Classic American Streamliners

Classic American Streamliners by Mike Schafer & Joe Welsh ISBN-13: 9780760303771 ISBN-10: 0760303770 Publication Date: 11/13/1997 Publisher: Motorbooks International Hardcover 10.35 x 10.3 inches, 160 pages The earliest known streamlined rail equipment in the United States were McKeen rail motorcars that the company built for the Union Pacific and the Southern Pacific Railroads between 1905 and 1917. Most McKeen cars sported a pointed "wind splitter" front, a rounded rear and round porthole style windows in a style that was as much nautically as aerodynamically inspired. The McKeen cars were unsuccessful because the internal combustion drive technology for that application was unreliable at the time. Further, the lightweight frames dictated by the cars' limited power tended to break. Streamlined rail motorcars would appear again in the early 1930s after the internal combustion-electric propulsion technology that General Electric developed and that the Electro-Motive Company (EMC) promoted became the accepted technology for use rail motorcars in the 1920s. Streetcar builders sought to build electric cars with improved speed for interurban lines through the 1920s. In 1931, the J. G. Brill Company introduced the Bullet, a lightweight, wind-tunnel designed car with a rounded front that could run either singly or in multiple-unit sets, capable of speeds over 90 mph (145 km/h). Although Depression-era economics cut into sales, the design was highly successful in service, lasting into the 1980s. In 1925, the recently-formed Pullman Car & Manufacturing Corporation experimented with lightweight self-propelled railcars in co-operation with the Ford Motor Company concurrent with Ford's development of its Trimotor aircraft. In 1931, Pullman enlisted the services of the Trimotor design contributor William Bushnell Stout to apply airplane fuselage design concepts to railcars. The result was the Railplane (not the Bennie Railplane), a streamlined self-propelled railcar with a tapered cross-section, lightweight tubular aluminum space frame and duralumin skin. In testing with the Gulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad in 1932, it reportedly reached 90 mph (145 km/h). The Union Pacific had been seeking improvements to self-propelled railcars based on European design ideas. The performance of the Railplane encouraged the railroad to increase its efforts in partnership with Pullman-Standard. In 1931, the Budd Company reached an agreement with the French tire company Michelin to produce pneumatic-tired rail motorcars in the US, as an improvement on the heavy, underpowered and shimmy-prone "doodlebugs" that ran on American tracks. In that endeavor, Budd would produce lightweight rail equipment utilizing unibody construction and the high strength alloy stainless steel, enabled by shot welding, a breakthrough in electrical welding technique. The venture produced articulated power-trailer car sets with streamlined styling, which left the Budd Company just a (much) more powerful engine away from producing a history-making streamlined trainset. The Great Depression caused a catastrophic loss of business for the rail industry as a whole and for manufacturers of motorized railcars whose primary markets, branch line services, were among the first to be cut. The interests of lightweight equipment manufacturers and rail operators therefore focused on the development of a new generation of lightweight, high speed, internal combustion-electric powered streamlined trainsets that were primarily designed for mainline service. The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad (Burlington) and the Union Pacific sought to increase the efficiency of their passenger services by looking to the lightweight, petroleum-powered technology that Budd and Pullman-Standard were developing. The Union Pacific named its project the M-10000 (designated first as The Streamliner and later as the City of Salina when in revenue service from 1935 to 1941). The Burlington initially named its first train the Burlington Zephyr. The two railroads' trains each entered service as three-car articulated sets (including the power car). The Winton Engine Corporation, a subsidiary of General Motors (GM), manufactured the engines for both locomotives. The prime mover for the Burlington Zephyr's diesel-electric propulsion was a new 600 hp diesel engine. The Union Pacific's M-10000 had a 600 hp spark-ignition engine that ran on "petroleum distillate", a fuel similar to kerosene. The two trainsets were star attractions at the 1934 World's Fair ("A Century of Progress") in Chicago, Illinois. During its set's demonstration period, the Union Pacific named the M-10000 as the Streamliner, providing the first use of the term with respect to trains. The Streamliner's publicity tour in February–May 1934 attracted over a million visitors and gained attention in national media as the herald of a new era in rail transportation. On 26 May 1934, the Burlington's Zephyr made a record-breaking "Dawn to Dusk" run from Denver, Colorado, to Chicago for its grand entry as a Century of Progress exhibit. The Zephyr covered the distance in 13 hours, reaching a top speed of 112.5 mph (181.1 km/h) and running an average speed of 77.6 mph (124.9 km/h). The fuel for the run cost US$14.64 at 4¢ per U.S. gallon (equivalent to $297 and $8 per gallon respectively in 2021 after inflation). The Burlington's event was covered live on radio and drew large, cheering crowds as the "silver streak" zipped by. Adding to the sensation of the Zephyr were the striking appearance of its fluted stainless steel bodywork and its raked, rounded, aerodynamic front end that symbolized its modernity. The train's design echoed in steam locomotive styling throughout the following years. After its Worlds Fair display and a nationwide demonstration tour, the Zephyr entered revenue service between Kansas City, Missouri, and Lincoln, Nebraska, on 11 November 1934. A total of nine Zephyr trainsets were built for the Burlington between 1934 and 1939. Each ran as named trains on various Burlington midwestern routes. The Burlington later renamed the Burlington Zephyr as the Pioneer Zephyr in honor of that train's status as the first of the fleet. In April 1935, two Twin Cities Zephyrs that bore the same three-car configuration entered service on the railroad's Chicago and Minneapolis-St. Paul route. Larger trainsets with more powerful Winton engines were built for the Burlington and put into service over longer routes. Twin-engine power units and eventually booster power units met the trainsets' additional power requirements. The Burlington's four-car Mark Twain Zephyr entered revenue service in October 1935 on the railroad's Saint Louis – Burlington, Iowa, route. Two partially-articulated six-car trainsets entered service in May 1936 on the Burlington's Denver Zephyr route, which connected Chicago and Denver. The Burlington then replaced those sets with a pair of partially-articulated ten-car trainsets in November 1936. The Burlington moved the Denver Zephyr's six-cat sets to the Twin Cities Zephyr, transferring that train's original streamlined cars to other Burlington routes. The last of the classic Zephyrs was built for the Burlington's Kansas City – Saint Louis General Pershing Zephyr route. That trainset, which contained GM's newest 1000 hp engine and conventional coupling, entered service in June 1939. The Burlington's original Zephyr trainsets remained in service in the postwar era. The railroad retired the last of its six-car sets in 1968 after using it as the Nebraska Zephyr. On 31 January 1935, the Union Pacific's three-car M-10000 went into service between Kansas City, Missouri, and Salina, Kansas, as The Streamliner. The train subsequently became the City of Salina under the railroad's naming convention for its expanding fleet of diesel-powered streamliners. The Union Pacific operated the M-10000 as a three-car set until the railroad was retired the set in 1941. The trainset's 1942 scrapping provided Duralumin that was recycled for use in war-time military aircraft. The Union Pacific also commissioned the construction of five modified trainsets that had evolved from the initial M-10000 design. Those streamlined trains inaugurated the railroad's high-speed service out of Chicago while bearing the names City of Portland (June 1935), City of Los Angeles (May 1936), City of San Francisco (June 1936) and City of Denver (June 1936). The M-10001 set had a single power unit that contained a 1200 hp Winton diesel engine. The power unit pulled six tapered low-profile cars that had the form of the original three-car M-10000 trainset. The M-10002's set consisted of a 1200+900 hp cab/booster locomotive pulling nine cars of the same form. Automotive-styled cab/booster locomotive sets with 1200 hp engines powered the Union Pacific's City of San Francisco and City of Denver sets. The two City of Denver sets started service two cars shorter than the M-10002 and M-10004 sets, with roomier and heavier straight-sided cars. The Union Pacific's initial streamliner service to the west coast consisted of five runs monthly for each route. The railroad maintained its daily overnight service on the Chicago – Denver run by assigning three locomotive sets for two trains. The railroad then augmented that stable with locomotive equipment taken from other runs. Despite the breakthrough schedule times of the long-distance M-1000x "City" trains, the records of the Union Pacific's fleet reflected the limitations of the locomotives' technology when meeting the demands of long-distance and higher capacity service. The M-10001 ran for only 32 months as the City of Portland before it was replaced, re-entered service on the Portland – Seattle run and retired in June 1939. Similarly, the M-10002 spent 19 months as the Union Pacific's City of Los Angeles, 39 months as the City of Portland and ten months out of service starting in July 1941. The locomotive then served on the Portland – Seattle run until the railroad took it out of service again in March 1943. After running for 18 months as the City of San Francisco M-10004, the locomotive spent six months being refurbished and then served from July 1938 as a second unit on the City of Los Angeles. The Union Pacific retired the locomotive in March 1939. The Union Pacific converted the M-10001 and M-10004 power units to additional boosters for the City of Denver trains. The train's cars then became spare equipment. The two City of Denver trainsets (M–10005 and M–10006), after cannibalizing power from the M-10001 and M-10004, remained in service until 1953. Class GG1 electric locomotives brought streamlined styling to the Pennsylvania Railroad's fleet of electric locomotives in late 1934. Meanwhile, the Boston and Maine's Flying Yankee, identical to the original Zephyr, entered service between Boston and Portland, Maine, on 1 April 1935. The Gulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad Rebel trainsets were similar to the Zephyr in form, but were not articulated. Designed by Otto Kuhler, the ALCO powered diesel-electrics that the American Car and Foundry Company constructed were placed into service on 10 July 1935. While streamlining on steam locomotives was more about marketing than performance, newly designed locomotives with state-of-the-art steam technology were able to travel at high speeds. The Milwaukee Road class A Atlantics, built in 1935 to compete with the Twin Cities Zephyr, were the first "steamliners" equipped to back up their styled claim to extra speed. In a 15 May 1935 run by locomotive #2 and a dynamometer car, the railroad documented a top speed of 112.5 mph (181.1 km/h). This was the fastest authenticated speed reached by a steam locomotive at the time, making #2 the rail speed record holder for steam and the first steam locomotive to top 110 mph (180 km/h). That record lasted until a German DRG Class 05 locomotive exceeded it the following year. The Illinois Central 121 trainset was the first of the Green Diamond streamliners running between Chicago and St Louis. It was a five-unit (including power car) articulated trainset for day service. The Pullman-built set had the same power format and 1200 hp Winton diesel engine as M-10001, with some style aspects that resembled the later M1000x trainsets. The Illinois Central ran the 121 trainset on the Green Diamond from May 1936 to 1947. After an overhaul, the railroad placed the set on the Jackson Mississippi – New Orleans run until it retired and scrapped the set in 1950. The visual styling of the new trainsets made the existing fleets of locomotives and railcars suddenly look obsolete. Rail lines soon responded by adding streamlined shrouding and varying degrees of mechanical improvement to older locomotives and re-styling heavyweight cars. The first American steam locomotive to receive that treatment was one of the New York Central Railroad's (NYC's) J-1 Hudson class locomotives built in 1930, which was re-introduced with streamlined shrouding and named the Commodore Vanderbilt in December 1934. The Vanderbilt styling was a one-off design by Carl Kantola. The NYC's next venture in streamlined styling was Henry Dreyfuss' 1936 full-length exterior and interior design of the railroad's Mercury trainsets. Raymond Loewy also designed in 1936 art-deco shrouding with a bullet-front scheme for the Pennsylvania Railroad's class K4 locomotives. In 1937, Otto Kuhler used a variation of the bullet-front design on a 4-6-2 locomotive constructed for the Baltimore & Ohio's streamlined Royal Blue. Henry Dreyfuss used a similar variation for the J-3a Super Hudsons that pulled the 20th Century Limited and other NYC express trains. In 1937, the Milwaukee Road introduced the class F7 Hudsons on the Twin Cities Hiawatha run. The Hudsons could cruise above 110 mph (177 km/h) and were said to exceed 120 mph (193 km/h) on occasion. Otto Kuhler designed the Milwaukee Road's speedsters with "shovel nose" styling. Some of the class 7's details were evocative of those of the Zephyrs. Also in 1937, the Electro-Motive Corporation (EMC) (later incorporated into GM's Electro-Motive Division (EMD)) started production of streamlined diesel-electric passenger locomotives, incorporating the lightweight carbody construction and raked, rounded front end introduced with the Zephyr and the high-mounted, behind-the-nose cab of the M-1000x locomotives. One of the first, EMC's TA, was a 1200-hp version produced for the Rock Island Rockets, a series of six lightweight, semi-articulated three and four-car trainsets. EMC/EMD manufactured streamlined E-unit diesel-electric locomotives from 1937 to 1963. These incorporated two features of the earlier EMC 1800 hp B-B development design locomotives, the twin-engine format and multiple-unit control systems that facilitated cab/booster locomotive sets. The E-units brought sufficient power for full-sized trains such as the B&O Capitol Limited, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway's (AT&SF;'s) Super Chief, and the Union Pacific's upgraded City of Los Angeles and City of San Francisco, which challenged steam power in all aspects of passenger service. EMC introduced standardized production to the locomotive industry, with its attendant economies of scale and simplified processes for ordering, producing and servicing locomotives. As a result, EMC was able to offer a variety of support services that decreased technological and initial cost barriers that would otherwise deter conversions to diesel-electric power. With power and reliability of new diesel-electric units improved with the 2000 hp EMC E3 locomotive in 1938, the advantages of diesel became compelling enough for a growing number of rail lines to select diesel over steam for new passenger equipment. The power and top speed advantages of state-of-the-art steam locomotives were more than offset by diesel's advantages in service flexibility, downtime, maintenance costs and economic efficiency for most operators. The American Locomotive Company (ALCO), the builder of the Hiawatha speedsters, saw diesel as the future of passenger service and introduced streamlined locomotives influenced by the design of the E units in 1939. The replacement of steam with diesel power was interrupted by the US entry into World War II, with a military premium on diesel technology that stopped all production of diesel locomotives for passenger service between September 1942 and January 1945. Streamlined steam locomotives continued to be produced into the early postwar era. Among the most distinctive were the Pennsylvania Railroad's duplex-drive 6-4-4-6 type S1 and 4-4-4-4 type T1 locomotives that Raymond Loewy styled. In terms of service longevity, the most successful were the Southern Pacific GS-3 Daylight locomotives introduced in 1938 and the Norfolk and Western class J locomotives introduced in 1941. In contrast to designs that completely encased the boiler in shrouding, streamlining of the GS-3/GS-4 series locomotives consisted of skyline casing flush with the smokestack and smoke-lifting skirting along the boiler that left the silver-painted smokebox on full display.