What's a "pullman car"?

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3 total messages Started by Tobias Benjamin Koehler Wed, 03 May 1995 00:00

#4166

Author: Tobias Benjamin Koehler
Date: Wed, 03 May 1995 00:00

27 lines
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Here I'm not referring to the owner or builder of the car, but
to the type (hence lower case).. what does "pullman car" mean 
exactly? I'm sure it has several meanings.

For the Compagnie internationale des wagons-lits et des grands
express europ�ens and the English Pullman company, it meant a
daytime coach of great comfort (1+1 seat arrangement in 1st
class, 1+2 in 2nd class, armchairs at tables, some 4-seat
compartments in 1st class), with or without kitchen, where meals
could be served at the seat. Such cars had the inscription (at
the CIWL at least) "Voiture-Salon Pullman/Pullman Car", "Pull-
man 1�re classe/1st class Pullman" or "Pullman 2�me classe/2nd
class Pullman".

I'm almost sure it meant something different in the USA.. anyone
with more info on this?

--                  _,-'"`-._           _,-'"`-._  le progr�s ne vaut
 tobias b. k�hler   `-.___,-'. .-.-.-. .`-.___,-'     que s'il est
 s_tbk@ira.uka.de   --=========================--   partag� par tous
                      |]||[]|   [___]   |[]||[|
    >______-----------| ||  |   13254   |  || |-----------______<
  |_|    ==   ==___== | ||__| =   =   = |__|| | ==___==   ==    |_|
 >|_|-------__(-)-(-)__--|__|-----------|__|--__(-)-(-)__-------|_|<
(=|_|__| *_/__\_(o)_/__\__/_ \ |_|=|_| / _\__/__\_(o)_/__\_* | ||_|=)
   / (*)   \__/ ~~~ \__/  \__/   -^-   \__/  \__/ ~~~ \__/   (*) \

Re: What's a "pullman car"?

#4168

Author: John Michael McGregor
Date: Wed, 03 May 1995 00:00

23 lines
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In article <3o8fu0$6b9@nz12.rz.uni-karlsruhe.de>,
Tobias Benjamin Koehler <s_tbk@ira.uka.de> wrote:
>
>Here I'm not referring to the owner or builder of the car, but
>to the type (hence lower case).. what does "pullman car" mean 
>exactly? I'm sure it has several meanings.
>[snip]
>I'm almost sure it meant something different in the USA.. anyone
>with more info on this?

  In the US, a "pullman" or "pullman car" tends to refer to a sleeping car,
anything from bedrooms, roommettes, or sections.  The idea is some railcar with
a place to sleep in a bed (not a coach).  Some people still use the term to
refer to Amtrak sleeping cars, but it is falling out of popular use.  Of
course, "Pullman" refers to the company. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| John M. McGregor...	jmcgrego@oboe.aix.calpoly.edu			     |
|  California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA              |
|  Mechanical Engineering Major Freshman...  				     |
|  Custodial Bussing Host, Disneyland, USA				     |
|  Railroader, frequent Amtrak passenger				     |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Re: What's a "pullman car"?

#4176

Author: Paul D. Noble
Date: Thu, 04 May 1995 00:00

33 lines
2321 bytes

In article <3o93dv$2png@harp.aix.calpoly.edu>, jmcgrego@harp.aix.calpoly.edu (John Michael McGregor) says:
>
>In article <3o8fu0$6b9@nz12.rz.uni-karlsruhe.de>,
>Tobias Benjamin Koehler <s_tbk@ira.uka.de> wrote:
>>
>>Here I'm not referring to the owner or builder of the car, but
>>to the type (hence lower case).. what does "pullman car" mean 
>>exactly? I'm sure it has several meanings.
>>[snip]
>>I'm almost sure it meant something different in the USA.. anyone
>>with more info on this?
>
>  In the US, a "pullman" or "pullman car" tends to refer to a sleeping car,
>anything from bedrooms, roommettes, or sections.  The idea is some railcar with
>a place to sleep in a bed (not a coach).  Some people still use the term to
>refer to Amtrak sleeping cars, but it is falling out of popular use.  Of
>course, "Pullman" refers to the company. 

Remember, the reason that the terms are almost universally considered synonomous,
is that almost until the end, the Pullman Co. did not sell sleeping cars, they
actually operating all of the thousands of sleeping cars assigned to the various
RR's. The porters paychecks came from the Pullman Co., not from the RR. So, in a
way, there almost was no such thing as a generic sleeping car; they were all (almost)
Pullmans.



Paul Noble                  | God does not play dice with
NASA Lewis Research Center  |  the universe - Albert Einstein
Cleveland, Ohio 44135       | Not only does God play dice 
xxnoble@wpogws.lerc.nasa.gov|  with the universe, sometimes
                            |  he throws them where we can't
                            |  see them - Stephen Hawking

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