subsidiaries), merged with Standard Steel Car Co. (and it
subsidiaries) to form the Pullman-Standard Car Manufacturing Company.
Standard Steel Car Co., had been organized on January 2, 1902, to operate a
railroad car manufacturing facility at Butler, Pennsylvania, (and after 1906, a
facility at Hammond, Indiana), and was reorganized as a subsidiary of Pullman,
Inc., on March 1, 1930.
In 1940, just as orders for lightweight cars were increasing and sleeping car
traffic was growing, the United States Department of Justice filed an anti-trust
complaint against Pullman Incorporated in the U. S. District Court at
Philadelphia (Civil Action No. 994). The government sought to separate the
company's sleeping car operations from its manufacturing activities. In 1944 the
court concurred, ordering Pullman Incorporated to divest itself of either the
Pullman Company (operating) or the Pullman-Standard Car Manufacturing Company (manufacturing).
After three years of negotiations, the Pullman Company was sold to a consortium
of fifty-seven railroads for around $40 million.
Pullman-Standard built its last lightweight passenger cars in April 1956, that
being Lot 6959 for Union Pacific. The company continued to market and build cars
for commuter rail and subway service and Superliners for Amtrak as late as the
late 1970s and early 1980s.
Beginning in 1974, Pullman delivered 750 75-foot stainless steel subway cars to
the New York City Transit Authority. Designated R46 by their procurement
contract, these cars, along with the R44 subway car built by St. Louis Car
Company, were designed for 70 mph running in a new subway line under Second
Avenue in Manhattan. After construction of the Second Avenue Subway was deferred,
the Transit Authority assigned the cars to other lines. Pullman also built
subway cars for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, which assigned
them to the Red Line. Pullman-Standard was spun off from Pullman, Inc., as
Pullman Technology, Inc., in 1981, and was sold to Bombardier in 1987.
After the 1944 breakup, Pullman, Inc., remained in place as the parent company,
with the following subsidiaries: The Pullman Company for passenger car
operations (but not passenger car ownership, which was passed to the member
railroads), and Pullman-Standard Car Manufacturing Co., for passenger car and
freight car manufacturing; along with a large freight car leasing operation
still directly under the parent company's control. Pullman, Inc., remained
separate until a merger with Wheelbrator in late 1980, which lead to the
separation of Pullman interests in early and mid-1981.
Operations of the Pullman Company sleeper cars ceased and all leases were
terminated on December 31, 1968. On January 1, 1969, the Pullman Company was
dissolved and all assets were liquidated. (The most visible result on many
railroads, including Union Pacific, was that the Pullman name was removed from
the letterboard of all Pullman-owned cars.) An auction of all Pullman remaining
assets was held at the Pullman plant near Chicago in early 1970. The Pullman,
Inc., company remained in place until 1981 or 1982 to close out all remaining
liabilities and claims, operating from an office in Denver.
The passenger car designs of Pullman-Standard were spun off into a separate
company called Pullman Technology, Inc., in 1981. Using the Transit America
trade name, Pullman Technology continued to market its Comet car design (first
built for NJDOT in 1965) for commute operations until 1987, when Bombardier
purchased Pullman Technology to gain control of its designs and patents. As of
late 2004, Pullman Technology, Inc., remained a subsidiary of Bombardier.
Pullman, Inc., spun off its large fleet of leased freight rail cars in April
1981 as Pullman Leasing Company, which later became part of ITEL Leasing,
retaining the original PLCX reporting mark. ITEL Leasing (including the PLCX
reporting mark) was later changed to GE Leasing.
In mid 1981, Pullman, Inc., spun off its freight car manufacturing interests as
Pullman Transportation Company. Several plants were closed and in 1984, the
remaining railcar manufacturing plants and the Pullman-Standard freight car
designs and patents were sold to Trinity Industries.