 |
 |
 |
| Pullman Virtual Museum |
THE PULLMAN COMPANY |
|
THE PULLMAN COMPANY
Although there were other established sleeping car companies, Pullman was
constantly thinking of ways to improve service and facilities. The “Pioneer”
was the first, truly grand car that Pullman created. It was built in 1865 in the
Chicago and Alton Rail Road Shed on the site of what is now Union Station in the
Loop. It was the ultimate in sleeping cars with red carpeting, hand-finished
woodwork, and silver-trimmed coal lamps. Cast iron wheel trucks topped with coil
springs and rubber blocks provided a more comfortable ride. At $20,000, the cost
of producing the “Pioneer “was extremely high. Pullman was sure people would
pay for this comfort. The “Pioneer” was, indeed, luxury personified, but its
height and width prohibited its use on existing track. When President Lincoln
died, Colonel James H. Bowen, chairman of the Republican State Central Committee
chose the “Pioneer” as a fitting part of the funeral cortege to accommodate
the Lincoln family. Platforms and trestles were altered to accommodate the
larger Pullman car, and thousands of people viewed the car as it made its way
from Chicago to Springfield. This was a tremendous publicity boon for
Pullman’s company. The timing of its construction couldn’t have been more
fortuitous.
In 1885, wages started at $1.30 per day. By 1897, unskilled workers earned
$1.86, and journeymen mechanics earned $2.28 per day. The original working day
was between 10 and 11 hours. Originally the Pullman Company paid workers
disabled on the job half their salary. Mr. Sessions put an end to that
suggesting that it encouraged malingering.
Pullman had shops in St. Louis, Missouri; Detroit, Michigan; Elmira, New York;
and Wilmington, Delaware as well as several factories in Europe and England. The
company manufactured sleeping cars, boxcars, coal cars, baggage cars, chair
cars, refrigerated cars, streetcars, and mail cars.
After the death of George M. Pullman in 1897 Robert Todd Lincoln (1843-1926)
assumed the presidency of the Pullman Palace Car Co. Lincoln remained president
of the company until 1911. When Pullman died he left behind an estate of $7.6
million, 2490 railroad cars and a $63.5 million corporation. At this time the
company had 90% of the sleeping car business in North America, and it had the
largest railroad car plant in the world. In 1898, during this transition period
the sewage farm was sold; it never being a successful operation for the
efficient treatment of sewage. The brickyards located south of the community at
116th Street was sold and became the Illinois Brick Co.
While Pullman attempted to establish his company in Europe he ultimately could
not compete with George Nagelmackers, a Belgian, who formed a sleeping car
service, the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits, that was headquartered in
Paris. Pullman sold Nagelmackers his interests and operations in Europe in 1888.
A company division was formed in England after the Pullman shop in Detroit
furnished an English railroad with several cars. The Pullman name lives today in
Europe, a symbol of elegance and luxury in a hotel chain in several countries
and in North Africa. It is not unusual today to see "Pullman" tourist
buses on European highways. Of course, these operations never had any connection
with the original Pullman Co.
In March of 1907 Pullman produced its steel sleeping car the Jamestown for the
Jamestown Exhibition in Virginia. At this time the south erecting shop at 111th
Street and Cottage Grove Avenue was rebuilt to accommodate the heavier steel
sleeping cars that the railroads demanded for safety reasons. The change from
wood car construction to steel construction resulted in a change of the ethnic
makeup of the work force. Up to this time the skilled members of the workforce
were made up primarily of German, Swedish and Dutch workers. The change to a
different technology saw this group gradually leave the company. Their
replacements were usually from Italy and Poland.
A benefit to the community was a bequest of $1.2 million in the will of George
Pullman for the establishment of the Pullman Free School of Manual Training. The
cornerstone of the building was laid in 1914 and a year later the first class of
106 students started their training. This school was to be in operation until
1948.
During the period after Pullman's death the company was rapidly restructured.
The name was changed to the Pullman Company in 1899. In 1900 the company was to
buy out its major competitor, the Wagner Palace Car Co. of Buffalo. This same
year on September 1st the Calumet Shops were opened as a repair facility on what
was the site of streetcar and interurban-car manufacturing. The Buffalo shop was
then converted to a repair facility. These two shops were the last to be closed
at the end of the Pullman era. Other major repair shops were located at Atlanta,
Richmond, California, Wilmington, Delaware and St. Louis.
In the Chicago area one of the last major Pullman construction projects started
in 1910 with the building of the 103rd Street freight car shops. During WWII
this facility was converted by the Defense Plant Corporation to produce wing
sections for the US Army Air Corps C47 and C54 transport airplanes. Today this
facility is used for various city government offices.
Pullman residents more and more tended to shop in Roseland and by 1918 one-third
of the Arcade Building stores were vacant. The Arcade after 1922 was used by the
company for office space and in 1926 the building was demolished.
In 1910 the Corliss engine that had driven a major portion of the machinery in
the shops was shut down because by this time most of the plant equipment had
been electrified. Popular folklore states that the heating steam furnished to
some of the community buildings was supplied by the Corliss. This is not the
case; most of the steam for this purpose was supplied by steam from the hammer
shop and boilers. Underground steam lines furnished steam to the residences on
111th Street and the residences around the park. Major steam users were the
Arcade Building, Florence Hotel, Greenstone Church and Market Hall. After the
company disposed of their residential holdings and other buildings south of
111th Street the steam service was terminated. This was the second example of
district steam heating in the United States.
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. During the Great Depression rail travel declined because of
the economy and competition from the automobile. In the 1950s the decline
continued with traffic below 1930s levels and the airlines were carrying twice
as many passengers as the railroads. In May of 1981 Amtrak sleeping car No.
32009, the George M. Pullman, was on exhibit for members of the community. At
the completion of this contract Pullman-Standard for the last time shut the
doors at the 111th Street Shop. The era of car building at Pullman, Illinois,
which began in 1880, was closed.
As mentioned above, the last car came off the line in 1981. At that time the
company invited the community to the shops in Building 100 on 103rd Street to
visit this Amtrak sleeper. Today it still runs between Chicago and Seattle on
Amtrak’s “Empire Builder.”
