Pullman-Standard Freight Cars, 1900-1960
by Edward S. Kaminski
Copyright 2007, 192 pages in excellent condition
ISBN 978-1-930013-17-9
418 photographs (59 color), graphics, index, cloth with dust jacket. "Pullman-Standard was for some years the largest freight car builder in North America, though the Pullman name is perhaps more famous for passenger cars. Kaminski's long-overdue book fills a gap in builder history and provides an overview showing a selection of the many cars built over a 60-year span. "The Pullman Company began to build freight cars in the 19th century. Merger with Haskell & Barker Car Company in 1921, and with Standard Steel Car Company in 1930, greatly expanded the capacity of Pullman, as both those companies already produced many thousands of cars per year. "Pullman-Standard was particularly noted for pioneering the use of welding in freight car construction. Starting with experimental cars in the late 1930s, by 1947 new, standard designs were be introduced. First was the PS-1 box car, which sold in the tens of thousands, then came the PS-2 covered hopper, the PS-3 open top hopper, and finally the PS-4 flat car and PS-5 gondola. All benefited from Pullman-Standard's conversion to assembly-line techniques of mass production. At different times, Pullman-Standard had plants in Chicago; Hammond and Michigan City, Indiana; Butler, Pennsylvania; Bessemer, Alabama; and Worcester, Massachusetts. The book coverage extends to 1960, by which time the heavy freight car construction demands of the post-World War II period were ending. "You'll find a rich trove of some 418 photographs, most never before published, from Pullman and Pullman-Standard, predecessors Haskell & Barker, Standard Steel Car Company, and Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad Company. This book is an authoritative historical survey. It will be of interest to anyone who likes railroad history, particularly those whose enthusiasm is freight cars. As an important complement to other books on this subject, it also stands as a fascinating history in its own right.
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