What tail cars?

All of the Aerotrain cars were structurally identical. Six of the 20 could be considered "tail cars" as these had marker lights and conductor's brake valves.

Similarly, the Rock Island's Talgo set, which had the third "Aerotrain" locomotive, did not have a tail car. The locomotives for the Talgo and the Aerotrains were not interchangeable, as the Talgo locomotive had larger HEP gensets than did the others.

Aerotrain tail car:
Image from this webpage :http://viewlinerltd.blogspot.com/2008/06/general-motors-emd-aerotrain.html

Jeff

Note the undersize coupler, like used on doodlebugs and such.

I think, styling wise, it needs a spare wheel in a "Continental" kit.

I was about to post the same image. They may have been essentially the same structurally, as the photo indicates they were different and not interchangeable.

Note the sign in the window of the car; City of Las Vegas. Obviously this shot was taken when the train was in service on the Union Pacific.

Thanks Jeff, for posting that neat photo.

Les

As for ride quality, I've never ridden the real thing, but reports I've heard were very consistent in how terrible and rough it was.

I recall reading as a kid that these things were essentially just GM bus bodies. You can certainly see the styling resemblance. That gave them light weight, but without rubber ties to cushion the ride, you felt every bump, and there were lots of them to feel in those days.



It was actually ahead of its time. Don't think low slung lightweight equipment can work in passenger service? The Washington DOT would beg to differ. The Amtrak Cascades, serving the Vancouver BC to Eugene, OR corridor is the best thing that's happened to passenger service in the Pacific Northwest in a long time. Riders must agree, the trains do very well.

As for "low riders with single axles", that's what they are. You look out the window and you're staring at the end of roller bearings of cars on adjacent tracks. They ride fine though. I do recall the early ones would swing from side to side at slow speeds in switches and crossovers but that seems to have been resolved.

Jet Rocket tail car was special, too, albeit without observation windows or tail fins:

http://streamlinermemories.info/RI/JetRockettailcar.jpg

RME -

Thanks for that posting. First time I have ever seen a photo of the tail car of the Jet Rocket!

BTW, these are the TALGO train cars, not the GM Aerotrain.


Les

Nice shots and links - thanks for adding to this thread.

And, yes, while there were three Aerotrain engines, there were only two complete with coaches and the tail car. The "extra" Aerotrain engine used the Rock Island's Talgo cars as seen in the pic.

The tail end of the tail car looks like it could actually be replicated and grafted onto an existing coach to make a shortened, yet full set. Interesting.

Still - wondering why no tail cars were saved! Seems odd to offer up a... two... partial sets for preservation.

While I'm asking - how many coaches were assigned to each set, not including the tail car?

/Mitch

I wonder if you could build an entire tail car if you're going to go to the trouble of building the back end. As I mentioned previously, these seem to have a lot in common with the GM buses of the, including the distinctive "parallelogram" window design.

There are plenty of old buses around, I wonder what could be done if you used those as a starting point?

Give one to that guy who's building a steamer in his back shed and he might knock one out in a couple of weeks.

The Aerotrain & Jet Rocket tail cars both look to be assemblies that were added to standard coach bodies. The reason that the Aerotrain tail cars were not saved is that they were modified to standard coaches when the Rock Island put them in commuter service, as was the Jet Rocket car. The diagram I used as my reference that does not show tail cars dates from 1959, after the trains went into commuter service.

The fact that the Aero Train cars looked like GM buses, they really had nothing in common. The windows were of bus style but not size.

Obviouslly the Talgo design endured but not the Aero Train.

I always thought the oft-repeated statement that the Aerotrain cars were modified GM bus bodies had to have been an "urban myth." Wouldn't bus bodies have been significantly narrower?

It's also interesting to me how timeless the classic EMD E- and F- unit bulldog nose design remains even up until today, despite having been designed about 20 years before this atrocity.

Actually, while the Aerotrain bears a superficial resemblance to the GM "fishbowl" New Look buses, it predates them by about three years, so it would seem the buses copied the Aerotrain styling. However, both share the parallelogram shaped windows (which look really stupid when coupled backwards in a train) and both use ribbed extruded aluminum sheet for the body below the windows, so since the buses were much more successful and long lasting, most people think they came first.

Here's a better picture of the tail car, which shows the original styling intent without the coupler, and the fact that it does extend into the carbody, so removing it must have required additional side panel fabrication, although nothing too difficult.



This view also shows that the windows are not quite the same as the bus windows.

On edit:

Interesting stuff here, if you like fifties styling:

http://streamlinermemories.info/Mfrs/LookofThings.pdf

Page 67 specifically addresses Aerotrain, and has a small scale side elevation. I guess the tail car "tail" does hang beyond the normal length of the coach.

Second edit:

Here is the bus styling that predates the Aerotrain; the GMC PD-4501, the classic Greyhound Scenicruiser:

http://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/curbside-classic-gmc-pd-4501-greyhound-scenicruiser-everybodys-favorite-bus-except-for-greyhound-and-gm/

Interesting material on styling indeed, with what would have been considered a lot of basic principles in design then, and some that undoubtedly are still in use today.

It's also interesting that the classic Scenicruiser was considered a failure by both
GM and Greyhound, yet it had this iconic image that still survives today.

One thing that was briefly mentioned was the pair of Viewliners built for Disneyland, which were clearly inspired by the Aerotrain:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disneyland_Viewliner

http://davelandweb.com/viewliner/

The two Viewliners had cars with names. In a touch reminiscent of a pair of Burlington Zephyrs with consists named for gods and goddesses, one train, with cars named for planets, was the "Tomorrowland" train, and the other, with cars named for Disneyland characters, was the "Fantasyland" train.

Photos from the Dave's Land site:

One of the trainsets with Disneyland No. 1 and the "freight" consist that was one of the original two steam equipment sets. Although the Vewliner is supposed to be 30-inch gauge, it does not quite look that way in this photograph. One thing that is apparent is how small it is compared with the steam train.

http://davelandweb.com/viewliner/popup. ... _ViewL.jpg

Just a platform scene with cars from the Tomorrowland set, again illustrating how small this equipment was.

http://davelandweb.com/viewliner/popup. ... wliner.jpg

The Tomorrowland equipment wore red paint accents, perhaps in a nod to the Santa Fe. The Fantasyland set wore blue. Despite its small size, the trains certainly captured the spirit of their prototypes:

http://davelandweb.com/viewliner/popup. ... 8_N25R.jpg

Two photos, taken from the steam passenger train. Although blurred, they reveal track for both railroads in beautiful condition, lovely line and surface, and an amazing ballast section on the Viewliner's right-of-way. How many heritage road operators wish they had track that looked that good?

http://davelandweb.com/viewliner/popup. ... DY_N27.jpg

http://davelandweb.com/viewliner/popup. ... wliner.jpg

Just a couple of more shots. Other pix show the Tomorrowland set to be in bright red. the purplish color in the second is likely the result of color shift. The second shot, with its views through the windows, suggests the train's interior was well fitted out, with padded seats, in spite of not having glass in the windows.

http://davelandweb.com/viewliner/popup. ... Bridge.jpg

http://davelandweb.com/viewliner/popup. ... wliner.jpg

The Viewliners only ran for two years or so, before being replaced by the Matterhorn attraction. The trains were offered for other jobs, but none ever came through. They were finally scrapped sometime in the 1970s.

http://micechat.com/forums/disneyland-r ... liner.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezC6VsG5yBU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-URdw7tJk4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMnQrXwFCks