Some time ago, a consultant came to an institution I'm involved with and said that the Budd company has rebuilt a car from a wood coach to a carbon steel sheathed (over the wood siding) business car(the car in question in GN business car A3).

Now I had to bite my lip on that one and remain polite (not my consultant). However, lacking a copy of the history of Budd, did they ever work on any other railroad equipment aside from the stainless steel cars and RDC's for which they are renowned?

Michael Seitz
Missoula MT

I recall that a few years ago there was a history of Budd Company in Railroad History, the publication of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society.

Although stranger things have happened, I seriously doubt that claim. Pullman did retrofit wooden cars with steel underframes, but considering Budd was in Philadelphia and didn't really get into building cars till the 30's, sheathing a wooden GN car with steel doesn't seem like something they would have done.

I took a look at the photo of A3 at http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/gn/gn-oa3ak.jpg and it is a rather common steel sheeting and underframe applied to an original wooden car; I very much doubt Budd did this.

Several railroads did take Budd fluting and applied it to steel heavyweight cars; such as the tourist sleepers for the CPR Canadian, C&O business cars (below the windows only), and I believe some Burlington cars; but I do not know of any time when this was done to a wooden car.

Steve

Budd worked for Hale & Kilburn from 1902 to 1912. Hale and Kilburn manufactured seats and other railroad parts, particularly parts of pressed steel.

If we assume that the parts to rebuild the car came from Hale & Kilburn, then Budd may have had a hand it the parts supplied.