A History Of Pullman and Pullman-Standard
This page was last updated on December 26, 2007.
Timeline
February 22, 1867:
The original Pullman Palace Car Company was organized.
From the September 7, 1895 issue of New York Times:
How the Pullman Cars Are Named
Miss Florence Pullman, daughter of the head of the company, is said to draw a salary of $10,000 a year for naming cars. In the performance of her duties Miss Pullman evidences a decided preference for names which sound euphoniously, and which have a soft and musical quality.
Many of the names of the cars are of Spanish origin. They are the names of countries, rivers, historic towns, battlefields, flowers, and geographic names miscellaneously selected. Such names as Guatemala, Brazil, Guiana, Peru, Chile, Mexico, and the Central American States are frequently seen. Floral names, such as Narcissus, Sweet Brier, Geranium, May Bells, and other floral favorites are common, while Windsor, Worcester, Indianola, and the names of States are also common. Germania, Italy, Egypt, etc., are often seen.
There is a, fine discrimination displayed in the naming of cars for special service. For instance, dining cars, are in all cases named after celebrated cooks, as Savarin, and the cooks of famous men and women. There are cars named after the cook of Queen Victoria (Francatelli) and of Emperor William of Germany, the President of France, and noted chefs of mention in the literature of cooking.
Smoking cars attached to such trains as the limited express are given names which suggest luxury and leisurely enjoyment, as Sultan, Khedive, Mussulman, etc. Observation cars are nearly always named after some famous place of scenic beauty, as Yellowstone, Yosemite, Appalachian, Watkins Glen, Niagara, etc. (New York Times, September 7, 1895)
October 19, 1897:
George M. Pullman died at his home in Chicago. Born on March 3, 1831 in Brocton, New York.
January 1, 1900:
After buying numerous associated and competing companies, the Pullman Palace Car Company was reorganized as
The Pullman Company; consolidated companies included the Wagner Palace Car Company
December 28, 1918 to March 1, 1920:
Pullman Company was operated by the USRA, along with the nation's railroads
January 10, 1922:
The federal Interstate Commerce Commission approved The Pullman Company's purchase of Haskell & Barker Car Company, the stated purpose being that Pullman needed H&B's facility at Michigan City, Indiana to increase its freight car building capacity. (New York Times, January 11, 1922)
June 18, 1924:
Pullman Car & Manufacturing Company was organized from the
previous Pullman Company Manufacturing Department, to consolidate the car
building interests of The Pullman Company.
1925:
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.
(from The Pullman Virtual Museum)
A Pullman timeline is at The Pullman Virtual Museum
June 21, 1927:
The parent company, The Pullman Company, was
reorganized as Pullman, Incorporated.
1929:
Pullman purchased controlling interest in Standard Steel Car Company.
March 1, 1930:
Standard Steel Car Company was reorganized as a subsidiary of Pullman, Incorporated.
Standard Steel Car Company 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)
February 1931:
Pullman built its last standard heavyweight sleeping car.
December 26, 1934:
Pullman Car & Manufacturing Company (along with several other
Pullman, Inc. subsidiaries), merged with Standard Steel Car Company (and it
subsidiaries) to form the Pullman-Standard Car Manufacturing Company.
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 57 railroads for around 40 million dollars. (part from Newberry Library, Pullman Collection, Pullman Guide)
Pullman Antitrust Case
Pullman anitrust case:
United States v. Pullman Co., 50 F. Supp. 123, 126, 137 (E.D. Pa. 1943); also known as Civil Action No. 994
July 12, 1940:
An anti-trust complaint suit was filed by the federal government claiming unfair competition by monopoly.
Including among the complaints was that Pullman restricted the development of lightweight sleeping cars since 1930, and that Pullman coerced the railroads into using only sleeping cars owned by Pullman, threatening to remove all sleeping car service from operation on any railroad the pursued its own development of lightweight cars. (New York Times, November 8, 1941)
April 20, 1943:
The federal court found that Pullman, Inc., did have a monopoly in the passenger car business (manufacturing and operations)
January 2, 1944:
The federal court ordered Pullman to sell either its sleeping car operating company, or its car manufacturing interests. Pullman, Inc., decided to sell its operating company
May 8, 1944:
A three-judge federal Third Circuit Coart of Appeals ordered that Pullman, Inc., separate "completely and perpetually" its railroad-car building business from its sleeping-car enterprise, effective within 60 days. (New York Times, May 9, 1944)
May 12, 1945:
Pullman offered to sell its sleeping car operations to the nation's railroads. (New York Times, October 30, 1945)
June 26, 1945:
Pullman sent a Notice of Contract Termination to all member railroads.
July 1945:
The Pullman Company relenquished control of its sleeping car business, but the final effective date was extended until all appeals could be settled, on or about March 31, 1946
Apparently the rolling stock assets were separated from the other assets of the operating company at the same time. Due to contracts already in place, Pullman-owned lightweight cars were sold to the railroads over which the lightweight equipment was operating. These contracts stated that Pullman operated the lightweight cars until "cancellation or termination" of the lightweight car operating contracts. Apparently that cancellation took place on the above mentioned July 1945 date.
1945:
In the March 30, 1946 issue of the New York Times, in an item about New York Central's profits for 1945, it mentioned that in 1945 NYC purchased 142 lightweight cars from Pullman. In a separate article in January 1958, the newspaper mentions that NYC purchased the cars in 1945, but immediately leased them back to Pullman for operation.
October 29, 1945:
A group of 22 railroads asked to intervene in the sale of The Pullman Company. They stated that they would honor all existing labor agreements, and that the company would be operated in the joint interest of the nation's railroads. The 22 railroads included: NYC, SP, CB&Q, AT&SF, Southern, UP, NP, Milwaukee Road, C&NW, PRR, IC, GN, L&N, ACL, B&O, N&W, Wabash, Nickle Plate, Rock Island, New haven, Seaboard, and Western Railway of Alabama. (New York Times, October 30, 1945)
The New York Times article shows that the railroads in 1945 purchased 609 lightweight cars from Pullman with a depreciated value of $34.9 million, and that they had an option to purchase 3,994 heavyweight standard cars, at a depreciated value of $15.8 million. Also, the western railroads had options to purchase 2,209 tourist cars, at a depreciated value of $4.4 million.
March 4, 1946:
The sale of The Pullman Company to 43 railroads was appealed to the U. S. Supreme Court by the Department of Justice, which preferred that the sleeping car business be sold to Otis & Company (the elevator company). Both sides argued that the sale to either opposing party would be trading one monopoly (Pullman) for another (either the railroads or the elevator company). (New York Times, March 5, 1946)
The New York Times article shows that The Pullman company was to be sold to 43 railroads, with controlling interest being held by five railroads. Later in the same article, the total of railroad companies is shown as 49 companies.
June 11, 1947:
Proposed sale of The Pullman Company to a consortium of 53 railroads for a reported $40.2 million was filed with the federal district court. (New York Times, June 12, 1947)
June 30, 1947:
The Pullman Company, a new company jointly owned by 59 railroads, was organized to assume control of the interests of the former Pullman-owned company. (New York Times, June 27, 1947)
June 30, 1947:
Pullman, Inc., formally transferred ownership of its sleeping car business, The Pullman Company, to 57 railroads. The change would put sleeping car operations on the same basis as diners and day coaches, which were already owned, operated and maintained by the railroads. The value of the deal was reported as being $74 million, including $35 million paid by the railroads to Pullman in 1945 for 600 of the company's lightweight sleeping cars. (New York Times, June 27, 1947)
(Editor's note: There seems to be a lack of agreement among the sources. What was the number of railroads that took over the operations: 43, 49, 57, or 59? More research is needed to determine the accurate number; which may have changed over the years due to sales and mergers.)
April 1956:
Pullman-Standard built its last lightweight passenger cars; Lot 6959 for Union Pacific.
Late 1970s-early 1980s:
The company continued to market and build
cars for commute service and Superliners for Amtrak as late as the late 1970s
and early 1980s.
1981:
Pullman-Standard was spun off from Pullman, Inc., as Pullman Technology, Inc.
1987:
Pullman Technology was sold to Bombardier.
Sources include, among others: The New York Times; The Pullman Virtual Museum; Bob Webber via email on October 18, 2004; Andre Kristopans via email on October 18, 2004
The End Of Pullman
(Editor's note: No specific published work has been yet identified that carries a comprehensive history of Pullman and its corporate operations. The information that follows is the result of various internet searches, including various SEC filings, along with information shared from other interested persons.)
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.
December 31, 1968:
Operations of the Pullman Company sleeper cars ceased and all leases were
terminated.
January 1, 1969:
The Pullman Company
was dissolved and all assets were liquidated.
(The most visible result on UP passenger trains was that the Pullman name was removed from the letterboard of all Pullman-owned cars.)
Early 1970:
An auction of all Pullman remaining assets was
held at the Pullman plant near Chicago.
The Pullman, Incorporated as a company remained in place until 1981 or 1982 to close out all remaining liabilities and claims, operating from an office in Denver.
1981:
The passenger car designs of Pullman-Standard were spun off
into a separate company called Pullman Technology, Inc.
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.
April 1981:
Pullman, Inc., spun off its large fleet of leased freight rail cars as Pullman Leasing Company (PLCX), 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.
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.
After separating itself from its rail car manufacturing interests, Pullman, Inc., continued as a diversified corporation, with later mergers and acquisitions, including a merger in late 1980 with Wheelabrator-Frye, Inc., in which Pullman became a subsidiary of Wheelabrator-Frye, Inc. In January 1982, Wheelabrator-Frye merged with M. W. Kellogg, a builder of large, cast-in-place smokestacks, silos and chimneys. Wheelabrator-Frye retained both Pullman and Kellogg as direct subsidiaries. In 1990, the entire Wheelabrator-Frye group was sold to Waste Management, Inc. The Pullman-Kellogg interests were spun off by Waste Management as Pullman Power Products Corporation, and by late 2004 that company was doing business as Pullman Power LLC, a subsidiary of Structural Group, a specialty contractor.
As a non-Pullman side note, other construction engineering portions of Pullman-Kellogg were spun off as a new M. W. Kellogg Corporation, and in December 1998, became part of the merger that formed Kellogg, Brown & Root, a specialty contractor which itself was later sold to Halliburton, an oil well servicing company. In an eventual competitive move, other Kellogg engineering interests were merged with Rust Engineering becoming Kellogg Rust, which itself became The Henley Group, and which today is part of Washington Group International, a specialty contracting firm that competes directly with Halliburton worldwide. Washington Group International is the successor to the former Morrison Knudsen engineering and contracting interests, and is also the owner of Montana Rail Link.
After the last of the Kellogg interests of Pullman-Kellogg were spun off, and after the railcar manufacturing plants were sold, and with the formal dissolution of the old Pullman Company (the operating company from the 1944 split), the remaining portions of the Pullman interests were spun off in May 1985 by Waste Management, Inc., into a new Pullman Company. In November 1985, Pullman bought Peabody International and the new company took the new name of Pullman Peabody. In April 1987 (after Pullman Technology was sold to Bombardier), the name was changed back to Pullman Company, which in September 1987 merged with Clevite Industries. By 1996, Pullman Co., with its Clevite subsidiary, was almost solely a supplier of automotive elastomer (rubber) parts, and in July 1996 the company was sold to Tenneco. As of late 2004, Pullman Co., as a manufacturer of automotive elastomer products, was still under the control of Tenneco Automotive.
Pullman Links
The Pullman Virtual Museum — Home of the Pullman Preservation Alliance, a service of the State of Illinois
Pullman Richmond, Calif. Shops — A site put together by a mystery person who never identifies himself, but thanks lots of other people.
Newberry Libary, Pullman Collection — Scroll down to "Pullman Company"; not much available on line - another case of having to visit their library to use the collections.
The Pullman Project — Tom Madden's excellent source for Pullman car information; this web site focuses solely on Pullman's sleeper cars
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