CHICAGO —The Historic Pullman Foundation’s annual “Railroad Days” open house at Pullman National Historical Park on Saturday and Sunday will again host passenger cars that were built at the plant on Chicago’s South Side. Cars displayed this year, at Metra’s 111th Street station, date from 1923 to 1950.
Heavyweight business car New York Central #3, stainless steel-sheathed observation lounge Royal Street, and ex-Pennsylvania Railroad sleeper lounge Colonial Crafts will be available for tours. The station is a short walk from the park’s Visitor Center, where attendees can explore the 50th Anniversary exhibit, “From Wrecking Ball to National Park: One Neighborhood’s Journey.” The event also offers tours of multiple historic sites on the grounds and other activities.
Both NYC #3 and Royal Street, a car built as Louisville & Nashville’s contribution to Southern Railway’s original Crescent in 1950, made appearances at last year’s event [see “News photos: Passenger cars on display at Pullman Railroad Days,” Trains News Wire, May 14, 2022]. Colonial Crafts is subbing for sleeper-lounge Blue Ridge Club [“Pullman Railroad Days to again feature historic railcar displays,” News Wire, Feb. 10, 2023]
Colonial Crafts’ configuration of three double bedrooms, one drawing room, and a buffet-lounge is little changed from the day it rolled out of the nearby factory complex in 1949.
“It’s very unusual for a private car to retain the porter’s compartment instead of turning it into a shower or a closet, because the space is so small,” explains Matt Reinert, manager of passenger operations for the company that owns the car, Vintage Railcar Charters. At a Chicago Union Station preview Thursday, Reinert shows how the attendant slid a narrow bed out of the wall at night above a cramped daytime seat. The car also has silver water bottles designed to fit into snugly under the nearby drinking water spigot.
The Colonial Crafts’ lounge section also remains virtually unchanged from when it transported Elvis Presley and his entourage from Fort Dix, N.J., to Memphis, and then Los Angeles in 1960 after he exited the U. S. Army. A photo of the rock legend sitting in the lounge is displayed on one of the seats. That same year, the car was also a part of a Richard M. Nixon “whistle-stop” campaign train from Washington, D.C., through Pennsylvania to Carbondale, Ill., that meandered through West Virginia, Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana.
Advance ticket holders’ access to the railcars is from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday and Sunday; General admission 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. is $30 for adults; children 12 and under are free. Details of other activities are available on the Foundation’s website.
I’m in my Chicago hotel room waiting to walk over to Millenium Station to catch Metra to Pullman. Really looking forward to seeing the sites there. Good trip west on the LSL (except for flexible dining). Only 13 minutes late. On time for Amtrak.
Elvis has left the Royal Street… “Thank you, thank you verah much”
I hope you enjoyed Pullman. All of us should go there. I have.
Don’t know where your hotel is Robert. When I went to Pullman (from the Hiawatha from Wisconsin) I walked over to Van Buren Station from Union Station. Some years ago TRAINS published an article on Van Buren Station, downtown Chicago’s unknown, hidden gem.
Millenium to me is a lost cause. Changing Randolph Street Station to Millenium Station consisted of upgrading a filthy, dank, dim dysfunctional hole in the ground, to a bright, modern, gleaming, well-lit dysfunctional hole in the ground.
Charles, I stayed this year at the Hilton Garden Inn Chicago Central Loop at 245 S. Franklin Street. This is the closest hotel to Union Station I have found. It is relatively new. You exit Union Station onto Jackson Blvd, cross the river and walk one block east and you’re at the hotel. Very nice place. I have stayed at the old Midland until they went upscale and the Club Quarters. The Bismark when arriving from O’Hare on the Blue Line but nothing is closer to Union Station than the Hilton. And yes, Van Buren is better located than Millenium which I found out. I doubt if I would give Millenium the grace to call it bright, modern, gleaming, well-lit and dysfunctional. The only positive is that it has a Starbuck’s at which to grab a to-go breakfast before boarding. And yes again. Everyone should go to Pullman at least once for the history.