Pullmans Palace Car Co. - Page 2
But Pullman thought he and
Field could do better building their own cars. He raised capital from his
Chicago business associates, leased space from the Alton in downtown Chicago
(now the Union Station), hired workmen and bought materials. By autumn of 1864,
assisted by his brother Albert (remember him?), he began work on the car that
was to make history. {4}
 |
Drawing from U.S. Patent 49,992
titled “Improvement in Sleeping Cars,”
granted to Ben Field and George M. Pullman 19 September 1865. (Click pic for enlargement.) |
The Pioneer was just a foot
wider and two feet higher than anything that had preceded it, but it had only 12
large, open sections. It combined comfort and luxury with attractiveness of
decoration, and was regarded as a marvel far in advance of any railway coach
construction of that day.
 |
|
The Pioneer, circa 1891, 25 years after its construction.
It originally had two four-wheel trucks at each end. (Click lower pic
for enlargement.) |
Conventional Wisdom —
Although the fame of the Pioneer
traveled far, it was so heavy, so wide, and so high that it could not. No
railway could undertake to run it, as it would necessitate elevating bridges and
cutting off station platforms.
Pullman might have been stuck with a white elephant, had not
President Lincoln’s assassination required the return of his body to its place
of burial in Springfield, Illinois. Mrs. Lincoln had seen and admired the
Pioneer, and decided it should be part of the cortège. To get it over
its tracks, the Alton was forced to cut off station platforms, elevate bridges,
and add two feet more clearance to every structure along its right-of-way. But
what publicity for Pullman’s sleeping car!
Shortly thereafter, General Ulysses S. Grant -- Civil War hero
-- decided he would use the Pioneer for his return trip to his home town of
Galena, Illinois, served by the Chicago & North Western Railroad, and it was
forced to do the same make-over as the Alton. And Pullman’s sleeping car got
even more publicity!
Historical Fact —
Lincoln’s remains were placed aboard a 48'-4" open vestibule car
known as The President's Car,
completed in the Military Railroad System shops at Alexandria, VA the year
before, but never used by the President because he called it “too fancy and
ornate.” {72}
Six other cars made up the funeral cortège. The train left Washington 21 April
1865 and meandered around the country for 13 days, stopping at state capitols
and major cities. Each of the various locomotives that pulled it was heavily
draped with black cloth, laurel, American flags, and in at least one case, with
Lincoln’s portrait. The train finally arrived at Chicago, where 125,000 people
passed the flag-draped coffin as it lay in state.
 |
| The original caption on
this photo identifies this car as the U.S. Military Railroads car “United
States,” here bearing the body of President Lincoln to Springfield for
burial. |
After its time in Chicago, the funeral train proceeded on the
Chicago & Alton Railroad to Springfield, where it arrived 2 May 1865. The coffin was removed and Lincoln’s body was
interred in the tomb prepared for it. Gene Glendinning, in his well-researched book The Chicago & Alton Railroad; The Only Way
{5} says —
|
“Over
time, legends surrounding Pullman’s
Pioneer and the composition of the funeral train took life. One
story declared that Pullman’s
then most famous sleeper carried the president’s
coffin. Government records and published recollections written by those
who had been there confirm the President’s
Car was the only carriage in which his remains were placed throughout
the slow, meandering trip. Another myth declared that Mrs. Lincoln rode in
the Pioneer with her two sons, Tad and Robert. In fact, Mary
Lincoln was still in Washington as late as May 22 and only then left the
capital; she had not accompanied the president’s
remains. It is possible that Mrs. Lincoln was afforded use of the car
later when she finally returned to Springfield, a fitting accommodation
for the bereaved widow, but not as part of the funeral train itself.” |
Glendinning goes on to tell of a special train of 11
sleeping cars that brought northern Illinois politicians down to Springfield for
the ceremonies ahead of the funeral cortège and served them as
accommodations while there. He opines that “it
can be safely concluded the
[Alton’s] best cars, the Pioneer and the Springfield,
were included in that number.” Then he continues —
|
“Because
of the Pioneer’s
10-foot width, it became legend that railroads could not operate the car
until restrictive platforms and bridges were rebuilt, and to allow the car
to operate over the C&A, crews hastily cut back offending platforms and
timbers. In reality, the car’s
dimensions were not that different from similar luxury cars of the period.
The President’s
Car itself was nine-feet, three inches wide and made the journey across
the country without incident. The C&A was in the midst of its rebuilding
program, so it is unlikely anything but the latest railroad clearance
practices were employed. There is no evidence, for instance, that the
recently rebuilt and covered bridge over the Kankakee River at Wilmington,
the most formidable structure to pose a possible problem between Chicago
and Springfield, was altered in any way.” |
Continued
