C&NW Bi-Level Commuter Cars

Contents

• History
• Spotting
• Cab Differences
• Roster
• Models
• Bibliography

History

Chicago and North Western amassed a fleet of 292 bi-level (gallery) cars, built by Pullman-Standard except for the first 16 which were built by St. Louis Car Co. 280 of these cars were used in Chicago commuter service, including one former intercity parlor car which was converted in 1965. Remarkably, all of the commuter cars survived until being sold to the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) on 31 December 1977.

The first 48 cars were built with 7½-KW Waukesha Enginators to provide electricity for lighting and to power two underframe-mounted Trane E-M 8-ton air conditioning units. Locomotive-supplied steam was used for heating and some of these cars were pulled by steam locomotives, which hardly fits the image of such modern cars. The first group of 16 cars was built in 1955 by St. Louis Car Co.; the remaining 32 were built the next year by Pullman-Standard. All were delivered in the early 1950s version of C&NW's yellow and green livery, using a yellow letterboard with 1" black separator stripes.

These early cars were repainted in the late 1950s with a green letterboard and without the black separators, the livery in which all subsequent C&NW bi-levels were delivered. In 1961, they were rebuilt to use head-end power (HEP) for electrical needs and to include multiple unit (MU) cabling for push-pull operation. At some point in their career the original Venetian blinds were removed and green-tinted windows were installed.		early livery
		later livery

(Lots more to say here ...)

Spotting

Visually, these cars broke down into seven distinct groups (summarized in the table below).

The first two groups are easily recognized by their window patterns. The cars built by St. Louis Car Co. had six large windows on each level on either side of the entry doors, plus a narrower square window at the ends. The 1956 Pullman-Standard cars were similar, but lacked the smaller end windows. In addition, on one side the rightmost windows were replaced by a pair of square windows on the lower level and a single square window on the upper level. (This was the location of the toilet.)

The subsequent Pullman-Standard cars have four large windows instead of six, and the air conditioning units were relocated from underfloor to the area above the entry doors, with large intakes for the condensers above the doors. The 1958 intercity cars, including 6400 which was later rebuilt into commuter coach 225, were built with three bare condenser panels next to each other, centered above the doors. On the 1960 cars (which came in both cab and coach configurations), the rightmost panel was omitted, leaving just two panels offset to the left of center. The subsequent cars were similar, but the condensers were covered with a grille that visually divided the area into quarters. Cab details also differed.

Qty		Pct		Description		C&NW Numbers		North Side		South Side
16		5.7%		1955 SLC "6½ window"		1-16
32		11.4%		1956 PS "6 window"		17-48
8		2.9%		1960 cab cars		151-158
28		10.0%		1960 coaches		49-76
56		20.0%		late cab cars		159-200, 251-264
139		49.6%		late coaches		77-150, 201-224, 226-237, 301-329
1		0.4%		ex-6400		225
280		100.0%		(total)

Cab Differences

C&NW 152 (as built)	C&NW 260	The builder's photo of C&NW 152 (far left) shows how the first eight cab cars (C&NW 151-158) looked when new. Note the gong bell above the engineer's windshield, front-mounted horns like on an M.U. car, boiler tube pilot, and lack of a gate in front of the door. Compare this to C&NW 260, which except for the 1970s-addition of the rooftop amber warning light is how the later cab cars were delivered. Note the gong above the fireman's windshield, roof-mounted horns, solid pilot, and gate.
C&NW 151	RTA 8713	At the Illinois Railway Museum after restoration, C&NW 151 (far left) illustrates the relocation of the gong and horns, which occurred soon after delivery, plus the subsequent replacement of the pilot with the later-style solid design. The gong location forced the number to be offset instead of being centered as on the later cars. The gates and amber beacons were also added, but have been removed during restoration. The red 8700 at the top of the door is the car's RTA number. RTA 8713, built as C&NW 164, again illustrates the later cab cars.

Roster

	C&NW		RTA/Metra		Bldr		Year		Qty		Lot		Plan		Seats		Note
	1-16		7600-7607, 7900-7901, 7608-7613		SLC		1955		16		1784		-		169		"6½ window"
	17-48		7650-7681		PS		1956		32		6978		7653		161		"6 window"
	49-76		7700-7727		PS		1960		28		7002		53194		161
	77-150		7728-7801		PS		1961		74		7006		53194		161
	151-158		8700-8707		PS		1960		8		7002A		53194		153		cab
	159-200		8708-8749		PS		1961		42		7006A		53194		153		cab
	201-210		7802-7811		PS		1963		10		7023		53194		161
	211-216		7812-7817		PS		1965		6		7032		53194		161
	217-224		7818-7825		PS		1966		8		7034		53194		161
	225		7880		PS		1958		1		W6997		W53075		136		ex-6400, cvtd 1965
	226-237		7826-7837		PS		1967		12		7038		53194		161
	251-254		8750-8753		PS		1965		4		7032A		53194		153		cab
	255-256		8754-8755		PS		1966		2		7034A		53194		153		cab
	257-260		8756-8759		PS		1967		4		7038A		53194		153		cab
	261-264		8760-8763		PS		1968		4		7041A		53194		153		cab
	301-316		7838-7853		PS		1968		16		7041		53194		161
	317-329		7854-7866		PS		1970		13		7044		53194		161

Models

HO Scale models:

• Holgate & Reynolds: These craftsman kit models of the 1960-1970 cars consisted of silk-screened sides with a wood roof and floor plus soft metal ends and detail parts. Numbers and vent details were supplied as dry transfers. The company was acquired in 1997 by Three Brothers Manufacturing (below) which has upgraded the kits.
• Three Brothers Manufacturing: Kits #301 and #302 are the old Holgate & Reynolds models, upgraded with a plastic roof and floor (the wood versions are also included in the kits) and improved trucks with Intermountain wheels. Kit #303 is a new model of the "6 window" cars (it's unclear if these are the SLC or PS cars), also available in the orignal paint scheme as kit #1103. Another addition is a buffet-lounge (kit #1102), probably one of the intercity cars.
• Brass Car Sides: Known for their etched brass overlays to provide correct sides for plastic models (or core kits), Brass Car Sides provides complete kits for the late C&NW cabs and coaches, including brass end castings, a wood roof, printed-circuit board floor, window glazing, and details.
• Walthers: Injection-molded plastic models of the 1960 coach (#932-6251) and cab (#932-6261) cars. These are nice models, but the choice of the relatively uncommon 1960 cars rather than the far more common later cars was unfortunate. The cab details are correct for those later cars, which means the cab cars are a mix which doesn't accurately portray any actual car (though they do create the right impression).
• Kato: Injection-molded plastic models of the 1956 Pullman-Standard "6 window" cars in late paint scheme and after conversion to HEP (#35-6041) plus the 1960 coach (#35-6032) and cab (#35-6022) cars. (Details.) These are very nice models, improved over the Walthers models with free-rolling trucks and better detailing though the striping on the cab cars incorrectly lines up with the color separation on the car sides. (Walthers got this right.) The 1956 cars are especially nice to have as they were a modest part of the fleet but were quite distinctive. However, two years after Walthers modeled the 1960 cars, Kato's choice of these same cars (which represent less than 13% of the C&NW fleet) instead of making the minor-but-visible change to the air conditioning intake to represent nearly 60% of the final fleet is perplexing. Also like Walthers, Kato modeled the cab details of these later cars, so the cab cars are not accurate representations of any group. Perhaps someone will manufacture a grille overlay so one can turn these cars into accurate models of the 1961-1970 cars.

N Scale models:

• Con-Cor: Injection molded models of post-1960 cab and coach cars. (Walthers: cab and coach.)
• Wheels of Time: This company offers a model (Kit #114) which represents the 1956 Pullman-Standard "6 window" cars after repainting but before conversion from steam heat to HEP (and MU for push-pull operation). The kit is actually a highly-detailed model of SP's class 85-MLC-2, 21 cars built by ACF in March 1957 and numbered SP 3710-3730, but it is a good stand-in for the C&NW cars.
• Kato: Only partly commuter cars, Kato's C&NW "400" Boxed Train Set looks nice and includes what appears to be an accurate model of 1956 coach-buffet car 903 but has many errors:
  • EMD E8A 5022-A has steam-generator equipment; the bi-level "400" trains needed HEP-equipped power.
  • 4-window coaches 700 and 705 were part of the 1958 order but the models are of the 1960 commuter cars, identified by the two bare condenser panels above the doors instead of three as on the 1958 cars. (The model of 903 gets this right.)
  • Coach-parlor car 6400 appears to use the same body as the coaches and thus has the same issues as 700 and 705. (6400 is the intercity car rebuilt for commuter use in 1965 as CNW 225; I've not seen a photograph of it as 225 but doubt that the condenser configuration was changed.)
  • Cab-coach 154 is a good model of the 1960 cab cars (they fixed the striping issue from the earlier HO models) but these were purely commuter cars, never (or exceedingly rarely) used on the intercity "400"s.

Large scale models:

• K-Line:
  • 4620C - 21" bi-level "400" (4 pack)
  • 4620E - 21" bi-level "400" (2 pack)
  • 4620F - 21" bi-level "400" (2 pack)

Bibliography

• Kohnmann, Keith. "CNW Bi-Level Gallery Cars, from Con-Cor Kits." Railmodel Journal, May 2001, p. 51.
• Klein, Fred. Prototypes for N scale passenger cars part 5: Streamlined lightweight smooth side cars. WWW page. Railmodel Journal, May 2001, p. 51.
• Phillips, Dave. "C&NW Gallery Cars." Rail & Wire, Issue 179, September 1999.
• Randall, W. David, and William Anderson. The Official Pullman-Standard Library, Vol. 9: Chicago & North Western. Godfrey, Illinois: Railway Production Classics, 1990.
• Randall, W. David and Alan R. Lind. From Zephyr to Amtrak. Park Forest, Illinois: Prototype Publications, 1972.
• -. 7600 Series Coach Specification Sheet One. WWW page.
• -. Cab Control Car Specification Sheet One. WWW page.
• -. Metra – Wikipedia. WWW page.
• -. Passenger Car Photo Index – Metra to Metro North. WWW page.
• -. Southern Pacific Passenger Cars, Volume 1: Coaches and Chair Cars. Pasadena, California: The Southern Pacific Historical & Technical Society, 2003.

Copyright © 2002-2005,2007-2008,2010,2020, Karl L. Swartz. All rights reserved. All trademarks mentioned herein belong to their respective owners. Karl Swartz <karl@kls2.com>