Does anyone know if Pullman insulated their cars with asbestos for the body of the car? I know that piping was almost always insulated with asbestos, but what about what is in the walls/ceiling? I'm talking about a car dating from say 1915 to 1930. How can you tell if it actually is in fact asbestos insulation or something else safely?

Brian

Our 1939 ex- NYC Pullman Sleeper, Cascade Lane, was insulated with horse hair. I found out that real quick while repairing a hole. Sparks from the grinder set it on fire very easily. Luckily I got it out without any trouble. :)

It is very difficult to give you such an answer on this forum. You really need to do enough of an inspection to take a sample or two. That might mean unscrewing a panel, etc. Kits are avaiable to send to a lab.

It is not unheard of, as we recently dismantled two ex Wabash heavyweight coaches and had to suffer the expense of remediation, before they could be cut up.

This is a serious issue attracting a lot of attention, and I doubt it will get any easier or cheaper as time marches on. I do not know the implications of your situation, but would advise due diligence.

I would certainly not acquire a new piece of equipmnet without knowing it was 'clean' nor would I spend dollars and time on a restoration. It would be heartbreaking to take a newly restored interior apart to remove suspect material.

Bob Kutella

If it is any help, in 1934 Pullman Car & Mfg. Corp. insulated the Union Pacific's M-10000 streamliner almost completely with Rokflos, which is indeed asbestos, the insulation was manufactured by the Union Asbestos and Rubber Company of Chicago, Illinois.

We've done some work on late 40s vintage rebuilt coaches. The insulation itself was asbestos-free but the "paper" or cloth backing that held the rock wool product together was an asbestos product.

--Richard

Interesting related discussion on Trainorders:

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/r ... ?1,1448395

Regardless of what was done when any car was built, there may be and probably were things that were modified during routine maintenance that may be different than the original specifications might have called for. Don't take the absence of anything from those original plans or papers as meaning things weren't added later, even if they shouldn't have been used.

The only asbestos I have personally seen in walls (outside of steam heat and ice air circulator lines) was in the form of asbestos "paper" about 1/16th thick...maybe a bit more. This was in a car originally built in 1913.
Granted, this was in a car that did see service almost excusively in the southeast...region matters no doubt.