The Story of the Pullman Car

by Joseph Husband

Bedroom and observation section of a costly private car. This car represents the apotheosis of railroad travel

But one of the most convenient features of the Pullman service is the ease with which the traveler may reserve in advance accommodations on the train which he intends to take. In the ordinary railway coach it is a rule of "first come, first served" and the late arrival is often obliged to take a seat with a stranger. By the Pullman system, however, a call over the telephone or a stop at the local ticket office is all that is necessary to make as definite reservation of space as for a theater, and the traveler is wroth indeed when in rare instances a slip occurs and he finds his seat or berth has not been held for him and has been sold to another.

Naturally so general a convenience has led to rank abuses from which the passengers invariably suffer. Chief among them is the practice of hotel clerks and porters, especially in large cities and at summer and winter resorts, to reserve far in advance all the desirable Pullman accommodations on popular trains in the names of supposititious travelers whom they claim to represent, and later sell these tickets to the hotel guests at a premium or for the tip which invariably follows.

By such practice the distribution of space is placed in the hands of outside parties, out of the control of the railroads or the Pullman Company, and the traveler is obliged to look to these irresponsible individuals for his accommodations. In addition, the tip or extra fee increases the cost of the ticket, errors in "duplicate sales" are made more frequent, and a critical and unfriendly feeling is created in the mind of the passenger who has been unable to secure a "lower" on early application at the ticket office, but was able perhaps to secure one at train time from the unused tickets turned in by hotel porters. Naturally the feeling is created that the railroad or Pullman agents are holding back space for a tip or a favorite, and "playing favorites" is never popular with the public.

There are several good stories told of the action of the Pullman Company in cases where they "had the goods" on the offending hotel porters. As the company is in no sense required by law to make refund, but does so only for a convenience to its patrons, it is possible to refuse to make a refund if the case justifies the action. At a popular watering place an enterprising hotel employee figured out that on the day following Easter a large number of guests would leave on a certain popular train. Accordingly, like the theater "scalper," he purchased outright a large block of tickets on this train, in fact, every lower on the two Pullman sleepers. Fortunately the local agent of the company sensed that there was something "rotten in the state of Denmark" and made provision for two additional sleepers beyond the usual two which travel warranted. Being able to secure satisfactory accommodations direct from the agent the passengers failed to patronize the hotel porter's be-tipped and premiumed wares, and he, "stuck with the goods," tried a few days later to throw them back for refund on the Pullman Company. Their refusal cost him an even hundred dollars and broke up a peculiarly bad condition in that particular locality.

Many, indeed, are the difficulties attending the operation of a system of such magnitude, and it is only by a consideration of these difficulties that the true wonder of a service so nearly perfect can be appreciated.

The operation of a system of such magnitude as the Pullman Company necessitates an operating organization letter perfect in its detail. Such an organization cannot be built to order; it must be a development, the result of years of wearying experience and costly experiment. In the introduction to the official book of instruction provided to car employees of the company, occurs, above the signature of the general superintendent, this sentence: "The most important feature to be observed at all times is to satisfy and please passengers." It is an apparently simple commission, a natural expression of desire, but a brief investigation of the requirements necessary "to satisfy and please" twenty-six million passengers, traveling rapidly from place to place, from north to south and from coast to coast, regardless of climate or locality, discloses a service and machinery for the carrying out of that service complete beyond the realization of the most discerning traveler.

To comprehend more clearly the details of this nation-wide service it must be considered in its two aspects—the material equipment which the operation of the cars requires, and the personal service afforded by the employees of the company. To give this service 7,500 cars of the Pullman Company are operated over one hundred and thirty-seven railroads, or a total of 223,489 miles of track, reaching practically every point in the country from which or to which a person might desire to travel. To operate these cars an army of over ten thousand car employees are required, while seven thousand more are employed to keep the cars in repair, and maintain them in a clean and sanitary condition.

The Pullman Company maintains, in addition to the great plant at Pullman, six repair shops situated at various convenient points throughout the country where cars are repaired and maintained in good condition. In 1916, a total of 5,115 cars were repaired at these various shops at a cost of over five million dollars. Only by such rigid maintenance can the cars be kept in the almost invariably excellent condition in which they are found by the public.