The first month business was very poor. People had been in the habit of sitting up all night in the straight back seats and they did not think much of trying to sleep while traveling.... After I had made a few trips it was decided it did not pay to employ a Pullman conductor, and the car was placed in charge of the passenger conductor of the train which carried the sleeping car, and I was out of a job.
The first Pullman car was a primitive thing. Beside being lighted with candles it was heated by a stove at each end of the car. There were no carpets on the floor, and the interior of the car was arranged in this way: There were four upper and four lower berths. The backs of the seats were hinged and to make up the lower berth the porter merely dropped the back of the seat until it was level with the seat itself. Upon this he placed a mattress and blanket. There was no sheets. The upper berth was suspended from the ceiling of the car by ropes and pulleys attached to each of the four corners of the berth. The upper berths were constructed with iron rods running from the floor of the car to the roof, and during the day the berth was pulled up until it hugged the ceiling, there being a catch which held it up. At night it was suspended about half-way between the ceiling of the car and the floor. We used curtains in front and between all the berths. In the daytime one of the sections was used to store all the mattresses in. The car had a very low deck and was quite short. It had four wheel trucks and with the exception of the springs under it was similar to the freight car of today. The coupler was "link and pin;" we had no automatic brakes or couplers in those days. There was a very small toilet room in each end, only large enough for one person at a time. The wash basin was made of tin. The water for the wash basin came from the drinking can which had a faucet so that people could get a drink.
J. L. Barnes, the first Pullman car conductor, whose reminiscences of that early period are quoted in this book
The two remodeled Chicago & Alton coaches were instantly accepted by the public, but despite their popularity, and the popularity of a third car which followed them, their originator considered them merely as experiments and in 1864 plans for the first actual Pullman car were completed which gave promise of a car radically different in its construction, appointments, and arrangement from anything heretofore attempted. Into this car Pullman resolutely cast the small capital that he had accumulated; in its success he placed the unswerving confidence that characterized his clear vision and indomitable determination to succeed. This model car was built in Chicago on the site of the present Union Station in a shed belonging to the Chicago & Alton Railroad, at a cost of $18,239.31, without its equipment, and almost a year was required before it was ready for service. Fully equipped and ready for service it represented an investment of $20,178.14. The "Pioneer" was the name chosen for its designation, and with the faith that other cars would soon be required the letter "A" was added, an indication that even Mr. Pullman's vision failed to anticipate the possible demand beyond the twenty-six letters of the alphabet.
Never before had such a car been seen; never had the wildest flights of fancy imagined such magnificence. Up to the building of the "Pioneer" $5,000 had represented the maximum that had ever been spent on a single railroad coach. It was unbelievable that this $18,000 investment could yield a remunerative return. The "Pioneer" had improved trucks with springs reinforced by blocks of solid rubber; it was a foot wider and two and a half feet higher than any car then in service, the additional height being necessary to accommodate the hinged upper berth of Mr. Pullman's invention. Combined with its unusual strength, weight, and solidity, its beauty and the artistic character of its furnishing and decoration were unprecedented. At one stride an advance of fifty years had been effected.
A further proof of Mr. Pullman's faith in the success of the "Pioneer" type of car is illustrated by the fact that due to its increased height and breadth the dimensions of station platforms and bridges at the time of its construction would not permit its passage over any existing railroad. It is said that these necessary changes were hastened in the spring of 1865 by the demand that the new "Pioneer" be attached to the funeral train which conveyed the body of President Lincoln from Chicago to Springfield. In this way one railroad was quickly adapted to the new requirements, and a few years later when the "Pioneer" was engaged to take General Grant on a trip from Detroit to his home town of Galena, Illinois, another route was opened to its passage.
Other roads soon made the necessary alterations to permit the passage of the "Pioneer" and its sister cars which were now under construction. The "Pioneer" had, by this time, won wide recognition and popularity, and a few months later was put in regular service on the Alton Road. So well were its dimensions calculated by Mr. Pullman that the "Pioneer" immediately became the model by which all railroad cars were measured, and to this day practically the only changes in dimensions have been in increased length.
To secure the continuous use of the "Pioneer" and other similar cars an agreement was effected between Mr. Pullman and the Chicago & Alton which marked the beginning of the vast system which today embraces the entire country and makes possible continuous and luxurious travel over a large number of distinct railroads. Thus in the space of a few years George M. Pullman not only evolved a type of railroad car luxurious and beautiful in design and embracing in its construction patents of great originality and ingenuity, but, in addition, evolved the rudimentary conception of a system by which passengers might be carried to any destination in cars of uniform construction, equipped for day or night travel, and served and protected by trained employees whose sole function is to provide for the passengers' safety, comfort, and convenience.