HOW THE CARS ARE MADE
In former chapters has been told the story of the birth of the Pullman
car and its development through the various phases of its evolution.
Generally speaking, this evolution for the first forty years was
characterized chiefly by the addition, at one time or another, of
certain inventions and improvements, such as the electric light and the
vestibule, and by a changing style of interior decoration conforming to
contemporary fashions. But at no time is recorded a change in the
basic idea of car construction that can in any measure compare with the
revolutionizing change which was recorded in 1908 by the construction of
the first "all-steel" Pullman car.
For a number of years steel sills and under frames had furnished a
staunch foundation for all cars manufactured by the Pullman Company for
its operation. Further strengthened by steel vestibules, it is to be
doubted if the all-steel car offered any very material increase in the
safety already afforded to the passengers. But the change which the
steel car brought in the process of manufacture was radical in the
extreme. The first Pullman cars, and in fact every car up to and through
the nineties, was of all-wood construction. Wood-making machinery filled
the great shops at Pullman; carpenters and cabinet-makers numbered a big
percentage of the pay roll. It was a wood-working industry. At one fell
stroke the old order changed to the new. The songs of the band-saw and
the planer were stilled and in their stead rose the metallic clamor of
steam hammer and turret lathe, and the endless staccato reverberation of
an army of riveters. Ponderous machines to bend, twist, or cut a bar
or sheet of steel filled the vast workrooms. An army of steel workers,
Titans of the past reborn to fulfill a modern destiny, fanned the flames
in their furnaces and released the leash of sand blast, air hose, and
gas flame.
[Illustration: This machine is at work punching holes for screws etc. in
the steel for the inside finish]
[Illustration: This great power press is engaged in shaping the steel
panelling for the inside finish of the car]
But fascinating as unquestionably was the work of the patient artisans
who inlaid the beflowered Eastlake Pullman or the Moorish cars of
another day, there is equal romance in the product of the modern worker
who builds these rolling hostelries of steel. Under the high glass roof
the tumult of ponderous machines fills the air with pandemonium. At one
side of one of the main aisles a half dozen great steel girders, like
keels for giant ships, lie on the floor. These are the mighty box
girders, eighty-one feet in length and weighing over nine tons each,
which will form the backbone of future Pullmans. To each of these
girders, or sills, are riveted plates, angles, and steel castings which
extend the full length of the car and platforms, as well as floor
beams, cross bearers, bolsters, and end sills of pressed steel. On this
foundation the side sills are riveted, steel beams that run the entire
length of the car.
When this gray mass of steel is finally riveted together with its
coverplates, tieplates, and floorplates, the underframe of the car is
completed--an almost indestructible foundation which alone weighs 27,365
pounds. On this underframe the superstructure or frame is erected to
form the body of the car. This frame is composed of pressed steel posts
and plates forming for each side a complete girder which would by itself
alone carry the entire weight of the loaded car.
The roof deck is separately assembled, and as soon as the superstructure
of the car is ready it is swung up by a crane and dropped into place.
Like the rest of the car, the roof is of steel, braced and riveted to
defy the greatest possible strains. The ends and vestibules are now
built on, piece by piece, until the skeleton of the car is complete. The
vestibules are particularly imposing, for on each side, framing the side
doors through which the passengers enter the car, are giant beams of
steel so built into the construction of the frame that only under most
extraordinary circumstances could the force of a collision crush the
vestibule or the car behind it.
The trucks which carry this tremendous burden of steel are marvels of
strength and efficiency. Each of the two trucks has six steel wheels
weighing nine hundred pounds apiece. Added to this is the weight of the
three six hundred pound axles, the two steel castings which form
the framework for the trucks together with the bolsters, springs,
equalizers, and brake equipment--a total weight of 42,000 pounds for the
trucks alone, contributed to the total weight of the car.
[Illustration: Riveting the underframe]
[Illustration: The steel end posts in position, providing strongest
possible protection in case of collision]
The car is now subjected to a thorough sand-blasting, a process that
removes every particle of scale, grease, or dirt and leaves the steel in
perfect condition to receive the first coat of paint and the insulation.
To the passenger, the presence of the steel construction is
apparent, but the insulation, which forms a vital factor in the car's
construction, can be seen only during the process of building. Composed
of a combination of cement, hair, and asbestos, this insulating material
is packed into every cubic inch of space between the inner and outer
shells of the roof and sides, forming a perfect non-conductor to protect
the passengers against the biting cold of winter or the heat of summer
sunshine. A similar cement preparation is next laid on the floor,
combining the quality of a non-conductor of heat and cold with sanitary
qualities invaluable as an aid in maintaining the cars in a strictly
sanitary condition.
At this point in the construction the car is turned over to the
steamfitters, plumbers, and electricians, who perform their work with
the skill and dispatch bred of a long familiarity with the particular
requirements of car construction. To see the Pullman car at this stage
is to see a network of steam-pipes and electric conduit lacing in and
out between the gaunt steel frame of the car, and everywhere the white
plaster-like insulation packed into every cavity. As soon as these gangs
of workmen have finished, other workers fit into place the interior
panel plates, partitions, lockers, and seat frames, and the car
instantly assumes a new and almost completed aspect. Meanwhile the
painters have completed their work on the exterior of the car and begin
the finer finish of the interior. Here coat upon coat is laid, and after
each coat laborious rubbing to give the required finish. The graining,
by which various woods are so faithfully imitated, is then applied, and
last the varnishing.
[Illustration: Type of wood-frame truck used on early cars; four wheels
only, with a big rubber block over each in place of springs]
[Illustration: Modern cast-steel truck; six wheels with powerful springs
to take up the jars and jolts of the road]
The car is now completed with the exception of the fittings. A gang of
men hang curtains in the doors and windows; the upholsterers contribute
the carpets, cushions, mattresses, and blankets; the various little
fixtures are added, and the car is finished. _Steel! Veritably!_ One man
can trundle in a single wheelbarrow all the wood that has gone into its
construction.
Rich Brewster green, the new paint gleaming in the sunlight, a long line
of these seventy-ton steel mile-a-minute hostelries are waiting for the
hour when the white-jacketed porters will open their doors in welcome
to their first passengers. Above the windows the word "Pullman" in dull
gold will carry from coast to coast the name of their founder. Below the
windows is the name of the car, selected usually with local significance
in consideration of the lines over which that particular car will
operate.
* * * * *
In a corner of the great yards at a track end stands a little yellow
car, smaller than many of our interurban trolley cars, the paint peeling
from the boards that have seen the changing seasons of half a century.
It is old number "9," not the earliest, but one of the early Pullmans.
Perhaps there are nights, when the roar of the machines is stilled, that
the ghosts of a long-past day once again walk up and down the narrow
aisles, strangers to the age of steel.
[Illustration: The car ready for the interior fittings. The floor is of
monolith construction]
[Illustration: Interior work. The steel framework for seats and berths]