The Story of the Pullman Car

by Joseph Husband

Since those distant days when man's migratory instinct first prompted him to find fresh hunting fields and seek new caves in other lands, human energy has been constantly employed in moving from place to place. The fear of starvation and other elementary causes prompted the earliest migrations. Conquest followed, and with increasing civilization came the establishment of constant intercourse between distant places for reasons that found existence in military necessity and commercial activity.For centuries the sea offered the easiest highway, and the fleets of Greece and Rome carried the culture and commerce of the day to relatively great distances. Then followed the natural development of land communication, and at once arose the necessity not only for vehicles of transportation but for suitable roads over which they might pass with comfort, speed, and safety. Over the Roman roads the commerce of a great empire flowed in a tumultuous stream. Wheeled vehicles rumbled along the highways—heavy springless carts to carry the merchandise, lightly rolling carriages for the comfort of wealthy travelers.The elementary principle still remains. The wheel and the paved way of Roman days correspond to the four-tracked route of level rails and the ponderous steel wheels of the mighty Mogul of today. In speed, scope, capacity, and comfort has the change been wrought.The English stagecoach marked a sharp advance in the progress of passenger transportation. With frequent relays of fast horses a fair rate of speed was maintained, and comfort was to a degree effected by suspension springs of leather and by interior upholstery.An interesting example of the height of luxury achieved by coach builders was the field carriage of the great Napoleon, which he used in the campaign of 1815. This carriage was captured by the English at Waterloo, and suffered the ignominious fate of being later exhibited in Madame Tussaud's wax-work show in London. The coach was a model of compactness, and contained a bedstead of solid steel so arranged that the occupant's feet rested in a box projecting beyond the front of the vehicle. Over the front windows was a roller blind, which, when pulled down admitted the air but excluded rain. The secrétaire was fitted up for Napoleon by Marie Louise, with nearly a hundred articles, including a magnificent breakfast service of gold, a writing desk, perfumes, and spirit lamp. In a recess at the bottom of the toilet box were two thousand gold napoleons, and on the top of the box were places for the imperial wardrobe, maps, telescopes, arms, liquor case, and a large silver chronometer by which the watches of the army were regulated. In such quarters did the great emperor jolt along over the execrable roads of Eastern Europe.

81 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2008

Reviews

[Brynhd96 · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the 1830's, Passenger Trains were very bad, uncomfortable and cramped out. People thought this field of business would fail, but then a small cabin boy named George Pullman moved to Chicago to create the Pullman Car Company. The first car he built was the Pioneer for the Alton Railroad. After the Chicago Fire, he founded a town called Pullman, Illinois, where he made more sleeper cars than anybody else – even in Europe they had some Pullman cars. By 1916, passenger trains were luxurious thanks to the Pullman Car Company.

The book is good and historical, because it is about the company from the humble 1830's all the way to 1916. The reason I knocked out one star is because of the book being out of date. The Pullman Company had more history to make all the way until 1981 when it was merged by Bombardier. I'd like to read a book about those years too.