GLEN AYR, a 1928 all-steel Pullman sleeping car, has been donated to the Historic Pullman Foundation by Robert Menzies, Chairman and owner of Aberdeen, Carolina & Western Railway (ACWR), which earned Railway Age’s 2023 Short Line of the Year Honorable Mention. Also, Stevens Institute of Technology marks the 200th anniversary of “America’s first locomotive.”
Historic Pullman Foundation
The Historic Pullman Foundation has announced its acquisition of GLEN AYR for eventual restoration and public display. It is the first car to be donated to Chicago’s Pullman Historic Foundation and National Park from Robert Menzies and ACWR’s collection of historic heavy-weight Pullman cars. ACWR is a 150-mile short line based in central North Carolina.
Built for the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, GLEN AYR operated on the North Western Limited and provided riders between Chicago and the Twin Cities “the finest in Pullman accommodations,” according to the Historic Pullman Foundation. Sold in 1948 to the Atlantic Coastline Railroad, the sleeper was used on Florida trains during heavy winter demand and eventually became the property of ACWR, which stored GLEN AYR in Jacksonville, Fla.
The National Park Service (NPS) has identified the GLEN AYR as a “priority railcar for interpretation, consistent with its mission to tell the story of American industry, labor, and innovation,” the Foundation reported. The car, it noted, will soon be moved from Jacksonville to Silvis, Ill., with logistical support from CSX and R.J. Corman.
Restoration of the GLEN AYR and building display infrastructure will take several years, according to the Foundation.
“The GLEN AYR exemplifies the artistry and engineering of the Pullman Company at its peak,” said Joseph C. Szabo, a former FRA Administrator, who is President Emeritus of the Historic Pullman Foundation and leads the interagency Railcar Working Group, established by NPS and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) to identify and secure historically significant Pullman cars for inclusion in future interpretive exhibits. “Owning this car before it risks being lost to time is a milestone achievement for both the Historic Pullman Foundation and our partners in the NPS and IDNR.”
He noted that without CSX’s and R.J. Corman’s “substantial help, it would not have been possible for the Historic Pullman Foundation to accept this gift.”
“Each railcar we secure is a step closer to honoring the legacy of Pullman porters, craftsmen, and passengers whose lives intersected in these rolling landmarks,” Historic Pullman Foundation Executive Director Robert Montgomery added.
“The GLEN AYR is the beginning of a railcar collection that will eventually anchor the Pullman visitor experience,” said Maria P. Hibbs, President of the Historic Pullman Foundation. “Its preservation will help us deepen public understanding of the Pullman Company’s craftsmanship and its role in shaping the golden era of rail travel.”
‘America’s First Locomotive’
“This year marks the 200th anniversary of America’s first locomotive, built by inventor John Stevens, whose family founded Stevens Institute of Technology,” according to the Hoboken, N.J.-based research university.
At 16 feet long and slightly more than 4 feet wide, the locomotive was powered by steam, a novelty for the time, it noted. To run the locomotive, John Stevens constructed a circular half-mile-long wooden track on his Hoboken estate, overlooking the Hudson River.
“Hoboken residents were amused by an astonishing spectacle: a carriage that moved entirely on its own with no horse pulling it along,” Stevens Institute of Technology reported. “The carriage ran on the wooden track, its huge wheels put in motion by the steam generated by its engine. The public was invited to experience and enjoy the locomotive, and ‘guests were delighted to ride at 6 mph,’ with the unique rides eternalized in historic photographs.”
John Stevens, considered the “grandfather of American railroads,” was a passionate advocate for technology and innovation, “envisioning steam-powered railroads at a time when most people didn’t think the idea could work,” according to Stevens Institute of Technology. “But as the miniature ‘steam wagon’ ran for about three years, it paved the way to New Jersey’s Camden and Amboy Railroad, founded by John Stevens and his son Robert in 1830. And although the first steam engine had to be imported from England, three more were produced at Hoboken locomotive shops in the early 1830s.”
Today, Stevens’ engineering legacy continues at the Stevens Institute of Technology, and the replica of the “first American locomotive” is on display at the Stevens library, according to the university.
