The story of comfortable rail travel begins on the Chicago prairie. Here, in 1880, George Pullman created the perfect city for the workers of his railroad empire. Pullman built luxurious sleeping and saloon cars, which he sold to the US railroad companies together with the staff, the so-called Pullman Porters. The name Pullman became synonymous with luxurious travel and his workers lived in modern houses. However, his dual role as employer and landlord failed. Pullman City is now one of Chicago’s 77 neighborhoods. Entire streets and the remains of the factory are now part of Pullman National Historical Park. There is a museum, public tours and the opportunity to stroll through the former working-class town on your own.
The Pullman system
It sounds too good to be true. George Pullman had offices, production halls, residential buildings, a market hall, a hotel, a bank, a church and even a library and a theater built for his planned city. Everything was embedded in a park-like setting. The residential buildings were super modern for the 1880s, with heating, running water and gas. The up-and-coming city on the outskirts of Chicago was spacious and green, and the standard of living was high. The library and school provided people with an education. Workers bought all their daily necessities in the Arcade Building, a multi-storey building with a wide variety of stores under one roof that was regarded as the forerunner of modern shopping centers. The beautiful greenstone Greenstone Church, specially procured from Pennsylvania, was to become a place of worship for all denominations. Pullman’s plan sounded really good and was implemented at lightning speed, but his motivation was not philanthropy, but profit maximization.
A funeral procession becomes the pulling factor
George Pullman had made a fortune as a gold broker in Colorado. In 1858, he developed the first comfortable sleeping car. His carriages cost five times more than conventional ones. When President Abraham Lincoln was shot by a fanatical Southern supporter in 1865, Pullman arranged for the body to be transported in one of his carriages. The train traveled from Washington to Springfield, following the route Lincoln had taken five years earlier when he took office. The tremendous response from the public considerably raised the profile of the Pullman carriages.
Pullman’s brave new world
At the end of the 19th century, 20,000 people lived and worked in Pullman City. The status and class of a worker determined which Pullman house he could rent. High earners lived close to their workplace, while ordinary workers had to accept longer commutes. Pullman believed that the clean apartments and well-kept surroundings would motivate his employees to aspire to a higher social class and better behavior. Alcohol addiction, violence, swearing or even thoughts of striking were not supposed to arise among his workers in the first place. But Pullman’s concept had one crucial flaw: he created a world in which the inhabitants had no say.
Strictly business!
George Pullman promised his shareholders a six percent profit. To achieve this, not only the factory but all the facilities in his town had to be profitable. You can’t even say that Pullman took money out of his people’s pockets, because he deducted the rent directly from their salaries. All banking transactions went through the Pullman bank and people had to pay both for borrowing books and for using the church. It took less than ten years for audible discontent to arise. In the early 1890s, a journalist from Harpers Weekly criticized the restrictive administration and the lack of opportunities for residents to participate in municipal affairs. His accusation: “Pullman’s idea was un-American. It is a benevolent feudalism that seeks the happiness of the people, but in a way that pleases the authorities.”
Strike and boycott
The depression of 1893 led to a nationwide decline in orders for railroad cars. The Pullman Company cut workers’ wages by 25 percent, but did not lower rents or prices in the Pullman Arcade stores. George Pullman refused to negotiate with the workers on these issues. In May 1894, the workers walked off the job. Railroad workers across the country showed solidarity with them. They boycotted every train that pulled a Pullman wagon, paralyzing trade. This was the strike that Pullman was determined to prevent in its modern working-class town. Worse still, people died and over 2,000 Pullman carriages were destroyed. Pullman had to accept the regulation of its dual role as employer and landlord. An intervention that one could only wish for today, given the power of tech corporations or the bizarre distribution of posts for Donald Trump’s second term.
Hated as an entrepreneur, admired as a brand
The events in Pullman and the state and federal court rulings set standards nationwide. Pullman had to sell his residential properties in Pullman City. In 1897, George Pullman died of a heart attack, hated by many. For fear of his grave being desecrated, the family had his coffin set in concrete. In 1909, most of the Pullman houses were finally able to become private property and the buyers no longer had to work for Pullman. Some purchased homes from former employees who had lost their jobs when the company switched from wood to steel cars. The city of Chicago took over Pullman City. With the advent of automobile transportation in the 1940s, Pullman’s workforce continued to shrink.
Take it easy – Go Pullman!
In Pullman City, the last railroad car rolled out of the factory in 1981. The automobile had long since replaced the railroad as the number one means of transportation. George Pullman died an unloved, even hated man. His vision of a workers’ town failed, but the business idea from 1858 survived all the ups and downs of his entrepreneurship. Luxurious railroad carriages were soon also produced in Europe and carried the Pullman name like a title of nobility. A few historic luxury carriages are still in use today. Take it easy – Go Pullman, for example, on one of the most beautiful rail routes in the world. Several times a year, the Glacier Express transforms into the Alpine Classic Pullman at Davos station and travels over the Oberalp Pass to Andermatt.
More railroad stories
For many people, rail travel in everyday life means anything but relaxing travel. On the contrary: the motto of the Rhaetian Railway, Festina Lente, i.e. hurry up and wait, is taking on a new meaning. Our Japanese guest author Noriko Hasegawa found enlightenment on her train journey from Cologne to Paris in the chaos of the ailing railroads – thanks to the Cologne Basic Law. She wonders how important absolute perfection really is.
We take a ride in the Pullman saloon car of the Rhaetian Railway in our report Legendary train routes. At Pullman National Historic Park, visitors can learn about various aspects of Pullman history: from its key role in the history of the labor movement to the architecture of the planned city.
The research was supported by Choose Chicago
