History of push/pull passenger operation?

I believe the first US push/pull passenger train operation was Chicago & Northwestern in Chicago in January 1960. Possibly January 17th of that year.

Former TRAINS' editor, Wallace Abbey, then a news reporter for Railway Age's Chicago Bureau, says CNW considered using cab cars on both ends with the diesel located at mid-train before going with the now standard configuration.

I'd like to nail down the exact date of the first revenue run of push/pull commuter equipment in the US. The 50th Anniversary is approaching and I think it would be cool to celebrate it.

Tommy and friends,

January 17 of 1960 was a Sunday. For some reason I think they would have started on a Monday, the 18th. You may very well be correct. Like I said in my previous post the notion got started around 1958 so by the time it was perfected it would be 1960. I seem to remember some promotional stuff put out by Pullman-Standard touting the event around tat time.

As for a celebration we could all wear green shirts and yellow trousers and have a tug-o-war. Especially if we could turn a profit from what everyone knows can't make a dime. And for all you old Chicagoans tuning in this morning the celebratory cake could come from Heineman's Bakery. Gnuck Gnuck Gnuck.

Mitch my source for the dates was a series of articles I was able to access in a Chicago Tribune news archive. I downloaded them and printed. I have them at home in a folder (I'm at work now). When I get a chance I'll dig them out (plus a message based on same) and post here.

Other info came from a CNW fan message board which included Wallace Abbey.

I'm serious though about thinking the date should be narrowed down and then celebrated. By the Chicago Chapter of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society (I belong to NY Chapter) if not by Metra.

Tommy Meehan wrote:Mitch my source for the dates was a series of articles I was able to access in a Chicago Tribune news archive. I downloaded them and printed. I have them at home in a folder (I'm at work now). When I get a chance I'll dig them out (plus a message based on same) and post here.

Other info came from a CNW fan message board which included Wallace Abbey.

I'm serious though about thinking the date should be narrowed down and then celebrated. By the Chicago Chapter of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society (I belong to NY Chapter) if not by Metra.

If you've done that type of in-depth research than I bet you are correct indeed.

I think that's an historical date for many reasons. First is that it ushered in the practical technology from which quite a few suburban operations of been able to flourish. It also was a brief shining moment when a railroad could actually show a profit from their suburban operation. That was indeed remarkable.

My first pay trip as a passenger trainman (collector) was on The C&NW. I have fond memories. It was the 10.35pm train to Waukegan on a now distant Saturday evening in November of 1970. It was a Chicago job and when we got to Waukegan the conductor showed me how to make a bed out of the suburban seats. We returned the next morning. The conductor made what he called a "jumper" to keep the coach warm while we napped. He took some wet paper towels and wrapped them around the thermostat. He asked me if I had plenty of change for the morning trip back to the city. I figured who'd be riding at that time on a Sunday? I found out. All the domestic help from the suburbs had Sunday off and we had 4 coaches full of people.

I'll do the commemorative poster.

Chicago & North Western is generally credited aa operating the very first U.S. push/pull commuter run. However, no one seems to know the exact date. Deternined to find it, I began by looking in the archives of a CNW on-line fan site message board. I found it had been discussed several years earlier. One gentleman recalled it was mid-January 1960, possibly Monday the 18th. (I erred earlier when I wrote the 16th.) Another poster – a CNW commuter at the time the trains began running - remembered that the first push/pull service was begun on two daily rush hour trains, not just one. I think he wrote they were on the Northwest line, but I neglected to copy the message. But he was not sure about when.

Next I asked former C&NW civil engineer Gene Lewis (a fellow member of the R&LHS and author of “12,000 Days on the North Western Line,” the story of his thirty-three years at C&NW). Mr. Lewis also thought it was mid-January, that the cab cars began arriving on the property in December 1959. Mr. Lewis added that January 18th seemed to ring a bell.

Still determined to find the exact date, I next looked at a searchable on-line Chicago Tribune news archive. I found a mention in a story by Trib columnist Joseph Ator, himself a CNW commuter. In a column about CNW suburban passenger improvements in the Trib of 1-16-60, Mr. Ator wrote that "[CNW] started in November [1959] to replace its worn out suburban cars with new double decked 'push-pull' diesel powered trains..." November would be a couple months earlier than anyone else had it, still..... Mr. Ator was writing this at the time, not years later. Only, did he mean the push/pull trains started operating in Nov 1959? Or just that the new gallery coaches began to be put in service that month? And what was the significance (if any) of the story appearing on January 16th 1960 two days BEFORE the CNW fan thought (and Mr. Lewis suspected) push/pull service actually started???

The next database hit I got in the Chicago Tribune was a story from May 1960. The reporter mentioned "the new trains which began running in January." So it's almost unanimous for January 1960 as the month the first diesel-powered suburban train ran to Chicago in reverse. But...what....DAY?

I'm gonna keep looking because, as they used to say on “X-Files,” The truth is out there.” (Love to see your commemorative poster if and when!)

[edited for clarity]

Mitch I hope the above is of some interest however limited. Glad I looked it up too. Not exactly as I remembered it off the top of my head. I write a monthly column in the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society's New York Chapter newsletter so doing research, then writing about is my thing.

Btw, I enjoyed your story of your first C&NW pay trip. Pretty cool, though I have to admit I'm not entirely sure how the skipper's jumper -- wet paper towels around the thermostat -- exactly worked.

I also looked at your web site. Wow you have created some beautiful artwork. The railroad scenes are wonderful. I also like the cityscapes. The 'Dillinger exiting the Bijou' (Crime Doesn't Pay) is terrific. But as a New York boy the ones of Gotham are my favorites. Especially "Hop Kee's Corner." Outstanding!

MudLake wrote:Anyone know when passenger trains first started being "pushed" by locomotives in service? Any quick history lesson would be much appreciated, strictly out of curiosity. Thanks.

Wikipedia is your friend: push-pull operation was used in Britain in 1904 (!) by the Great Western.

Tommy et al,

Thanks for your kind words about my work.

In mid-January of 1960 my family moved from a 2-flat to a house a little further south on the South Side of Chicago. At the same time I had requested some pictures from the PR department of the C&NW. The sent me a bunch of publicity items from Pullman-Standard that featured illustrations of the bi-levels. There were cab cars but the trains depicted were hauled by geeps. At the time (I was 10) I thought cab cars had motors. What did I know? I was used to the IC. There was an article in Trains arouns that time that featured C&NW's commuter service. I found your posts quite interesting.

About the time "Crime Doesn't Pay" was released 2 clowns escaped prison in Louisiana. They were caught up here in Indiana and sent to Lake County Jail. I sent them each an autographed edition of the poster.

The first Gallery Cab Car, CNW 151, is preserved and repainted in its original Northwestern paint scheme. It operates often in push-pull mode at the Illinois Railway Museum. It would make a great "prop" for your proposed celebration. Pictures and articles about the acquisition can be found at the Museum's web site: http://www.irm.org

But for some reason I think the Northwestern may have converted a few conventional steam-era cars to push-pull to test the concept, but I may be confused with later conversions by the CNJ. Doeas anyone know if that is the case? If so it would push back the date of the first push-pull service a few months.

polybalt wrote:The first Gallery Cab Car, CNW 151, is preserved and repainted in its original Northwestern paint scheme. It operates often in push-pull mode at the Illinois Railway Museum. It would make a great "prop" for your proposed celebration. Pictures and articles about the acquisition can be found at the Museum's web site: http://www.irm.org

But for some reason I think the Northwestern may have converted a few conventional steam-era cars to push-pull to test the concept, but I may be confused with later conversions by the CNJ. Doeas anyone know if that is the case? If so it would push back the date of the first push-pull service a few months.

I know the C&NW had a few standard commuter coaches equiped with a windsheild, a wiper, and an enclosure for a tail pipe used in long back up moves from Skokie and Suaganash. As to the installation of MU controls for a locomotive, and a full fledged test I'm not certain.

When I was in engineer's training school on the C&NW the guy that inveted the system explained it to us, and how he went about putting a mian resevoir on the cab cars to operated the brakes but he never mentioned a test car.

The gallery cars first arrived on the North Western in 1955 - 16 steam-heated cars from St. Louis Car Co. I think shortly thereafter (1956?) an order of 32 more came from Pullman Standard that look close enough to the SLCC cars as to be easily confused; I believe these were also delivered with steam heat, but absolutely not sure. The first of the 4-window stile P-S cars probably arrived 1958, at the same time the intercity version arrived on the property. (Side note: if you ever see Amtrak-painted bilevels, they are NOT suburban equipment. They were delivered with long-distance appointments to the North Western and acquired ca. 1973. Amtrak added its own control cabs to 4(?) of the coaches at some point.) Prior to 1958, HEP was not used. Before the cab cars arrived, however, several geeps had been ordered with both steam heat and HEP...identifiable by a square extension on the long hood. When the HEP cars first began to arrive, the steam-heated cars were converted to HEP, and everything was wired for push-pull quite promptly. Likewise, when push-pull started, things like geeps and Baby Trainmasters were bumped out of rotation and replaced with the obligatory F7/E8 fleet, since visibility was a non-issue when engines no longer ran around their consists.

How 'bout CB&Q push/pull? They purchased their gallery cars in the 1950's and were operating push/pull by the mid 1960's I think. In fact, the Q ran gallery cars behind steam if I recall.

The Q ordered the first gallery-style bilevel ever built for delivery in 1950 from Budd, but did not order cab control cars until after the North Western proved the concept. Just like the original SLCC coaches that North Western bought in 1955, the original Q cars were delivered with steam heat. Ergo, both the North Western AND the Q pulled bilevels behind steam a few times in the early years (I've seen photos, but don't have them to link to right now), but since C&NW retired steam in 1956, it didn't do so on very many occasions. As far as I know, CB&Q made the switch to HEP around the time it ordered cab control cars, but took a different approach from the C&NW.

C&NW was much more agressive about cutting long-distance service, so it was able to set aside cab units to convert to just suburban service by installing the HEP gensets. The Q, on the other hand, kept its E8s and E9s in the long-distance rotation by converting old heavyweight coaches into coach/generator cars. Now, since I've seen photos of one-car push/pull dinkys, I'm not sure if CB&Q had converted some number of E units to HEP, but if you watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0w-FS03NUkk, you'll see a cab-car equipped dinky shoving into Union Station that's definitely steam-heated. Does anybody know more on this history?

The first time I ever heard of push-pull trains was the Reading's train with a FP-7 on either end of the train which ran to Pottsville Pa. out of Reading Terminal. In 1968 I rode the C&NW train from Chicago to Walkegan Ill. as a US Navy recruit. My fellow recruits and I went to Milwakee on a 12 hour liberty Memorial Day 1968 on the double deckers. BTW, I arrived in Chi-town on the Broadway Limited from Phila. on my way to basic training at Great Lakes Ill.

Central of New Jersey used cabcars in push pull service, don't know what year it first started