Topic: The Train of Tomrrow Comes to Dayton

[Jeffery]

…in 1947:





In 2009, there are no trains in Dayton, very few GM employees, and ”tomorrow” is questionable.

[Living in Gin]

The future isn't what it used to be.

[Living in Gin]

I'm a bit curious how that ramped "fourth level" works out. Any ideas if these railcars still exist anywhere, like at some railroad museum?

Other than that, the split-level seating configuration reminds me a lot of the bilevel cars used by NJ Transit, LIRR, and MARC.

[Daytonnatian]

Thanks for sharing this!!!!!

Man, we've seriously shot up our future as a nation since 1947, haven't we? At least we're seeing progress now.

[ink]

In 2009 ... tomorrow” is questionable.

HEY NOW!

[Jeffery]

The funny thing about GM, though a car company, is they developed that ubiquitous Diesel engine exterior design in the 1930s, already.  They built the big "Electro-Motive Division" plant in LaGrange, Illinois to build them.  And their man in Dayton, Charles Kettering, had a hand in designing the engine itself.

Im not sure about that tri-level dome car design...whether it went into production?  The publicity is interesting, the way they treat fluorescent lighting as a new concept.  I think it was introduced in the 1930s, too?

[BuckeyeB]

The Train of Tomorrow was a one of a kind design. The cars were eventually acquired by Union Pacific RR and ran in Seattle-Portland service. When taken out of service, the cars languished at a scrapyard for years and were eventually dismantled.

The "three level"dome configuration was very common. Many dome cars were built by Budd, Pullman and ACF and were in use for years, even by Amtrak.