I noticed this thread on the "Adventure Rider" (motorcycle) forum this morning. It includes extensive photos of a recent visit to the old Pullman factory in Bessemer, Alabama. I think some of you will find it very interesting.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=314646

Motorcyclists post "ride reports" with photos of their adventures, and railroads and railroad artifacts show up fairly often.

Now that is what this site is all about! Thanks for the pictures. It brings a new perspective to the Pullman company for those of us that do not live close enough to visit sites like these.

Later!
Mr. Ed

Great Pictures there. The B&W is a nice touch.

The Pullman site was considered for the new railcar plant that is being built in NW Alabama by Nat'l Alabama Industries. However, Jefferson County cannot consistently meet EPA air pollution standards and is therefore prohibited from having any new heavy industry. Site also has "brownfield" issues.

The Bessemer Hall of History, located in the old L&N station in Bessemer, has many pictures and info on the Pullman Plant. Also, the 1 millionth car produced at the plant is there.

This plant also shipped railcars to Europe for the war effort in kit form during WWII. There are pictures in the Heart of Dixie RRM in Calera of these cars components being "boxed" for shipping overseas.

Bill

Bill -

Thanks for the info. It looks as if Southern box car #31090 was either the 100,000 PS-1 box car built or the 100,000th car built at the plant. Seems to be a bit of conflicting information there. In any event, it would have been nice if 31090 would have been preserved at some museum. Do you happen to know Bill, what type of car the 1 millionth car is?

I looked at the photos hoping to see one of the saddletankers that worked the PS plant. Does anyone know if any of these were saved? I am not really sure how many there were; three or four maybe?

Les

Les,
The car located by the Hall of History is the 1 Millionth produced at the plant. It is a Southern Boxcar. Not sure of number. It is used by the "Wrecking Crew", a moddel RR club.

By the way, I goofed, the depot where the Hall of History is located is the Alabama Great Southern ( Southern) depot built in 1916, not L&N. (My bad!)

On another note, the AGS Freight Depot still exists a block down the line. Currently for sale. Hope it gets preserved. Structurally sound. Has graffitti on the walls by the loading doors dating from 1920 - 1940's.

The old AB&C depot also still stands, owned by Bessemer Hall of History and currently leased to a funeral home.

Bessemmer never recovered from the loss of Pullman and many other industries, but it is rich in railroad history, much of it still visible.

Bill

Boxcar DOTX 503 at IRM is purported to be the 1 millionth car produced by Pullman Standard -- maybe company wide?

http://www.irm.org/gallery/DOTX503/aaf

DOTX 503 doesn't appear to be a PS-1 type box car to me, at least as I am familiar with. Did the design change over time?

Les

Yes, company wide. (The 100,000th and 200,000th were specific to the Bessemer plant, and went to SOU because Southern was Pullman-Bessemer's biggest customer.)

I don't know where IRM got their information,. While the DOT car looks like the same design, and may have been built at the same time, it's extremely unlikely the plaque is accurate. Plus, it's DEFINITELY not a PS-1, as mentioned.

Nor was it sold to Southern, as was claimed above. If I remember correctly, it was built in a series of cars destined for the Pullman Leasing subsidiary (PLCX - this was the heyday of the "incentive per diem" cars such as RailBox and NRE), but to the best of my knowledge, the 1,000,000th boxcar was never intended for sale or use - Pullman-Standard planned from the beginning to donate it to the City of Bessemer. If you can find photos of the car when new, you'll see that it did not even carry reporting marks on the ends or in the proper side location, nor did it display any other AAR-mandated lettering (capacity, dimensions, etc.).

It was placed on display around 1982 at the Bessemer Civic Center, still wearing its ceremonial paint scheme. (The BCC is visible from I-59 around Exit 108, where for many years, the Interstate ended and all traffic had to divert to US 11 through Bessemer and Birmingham).

Later the box car was moved to the Southern station, as mentioned.

JAC