HISTORY OF THE
ILLINOIS CENTRAL ELECTRIC PULLMANS
In the days of steam, high-density commuter operations in large cities such as New York or Chicago were a constant nuisance, emitting large quantities of smoke, soot, and cinders into densely populated areas. In Chicago, this was most obvious in the case of the Illinois Central, which runs between the downtown area and the scenic shore of Lake Michigan. And as we have seen in the case of New York, not long after the first streetcar and rapid transit electrifications became feasible, attention turned to the idea of electrifying commuter trains. The Illinois Central, in fact, considered this possibility as early as 1891, just a couple of years after the first reliable four-wheel streetcars were put into service. They hired Frank Sprague to study the feasibility of electrifying their commuter service in time for the Columbian Exposition of 1893, but not surprisingly, he reported that electrification was not yet practical. (The Exposition did have Chicago's first rather limited electric rapid transit operation, but that's another story.)
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Schmidt photo collection
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Commuter service on the IC was generally powered by small 2-4-4T Forneys, of which IRM has the only surviving example. The wooden passenger coaches continued in service until electrification.
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| Schmidt photo collection |
ELECTRIFICATION
So the Illinois Central continued to run commuter operations by steam, and the problems only grew worse. By 1919 several commuter electrifications had been put into service in other cities, and the City of Chicago passed an ordinance requiring electrification of IC's suburban service by 1927. The result was a decision to completely rebuilt the main line from Randolph Street to Richton, about 29 miles, including complete grade separation. The electrified suburban lines, which varied from two to six tracks, were separated from the double-track (or more) main line for long-distance passenger and freight operations. There are also short passenger branches: the double-track line to South Chicago, and the single track line to Blue Island. And there used to be a short single-track branch to the Washington Park Race Track in Homewood, but that was removed after the race track burned down in 1977.
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| Photo from Dave Mewhinney |
Completely rebuilding the main line with grade separation and overhead wire was a huge project that took five years, from 1921 to 1926. At times, four thousand men were at work on various parts of it.
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| Randolph St. station, c. 1934 |
NEW CARS
To equip the electrified service, the IC ordered a total of 280 new cars from Pullman, an on-line builder if there ever was one, half of which were motors and half trailers. The trailers were built by its subsidiary Standard Steel in Hammond, and according to the
Electric Railway Journal, 45 of them were built before the electrification was complete, and used in steam service briefly. All cars were 72' long and seated 84 people. Each car had a single operating position. They were always operated in motor-trailer pairs, and were run in trains from two to ten cars. This was the first mainline application of motor-trailer pairs. Some earlier electrifications, such as the New York Central, had both motor cars and trailers, but they had controls at both ends and could be mixed and matched as desired. And the NYC trailers were later motorized. The IC cars were equipped with Tomlinson tight-lock couplers with automatic control and brake connections for rapid coupling and uncoupling.
All of the stations for electric service were equipped with high-level platforms to speed loading and unloading. As a result, the cars were equipped with wide sliding doors at each end. The motor cars had no stepwells; the trailers had stepwells only on the inside end for emergency use. It doesn't appear that there was ever an easy way to turn the electric cars around, and they always operated with the motor on the south end. (After these cars were withdrawn from passenger service, one of the motors was turned around, and two of them back-to-back served as a snowplow train, but not for very long!) The cars were built in several smaller orders from 1924 to 1928.
1500V DC was chosen as the line voltage. The motor cars had four 750V traction motors insulated for 1500V, rated at 250HP. These were either GE 285 or Westinghouse 587-D5. The two motors in each truck are wired in permanent series. The control system is a GE multiple-unit PC control with automatic acceleration; see below for details. The controllers have five points: switching, full series, series advance, parallel advance, full parallel. Full speed in service was 65-70 MPH.
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| Commonwealth motor truck |
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| Motorman's cab with folding seat |
The official opening of all-electric passenger service occurred on August 7, 1926, a year ahead of the original deadline. The Illinois Central held a dramatic celebration to mark the occasion. Four trains originating at Blue Island, South Chicago, and two at Matteson, met and proceeded north running side-by-side to Central Station for a gala dinner. After that, the electric cars held down commuter service on the IC for the next 45 years with little change.
The original 280 cars continued to operate through the war years and into the 1960's, but maintenance naturally became increasingly difficult. The company ordered a new fleet of 130 Highliners from the St. Louis Car Company. The first Highliner arrived in 1971, and the IC began withdrawing the older cars from service as repairs became necessary. Withdrawn cars were sold to Birmingham Scrap and Iron in Alabama.
Because of delays in receiving all of the Highliners from St. Louis, some Pullman cars continued to operate in rush hour service until January of 1979. And the two motor cars mentioned above that had been converted for snowplow service were stored at the 83rd Street yard on the South Chicago branch, where they were heavily vandalized but continued their increasingly wretched existence until 1989.
ELECTRIC FREIGHT SERVICE
While the passenger operation with MU cars was the main focus of the electrification, for a short time the IC also attempted to provide local freight service with electric locomotives. Four Class E Baldwin-Westinghouse steeple cabs of the type widely used by interurbans were built in 1929 (numbers 10000-10003) and used until 1941, and then sold to the South Shore. On the South Shore they were 900-903.
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| IC 10003 later became CSS&SB 901 |
There was also a dual-power locomotive built by St. Louis - GE, tested briefly on the IC in 1929 and returned to St. Louis. After rebuilding, it was later used on the St. Louis-Belleville Electric Rwy. from 1938 to 1953, and was then exiled to the Hudson Bay Mining & Smelting Company in Flin Flon, Manitoba.
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| IC 11000 later became Hudson Bay 100 |
SOUTH SHORE ELECTRIFICATION
Although not a primary concern when the electrification was designed, it had a great impact on the Chicago Lake Shore & South Bend interurban. The line to South Bend was built with a high voltage AC electrical system, which was never very satisfactory. Before the IC electrification, passengers on the South Shore heading into Chicago were carried as far as Kensington, where they could either transfer across the platform to the IC, or in some cases, South Shore cars were coupled onto IC trains and pulled dead into Randolph. It's hard to see how this could have made anybody happy.
The electrification of the Illinois Central provided an excellent incentive to replace the South Shore's AC electrification with a newer and more efficient DC system compatible with the IC. The South Shore completely replaced its operating fleet over the next few years with modern steel interurban cars that provided reliable service until the early 80's, and which could run all the way into Randolph. (As usual, IRM has the only comprehensive collection of South Shore equipment.) And as an added bonus, the use of the same electrical system allowed IC MU cars to occasionally make fan trips on the South Shore, including street running!
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| Larry Lovejoy collection, via Dave Mewhinney |
Another local interurban, the Chicago and Interurban Traction, was already nearing bankruptcy when the IC was electrified, and this may have been the last straw. The C&IT was abandoned six months after the IC electric service started.
SAFETY -- AND DISASTER
For the most part, the electric Pullmans seem to have had an excellent safety record. Although trains ran at fairly high speed at short intervals, as long as the rules were followed and schedules observed, there were no major accidents that I have come across. It undoubtedly helped that there were no grade crossings on the main line. There are, of course, grade crossings on the branches, but they are protected with gates, and speeds are relatively low. It was not until the Pullman cars were being withdrawn from service and replaced with the Highliners that tragedy struck -- in the worst railroad accident in Chicago's history.
The morning of Oct. 30, 1972 was a typical overcast fall day in Chicago. Northbound train 416 was a local equipped with four of the new Highliners. Behind it was train 720, an express with six of the old heavyweight cars. Train 416 was scheduled to stop at the 27th Street platform, but the motorman failed to do so, perhaps because of his unfamiliarity with the new cars and/or the schedule, and overshot the station by a long distance. Having come to a stop, he communicated with the conductor at the rear of the train by intercom, and decided to back up to the platform, with the conductor governing the movement. (It was pointed out in the investigation that the rule book required a flagman to be sent out on foot in this case, but in practice nobody on either crew had ever sent out a flagman.) In doing so, he backed up into the previous block without stopping.
Meanwhile, train 720 had been travelling north in a green block at about 65 mph, and came across a yellow signal, which required it to slow to 30 mph and be prepared to stop at the next signal. The motorman started to slow down a little, but was still probably going about 50 mph when he saw train 416's markers in front of him, backing up towards him. He immediately set the brakes and ran back into the car. The lead car of train 720 struck the rear Highliner at perhaps 45 mph and almost completely telescoped it. 45 passengers were killed, almost all in the Highliner, and 332 people were injured. Fatalities might have been higher, but the wreck occurred right across the street from Michael Reese Hospital. A full report is available at this link.
Prior to this, the Pullman cars had had no speedometers or radios; those still in service were so equipped. Among other conclusions, the accident investigation mentioned that because the ends of both trains were painted black, they were harder to see in foggy or low light conditions. After the wreck, the ends of all Pullman cars still in service (and all Highliners) were painted yellow or orange. (Note that IRM's cars were acquired before the wreck, so they don't have these changes.)
PRESERVATION
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| Greg Heier photo |
IRM acquired a motor-trailer set in July of 1972, and it was shipped on its own wheels to Union. For a full account, see Appendix I below. The cars have been preserved in their condition at the end of service. They were stored outside for many years, and were a fixture at the south end of Yard 1 for a long time. By 1996 indoor storage was available, and they were restored to operation by Doug Geren, Carl Illwitzer, and Jeff Lenz.
The compressor has been changed to a 600V model, and the motor-generator set has been rewired, so the train can be operated occasionally. The motor circuits have not been modified, so top speed is lower, of course, but pantograph operation with our overhead is difficult to begin with, so high speed is not feasible. Since pantograph operation is just not possible on the yard tracks, the two cars need to be towed out to the station, and back into the barn.
In July of 2026, the two cars made a special trip back to their home rails in Chicago to participate in a civic celebration of the Pullman company and its heritage. They were put on static display at the Millenium Park station and at 111th St., at the Pullman National Park. They were open to visitors and had some informational displays. Because the electrical systems have been modified, as detailed above, they were not energized at 1500V. And of course, they were dead in tow both ways between IRM and the city. But this was another special opportunity for IRM to publicize itself and its mission.
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Motor 1198 (preserved at IRM) southbound at Ivanhoe
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No other IC motor cars were preserved, probably because they have no stepwells and were therefore unsuited to tourist operations. Seven other trailers, however, were purchased because they do have stepwells (and were also presumably less expensive). Two were encased in what is now the Ice House Mall in Barrington; one is used as a restaurant and the other as a store. Since they are right along the North Western main line, they probably arrived on their own wheels. Five went in 1971 to the Crab Orchard & Egyptian operation. One of them was badly damaged in a fire and sold for use as a house (which still exists!) The other four were used there until service ended in 1978. They then were passed around by a variety of different tourist operations, and are still in service, we believe: two at the Nevada Northern (far from home, indeed) and two at the Iron Mountain & Southern in Missouri.
Another reason only a handful of IC cars were preserved was probably the Tomlinson tight-lock couplers, which are incompatible with standard railroad knuckle couplers. The CO&E found some way to replace them, however.
The preservation of so few IC electric Pullman cars is in stark contrast with the fairly similar Lackawanna Pullman cars (or "Edison cars"), of which there are presently 97 in existence. They operated until 1983, when there was a much greater demand for cars by tourist lines, so more than a hundred were originally saved. Most of them are trailers, and some of the preserved motor cars still have traction motors, but none of them can be operated electrically, and only a few have been preserved with anything like a correct paint scheme.
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| 1380 and 1198 at IRM (Dave Mewhinney) |
APPENDIX I: ACQUISITION
Quoting from Rail & Wire issue 73: (1972)
We set a record of some sort in July when the Board voted to purchase two Illinois Central commuter cars on Sunday, July 16. The cars were paid for the next day, shipped on Thursday and arrived by noon on Friday, the 21st, undoubtedly the fastest a deal was ever made and the cars delivered....
The IC cars are the 1198 and the 1380, a power coach and trailer "mated pair" that have been joined for many years. They are two of the best old cars still in service, and the IC kindly agreed to pull them from service for us. Jim Johnson notes that they are in very good shape for specimens that have undergone very little modernization.
They have GE pneumatic cam (PC) control, 240 hp motors, York PS type electro-pneumatic brakes, and Tomlinson tight lock couplers and only recently were overhauled. Of course, they operate on 1500 volts, and the question immediately arose as to how we might operate them on our 600 volt trolley wire. In addition, our overhead is not compatible with operation by pantograph.
Changes in voltage will be necessary, of course, and the one answer to the second difficulty is a removable trolley pole, but nothing definite has been decided yet. In the meantime, the cars make a superb static exhibit.
They cost $3,000, roughly what the scrapper is paying for them, and the IC, which just closed a deal with a Birmingham, Ala. company to scrap the old 1926 MU's, told us it was now or never if we intended to get any cars from them. As a result, the Board moved almost as fast in approving the purchase as the IC did in shipping them to us via the North Western. As of this writing, they are the only IC electric cars known to be preserved.
APPENDIX II: MECHANICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Length: 72'8"
Width: 10'6"
Height: 13' (minus pantograph)
Weight: 141,200 lbs. (1198) 90,200 lbs. (1380)
Seats: 84
Trucks: Commonwealth
Electrical:
Motors: 4 WH 587-D5 250 HP each (1198 only)
Control: PC-101
Controller: C-184A
Note: Of the 140 motor cars, 63 had WH 587-D5 motors and 77 had GE 285 motors.
Brakes:
Motorman's Valve:
Triple Valve:
Compressor: CP30 (1198 only)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Ray Cook, who was a motorman on the IC, kindly checked the text for us and made several valuable suggestions.
Art Peterson, as always, provided the pictures credited to the Krambles-Peterson archive.
Most of the other images not otherwise identified are from the Dave Mewhinney website.
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