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Builder: Pullman. Year Built:
1941
The Civic Center was delivered in July 1941 by Pullman
Standard, for use on the famed streamliner City of San Francisco
operated jointly by the Southern Pacific - Union Pacific - Chicago
and North Western railroads. It was built under Plan 4069F, Lot
6636, as a 4-4-2 Pullman sleeping car.
Illustration by Thomas Beutel
The City of San Francisco
was a deluxe accommodation, extra fare train that operated between
San Francisco/Oakland, California and Chicago, Illinois on a schedule
of about 39.5 hours, making it the fastest train of it's day. Along
with the City of Los Angeles, they were the fastest and safest of
trains, and were considered by many to be the utmost in style and
luxury. These trains faced little or no competition from other railroads
in 1941.
Like other Pullman cars, this car is commonly referred
to by the layout of the sleeping arrangements, in this case a 4-4-2
sleeper. That is, the car had 4 bedrooms each sleeping two persons,
4 compartments each sleeping 2 people, and 2 drawing rooms each
sleeping three people, for an overnight capacity of 22 people plus
a porter. For daytime use the car could accommodate approximately
36 people in a parlor type style, as the car had folding chairs
in the compartments and drawing rooms. Additionally, the lower berths
converted into comfortable sofa couches while the upper berths magically
disappeared into the walls or ceiling.
Generally considered the most luxurious of sleeping
cars, there were only about 120 4-4-2 type sleeping cars built,
very few of which survive today. The car's bedrooms, A&B and
I&J could be opened to form suites for more spacious daytime
travel of groups or families. Additionally, compartments and drawing
rooms (C&D and F&E, respectively) as well as adjoining compartments
(G&H) could be accessed between each other for groups or families
traveling together. Each bedroom, compartment and drawing room featured
a separate restroom as well as a common restroom at one end of the
car.
All of the cars on the City of San Francisco train
were named for places in and around San Francisco, California. The
train originally sported Union Pacific armour yellow paint with
harbor mist grey, red stripes and red lettering. The Civic Center
was assigned to the 10th train.
The Civic Center is constructed almost entirely of
aluminum alloy making it extremely strong yet very light in weight.
In keeping with the safety requirements, the car rides on unique
triple bolster trucks by LFM Atchison Co. and were delivered with
roller-bearing equipped axles - although common today these were
quite ahead of their time in 1941!
LFM Atchison Triple Bolster Truck
Photo by Thomas Beutel
These trucks were designed to travel over 100 miles
an hour and had derail guards to effectively hold them on the rails.
The car also had tightlock couplers, safety glass and several other
improvements for the safety of the traveling public.
After its service on the City of San Francisco and
the break up of the Pullman Co. holdings, the car was transferred
to the Chicago and North Western Railroad in 1947. It was then utilized
throughout the C&NW system and on many of the name trains that
the railroad operated.
In 1963, the Civic Center was sold to a hotel in Sioux
Falls, South Dakota. It served as hotel space along with four other
Pullman cars. The car was rescued by a member of the GGRM in the
late 1980's when the hotel ceased operations, and it was moved back
to the Bay Area. The car is undergoing a detailed restoration and
will be available for future excursions.
Text by Roy Wullich
City of
San Francisco 'Montgomery Street'
Union Pacific
#538
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