PULLMAN CARS

The term Pullman Cars needs some definition and explanation for those who want to correctly model prototype operation and specific time frames in railroad history.

The Pullman Company obtained a patent on the sleeping car in the 19th Century and up until about 1938 was the sole manufacturer and owner-operator of these cars regardless of which railroad operated them. With few exceptions the cars were painted in a dark olive green, known as “Pullman Green” and carried the name “P U L L M A N” in gold across the letterboard. The company also built and operated parlor cars, often with food service, which had a similar appearance. All of these cars were owned by Pullman, leased to the railroads and generally staffed by Pullman employees. That structure changed radically after 1948.

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During the late 1930s in the quest to build new lightweight passenger equipment using stainless steel, the Budd Company of Philadelphia developed what is still considered to be the best lightweight cars ever produced using convoluted stainless for the entire car and developing a welding process that put them on the leading edge of the new technology. Coaches and diners built by Budd were turned out in some quantity and appeared in the consists of the streamliners of the day. The Pullman Company was also building cars of this type, but the line in the sand was drawn when the Budd Company built its first sleeping cars and the Pullman Company sued claiming the sole right to produce these type cars under their patent. They went so far as to file an injunction against putting Budd built cars in service while the litigation was in progress.

owned and staffed the cars. It ordered that the company could either own and lease them, or sell them and keep the staffing and service of them. They chose the latter and the majority of the cars were sold off quickly in the late 1940s to the railroads directly.

During the pre-1948 era the vast majority of these Pullman sleepers ran in Pullman Green regardless of the color that the railroad chose for its cars, but there were exceptions. The Pennsylvania ( Pullman ’s largest customer) had its Pullmans pained Tuscan Red, but lettered Pullman on the letterboard so the entire train matched. This also applied to quite of number of Pullman Parlor cars the Pennsy operated. There were other exceptions, particularly during the later 1930s when the mixing of lightweight and heavyweight cars on premier trains began. Some heavyweight Pullmans were painted silver and some in two-tone colors to match individual railroad requests, but these were few and far between until the post-1948 decision. ACF, Budd and Pullman built stainless steel cars in record numbers to fill orders after WW II, as most railroads raced to modernize their premier trains. It was easy to have matching consists when that construction became standard.

There are still some recognizable differences in construction, such as the size of the fluting, construction techniques in the doors and car ends, but the most visible difference, and even more visible in models than the prototype, is the roof. All Budd built cars have narrow corrugations all across the roof, where ACF and Pullman built cars are smooth. Yes, there is even one exception there where the Seaboard wanted even the roofs to be consistent and had some other than Budd cars modified to match.

Railroad Collectibles will soon be offering these cars in custom variations to suit the individual railroads and time periods in which they operated. Details on request.