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Train of Tomorrow
The Train of Tomorrow was an American demonstrator train built as a collaboration between General Motors (GM) and Pullman-Standard between 1945 and 1947. It was the first new train to consist entirely of dome cars, which were the brainchild of GM vice president and Electro-Motive Division (EMD) general manager Cyrus Osborn, who conceived the idea while riding in either an F-unit or a caboose in the Rocky Mountains in Glenwood Canyon, Colorado. After GM built a 45-foot (14 m) scale model of the train for $101,772 ($1,641,030 in 2024 dollars) and displayed it to 350 officials from 55 different Class I railroads in 1945, the Train of Tomorrow was built by Pullman-Standard between October 1946 and May 1947.
The train consisted of four cars: a chair car (Star Dust), a dining car (Sky View), a sleeping car (Dream Cloud), and a lounge-observation car (Moon Glow), all featuring "Astra-Domes". It was pulled by a largely stock EMD E7A. Its dining car, Sky View, was the first dome diner to be built and the first diner of any kind with an all-electric kitchen. The train was constructed with low-alloy, high-tensile steel and Thermopane glass for its domes and windows. Although GM never publicly stated the total price of the Train of Tomorrow, contemporary sources estimated it at between $1 million and $1.5 million.
After being christened at a dedication ceremony in Chicago on May 28, 1947, the Train of Tomorrow embarked on a barnstorming tour of the United States and Canada that lasted for 28 months, covered 65,000 miles (105,000 km), and visited 181 cities and towns. During its tour, the train was ridden or toured by over 5.7 million people, and was seen by an estimated 20 million people. After its tour was completed on October 30, 1949, the train was sold to the Union Pacific for $500,000, and its four cars were put into service between Portland and Seattle on June 18, 1950. The cars were retired from service between 1961 and 1965, and all but one were eventually scrapped. Moon Glow sat in a scrap yard for almost two decades before being discovered by the National Railway Historical Society (NRHS), who purchased and transported it to the Ogden Union Station Museum, where it is undergoing restoration.
The Train of Tomorrow's direct antecedents were the original American lightweight passenger trains, most notably the Burlington's original Pioneer Zephyr (1934), the Santa Fe's lightweight Super Chief (1937), and the Illinois Central's Panama Limited (1942).
The Burlington's construction of the first modern dome car in 1945 also preceded the construction of the Train of Tomorrow. Ralph Budd was one of the first people to see the sketches of the Train of Tomorrow's Astra-Dome cars, and was inspired by them to create the first modern dome car for the Burlington in 1945, two years before the Train of Tomorrow was unveiled. Prior to the Burlington dome, there were a number of precursors: T. J. McBride of Winnipeg received a patent for a dome sleeper in 1891, Coeur d'Alene Railway & Navigation Company chief engineer R. C. Riblet designed an electric dome car at roughly the same time, the Canadian Pacific Railway built four observation dome cars based on McBride's design between 1902 and 1906 (which were in service only until 1909), and the Wichita Falls and Southern Railroad build a "combination parlor-coach-baggage-observatory-dome car" in the 1930s.
The Train of Tomorrow was also a response to over seven years of a relative lack of development and construction of railroad equipment caused by World War II. Even during the first half of 1947, all American railroads combined ordered fewer than 100 new passenger cars, according to Robert R. Young. In contrast, by the end of 1948, after the beginning of the Train of Tomorrow's promotional tour, there were over 1,800 passenger cars on order, although some of them had been ordered as early as 1944, but had not yet been delivered.
According to multiple sources, the Train of Tomorrow's dome cars were the brainchild of GM vice president and EMD general manager Cyrus Osborn, who conceived the idea while riding in an F-unit in the Rocky Mountains in Glenwood Canyon, Colorado. According to Osborn himself, however, it was actually a similar ride in the "cupola of the caboose that gave me the idea." After Osborn was reassured by EMD engineers that a dome car that would not be more limited in height clearance than a caboose could be built, he turned his idea over to Harley Earl and the General Motors (GM) Styling Section in Detroit. The Styling Section then collected feedback on contemporary passenger car design from its designers and railroad passengers before committing to a design process anticipated by Earl to take 90 days and cost US$25,000, which resulted in 1,500 sketches and 100 final design ideas.
After the final design ideas were derived from the sketches, GM's Styling Section began building a 45-foot (13.72 m) scale model of a four-car train (each car was 10 feet (3.05 m) long), built of metal, plastic, and wood and featuring 175 painted clay figures of people and even tiny details such as dinner knives and cigarette packs. The dining car alone featured 1,100 objects. After being completed, the model was unveiled in a former Cadillac showroom in Oak Park, Illinois, where it was displayed with a custom-built Western mountain scene backdrop illuminated with stage lighting. From February 21 to June 23, 1945, the model was shown to 350 officials from 55 different Class I railroads, most notably Ralph Budd of the Burlington, who was so moved by the display that he almost immediately ordered the passenger car Silver Alchemy (No. 4714) be converted into a dome and renamed Silver Dome.
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Train of Tomorrow
The Train of Tomorrow was an American demonstrator train built as a collaboration between General Motors (GM) and Pullman-Standard between 1945 and 1947. It was the first new train to consist entirely of dome cars, which were the brainchild of GM vice president and Electro-Motive Division (EMD) general manager Cyrus Osborn, who conceived the idea while riding in either an F-unit or a caboose in the Rocky Mountains in Glenwood Canyon, Colorado. After GM built a 45-foot (14 m) scale model of the train for $101,772 ($1,641,030 in 2024 dollars) and displayed it to 350 officials from 55 different Class I railroads in 1945, the Train of Tomorrow was built by Pullman-Standard between October 1946 and May 1947.
The train consisted of four cars: a chair car (Star Dust), a dining car (Sky View), a sleeping car (Dream Cloud), and a lounge-observation car (Moon Glow), all featuring "Astra-Domes". It was pulled by a largely stock EMD E7A. Its dining car, Sky View, was the first dome diner to be built and the first diner of any kind with an all-electric kitchen. The train was constructed with low-alloy, high-tensile steel and Thermopane glass for its domes and windows. Although GM never publicly stated the total price of the Train of Tomorrow, contemporary sources estimated it at between $1 million and $1.5 million.
After being christened at a dedication ceremony in Chicago on May 28, 1947, the Train of Tomorrow embarked on a barnstorming tour of the United States and Canada that lasted for 28 months, covered 65,000 miles (105,000 km), and visited 181 cities and towns. During its tour, the train was ridden or toured by over 5.7 million people, and was seen by an estimated 20 million people. After its tour was completed on October 30, 1949, the train was sold to the Union Pacific for $500,000, and its four cars were put into service between Portland and Seattle on June 18, 1950. The cars were retired from service between 1961 and 1965, and all but one were eventually scrapped. Moon Glow sat in a scrap yard for almost two decades before being discovered by the National Railway Historical Society (NRHS), who purchased and transported it to the Ogden Union Station Museum, where it is undergoing restoration.
The Train of Tomorrow's direct antecedents were the original American lightweight passenger trains, most notably the Burlington's original Pioneer Zephyr (1934), the Santa Fe's lightweight Super Chief (1937), and the Illinois Central's Panama Limited (1942).
The Burlington's construction of the first modern dome car in 1945 also preceded the construction of the Train of Tomorrow. Ralph Budd was one of the first people to see the sketches of the Train of Tomorrow's Astra-Dome cars, and was inspired by them to create the first modern dome car for the Burlington in 1945, two years before the Train of Tomorrow was unveiled. Prior to the Burlington dome, there were a number of precursors: T. J. McBride of Winnipeg received a patent for a dome sleeper in 1891, Coeur d'Alene Railway & Navigation Company chief engineer R. C. Riblet designed an electric dome car at roughly the same time, the Canadian Pacific Railway built four observation dome cars based on McBride's design between 1902 and 1906 (which were in service only until 1909), and the Wichita Falls and Southern Railroad build a "combination parlor-coach-baggage-observatory-dome car" in the 1930s.
The Train of Tomorrow was also a response to over seven years of a relative lack of development and construction of railroad equipment caused by World War II. Even during the first half of 1947, all American railroads combined ordered fewer than 100 new passenger cars, according to Robert R. Young. In contrast, by the end of 1948, after the beginning of the Train of Tomorrow's promotional tour, there were over 1,800 passenger cars on order, although some of them had been ordered as early as 1944, but had not yet been delivered.
According to multiple sources, the Train of Tomorrow's dome cars were the brainchild of GM vice president and EMD general manager Cyrus Osborn, who conceived the idea while riding in an F-unit in the Rocky Mountains in Glenwood Canyon, Colorado. According to Osborn himself, however, it was actually a similar ride in the "cupola of the caboose that gave me the idea." After Osborn was reassured by EMD engineers that a dome car that would not be more limited in height clearance than a caboose could be built, he turned his idea over to Harley Earl and the General Motors (GM) Styling Section in Detroit. The Styling Section then collected feedback on contemporary passenger car design from its designers and railroad passengers before committing to a design process anticipated by Earl to take 90 days and cost US$25,000, which resulted in 1,500 sketches and 100 final design ideas.
After the final design ideas were derived from the sketches, GM's Styling Section began building a 45-foot (13.72 m) scale model of a four-car train (each car was 10 feet (3.05 m) long), built of metal, plastic, and wood and featuring 175 painted clay figures of people and even tiny details such as dinner knives and cigarette packs. The dining car alone featured 1,100 objects. After being completed, the model was unveiled in a former Cadillac showroom in Oak Park, Illinois, where it was displayed with a custom-built Western mountain scene backdrop illuminated with stage lighting. From February 21 to June 23, 1945, the model was shown to 350 officials from 55 different Class I railroads, most notably Ralph Budd of the Burlington, who was so moved by the display that he almost immediately ordered the passenger car Silver Alchemy (No. 4714) be converted into a dome and renamed Silver Dome.