Design of the
Train of Tomorrow began in 1944, as a collaboration between
General Motors (GM) and Pullman-Standard. According to author Brian Solomon, the train "was strictly intended as an innovation showcase, and...the automotive manufacturer had no interest in building its own passenger trains." until its introduction of the
Aerotrain a decade later. According to authors Gary Dolzall and Stephen Dolzall, the train was intended to be the "ultimate train for the postwar era" and an "embodiment of the latest passenger train design". According to GM president
Harlow Curtice, the
Train of Tomorrow was an experiment in both design and mechanics, similar to its automotive
concept cars such as the
Le Sabre,
XP-300, and
Y-Job. GM's executive committee formally committed to building the
Train of Tomorrow in fall 1945. After soliciting proposals from multiple car manufacturers, GM signed a contract with Pullman-Standard on November 6, 1945. The cars were all to be built to
Association of American Railroads (AAR) standards, but GM did not supply Pullman-Standard with blueprints or specifications for building the cars, instead concentrating on their interior design. EMD did supply inspectors to Pullman-Standard who had the power to approve or reject changes to the design and workmanship in the construction of the cars, however. After creating a final set of drawings, specifications, and full-scale wooden mockups, Pullman-Standard made arrangements with the
War Production Board to obtain steel for the train, but settled for
flat glass instead of curved glass, because the latter was still required for the
American war effort. GM also decided not to charge royalties on the use of the dome car concept by any car builders. Construction of the
Train of Tomorrow began in October 1946, and took until May 17, 1947. The
Train of Tomorrow consisted of four cars: a
chair car (
Star Dust), a
dining car (
Sky View), a
sleeping car (
Dream Cloud), and a
lounge-
observation car (
Moon Glow), all featuring "Astra-Domes". The domes were made with
Thermopane glass, developed by
Libbey-Owens-Ford, and consisted of a
plate-glass exterior layer and a
shatterproof interior layer with a pocket of air between to provide thermal and sound insulation. The Thermopane glass was also resistant to heat and glare-free. They ranged in size from for sleeping car
Dream Clouds
roomettes to in
Dream Clouds two drawing rooms and the chair car
Star Dust. The
trucks on the train's passenger cars were developed from locomotive trucks, with outside-mounted swing hangers spaced apart (instead of the typical practice of mounting them apart on the inside of the trucks) and rolling bearing
journal boxes, which helped to improve truck alignment, smooth the train's ride, and reduce
body roll on curves from to . It featured two ,
V12 GM
Diesel engines mated to
direct current (DC)
generators that powered
traction motors on each of the locomotive's
trucks, which both had three axles. In total, the locomotive was rated at , The locomotive measured in length and weighed when fully loaded. Its exterior featured the
GM logo on its side, "set in a graphic representation of a
shooting star", According to author Ric Morgan, it was "just a standard Diesel locomotive" aside from these unique graphics and cosmetic corrugated stainless steel added to match the exterior design of the cars. The seats in the car could rotate, allowing them to face the direction of travel or allow two pairs of seats to face each other, allowing families to interact with each other during a trip. The semiprivate rooms were separated from the passageway by shoulder-high partitions, while these three rooms were divided from each other by fluted (or ribbed) glass called
Securit Linex Glass that, while it transmitted light, provided some privacy by impairing the ability to see through it. The first and third semiprivate rooms each had two pairs of chairs and a couch that could accommodate three people, while the second contained two of the three-person couches instead. Under the stairway of the dome, the car contained various supplies and necessities, including a
water cooler, a coat locker, and a
jump seat for the
porter. Also at the vestibule end, the car had luggage compartments on both sides of the aisle that could be accessed from either inside or outside the train.
Dining car Sky View Dining car
Sky View (Pullman plan number 7556) could accommodate 52 people in three different dining rooms. The kitchen covered roughly the first third of the car, The kitchen featured a wide array of electric appliances, including a frozen food locker, a
General Electric (GE)
broiler, a GE
garbage disposal unit, three GE
ranges, a
Hobart dishwasher, a hot table, a
water heater, a
Hotpoint fry kettle, a
KitchenAid mixer, three
ovens, plate warmers, and Pullman-Standard
refrigerators with mechanics made by Frigidaire. The kitchen also featured long counter spaces, a pastry board, a sink, and storage lockers. Under the dome, and adjoining to the kitchen, was the car's
pantry, where salads and desserts were made and where the
waiters picked up food for passengers. The pantry also featured a
dumbwaiter that connected to the dining room in the dome. In the dome, an off-center aisle allowed for four-person booths on one side and two-person booths on the other. At the front end of the dome was a waiter's station that included the dumbwaiter along with a Cory coffee warmer, an ice well, a refrigerator, a sink, and a
toaster. At the base of the staircase to the dome was the steward's room as well as a locker for supplies and a desk. The main dining room also featured an off-center aisle, dividing square tables with four chairs on one side from triangular tables with two chairs on the other. The rear end of the car included a crew locker, an electrical locker, and a linen locker.
Sleeping car Dream Cloud Sleeping car
Dream Cloud (Pullman plan number 4128) accommodated passengers in two drawing rooms, three compartments, and eight duplex
roomettes, and also had 24 seats in its dome. Next came drawing room E, which featured a large sofa facing the window that folded down into a bed at night, two more upper berths that folded down from the walls, and two chairs near the window. The drawing room also had a small lavatory known as an "annex". The next room, drawing room D, was a mirror image of drawing room E, although the two were decorated differently. Compartment C had two lower berths and a single chair, as well as a sanitary column in the corner with a lid-capped "hopper" (toilet) and a fold-down sink. Similarly to drawing rooms E and D, compartments C and D were mirror images of each other, again the only difference being in terms of decor. Compartment A shared its layout with compartment C, although during the
Train of Tomorrows tour it was used as the train's office. The dome in the car was similar to the other domes on the train, although all of its seats were reserved for passengers booked on
Dream Cloud. Behind the staircase to the dome was the porter's section, containing a seat and a folding upper berth as well as an
annunciator to alert the porter to sleeping car passengers requesting service and supplies such as a
first aid kit. Behind the porter's section were the car's eight duplex roomettes, consisting of two upper roomettes and two lower roomettes on each side of the aisle. The lower roomettes were at floor level, while their upper counterparts were two steps above. The roomettes each featured a seat, a small one-person sofa, a sanitary column with hopper like the ones in the compartments, and one berth. Upper berths were slightly larger than lower berths, and the former had berths that folded out of the wall while the latter had pull-out sliding berths that were stored under the adjacent upper roomette. At the end of the car were two lockers that held clean linen and soiled linen as well as folding chairs and tables. After being constructed,
Dream Cloud was taken to
Altoona, Pennsylvania, and subjected to
jacking, load, and squeeze testing.
Lounge-observation car Moon Glow Lounge-observation car
Moon Glow (Pullman plan number 7557) could accommodate 68 people in its dome, rear observation lounge, and two cocktail lounges. The front end of the car also housed a men's and a women's lavatory. The upper lounge featured a bar, a large sofa, built-in seats, three booths with
Formica tabletops, and smoking stands also capable of holding beverages. Like in the kitchen in the dining car, the bar's floor was a "metal pan" finished in anti-slip Martex. Both of these lounge areas were separated from the passageway by half-wall partitions. The dome of
Moon Glow, like the domes in the chair car and sleeping car, accommodated 24 people. The radiotelephone was powered by a six-volt battery similar to automotive batteries that was mounted under the car, and it used an "piano wire" antenna mounted to the roof, both of which were supplied by
Illinois Bell. The observation lounge at the end of the car had an oval-shaped appearance, with a rounded end in its ceiling lighting cove matching the rounded shape of the end of the car. The observation lounge included nine movable lounge chairs, as well as three sofas: two kidney-shaped ones (seating two and three people, respectively) that could also be moved, and a third large, curved, built-in sofa. The sofas and chairs were turned toward the windows while the train was in motion, but during tours they were turned inward. There was a table in front of the built-in sofa, and smoking stands throughout, like those in the other lounges. The windows in the observation lounge were large, and almost appeared to be pillarless, but small pillars were hidden behind drapes. The windows also had shades. The very end of the observation car contained a "cockpit area" with built-in
end tables and built-in seats, and (hidden behind a door) a back-up and signal valve that could be used to control the train while it was being operated in reverse. == Operation ==