Blue Line

Austin Steam Train Association
"City Of Chicago"
Blue Line

Bill Nash of Texas wrote me:

John,

Perhaps you are not aware that there is a former Nickel Plate sleeper/lounge still in scheduled passenger service, pulled by a steam locomotive no less. The Austin & Texas Central Railroad is the proud owner of the "City of Chicago" and operates it on weekly (Saturday & Sunday) excursion trips from March through December.

Check us out at http://www.austinsteamtrain.org/.

Thanks,

Bill Nash
Brakeman and Webmaster
A&TC RR

Bill is the Webmaster for the Hill Country Flyer, an excursion train in Austin, Texas. The train is operated by the Austin Steam Train Association, and is made up of an impressive set of cars. Since this is an NKP site, I asked for and received permission to use the picture and info on the "City of Chicago" passenger car used in their train. I am indebted to the Austin Steam Train Association for their contribution to this page. Please visit their web site at http://www.austinsteamtrain.org/ to see more about the Hill Country Flyer excursion train. The site has pictures and information on each of their cars. Better yet - visit them in person and ride their train!

(picture of the City of Chicago follows text)

City of Chicago

Dr. Henry Renfert donated the City of Chicago to the Austin Steam Train Association (ASTA) in May 1995, but the car has been a regular part of the Hill Country Flyer consist since 1993.

The City of Chicago's story begins with the Nickel Plate Road (NKP) in 1950. In an attempt to reverse a decline in passenger revenues beginning 1944, Nickel Plate Road management contracted with Pullman-Standard to build 25 new luxury cars. This new fleet included 10 coaches, 13 roomette-bedroom-sleepers and two bedroom-diner-lounge cars - the City of Cleveland and the City of Chicago.

As built, the City of Chicago was 82 feet 10 inches long and weighed 67.8 tons. Each of the five double bedrooms include beds that recess into the walls or ceilings, a bathroom, a sink and mirror with fold-out vanity, shoe locker and climate controls. Four of the bedrooms also have a partition that can retract to form two bedrooms into a suite. A kitchen with refrigerated storage, fixed seating and tables for 18, and four lounge chairs allow for diner service. In the NKP days, Pullman provided a three-man crew ^V porter, chef and waiter ^V to serve passengers. Directly behind the kitchen is a crew room with three bunk beds, bathroom, sink and climate controls.

The City of Chicago is finished as it was originally in a blue and silver paint scheme. However, a Pullman-Standard builder's photo shows that stainless steel skirts were originally placed to hide mechanical equipment underneath the car, but at some point these were removed.

The car went into service on night Trains No. 5 and 6 operating between Cleveland and Chicago in early 1950. Along with the other new cars, it reversed the downward trend in passenger revenues, producing a record $3.15 revenue per passenger train mile by 1952 as well as increasing passenger revenues 50 percent over 1949 numbers. The NKP rotated the car between Cleveland and Chicago, assigning it to Trains No. 5 and 6 on alternating nights. Passengers could board prior to departure, beginning at 10 p.m., and occupy the car until 8 a.m. the following morning. Diner service began at 10 p.m.

In 1956 the NKP reduced the number of cars in Trains No. 5 and 6 consists, and followed with another reduction in 1962. The City of Chicago remained in the consist until NKP passenger operations were absorbed through a merger with the Norfolk & Western Railroad (N&W). The car ran on N&W lines, and was leased to other northeastern railroads, until it was transferred into Amtrak service in May 1971.

Dr. Henry Renfert Jr. purchased the car from Amtrak, in its full blue, red and silver Amtrak glory, in 1983. After six months of refurbishment work by Pullman Services Co. and Eagle Rail Services (including restoration back to the original NKP blue and silver), Dr. Renfert began operating the City of Chicago as part of his Pullman Services Co. excursion operations. The car ran behind Amtrak trains in private excursion service coast to coast in 1984 through 1990. The two years following, Dr. Renfert leased it to the Texas Limited dinner train out of San Antonio. ASTA began leasing the City of Chicago in 1992, until its donation to the organization in 1995.