General Motors The Train of Tomorrow needed a support car, and that duty fell to an old-style heavyweight car. The car was former Pullman combine NATIONAL ROAD, built in 1925 to plan 3951 in lot 4885 by Pullman-Standard as a club-buffet-baggage. Modified to plan 3951L in May 1931. Used on B&O passenger trains for years, but by 1944 it was relegated to serving as a paint shop/upholstery shop/foreman's office at the B&O's Chicago yards. Image: The Blue Goose in full Train of Tomorrow paint & decoration inserted behind the locomotive at Peoria, IL in June 1949. |
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The car usually moved ahead of the Train of Tomorrow on other scheduled passenger trains. When this was not possible, the car was put directly behind the Train of Tomorrow locomotive. For many months the nickname Blue Goose was unofficial. Image: The Blue Goose in full Train of Tomorrow paint & decoration inserted behind the locomotive at Peoria, IL in June 1949. |
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Image: eBay seller "railroad-images" sells prints of this particular shot (with the entire locomotive and more domes) at high resolution in a variety of sizes. Here, the train is seen Dec 29, 1947 with the Blue Goose on an errand to carry the University of Michigan band from San Francisco to Glendale, CA for the Rose Bowl. It had not yet been decorated to match the train. |
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Purchased by GM in May 1947 for the Train of Tomorrow, the seating section was removed to create dorm space for the Pullman porters who traveled with the train. The car was initially painted completely blue-green like the rest of the train, save for a small bit of silver on the rear roof. Photographed June 18, 1947 on exhibit at the B&O Silver Spring, MD station. |
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| Before the car got its full Train of Tomorrow makeover to match the rest of the train, the car was simply lettered G.M.C Office Car. It later received BLUE GOOSE lettering in the same style as the rest of the cars. |  |
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General Motors Corporation Electo-Motive Division Owner |
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| Railroads and stations had never dealt with passenger cars as tall as dome cars, and this appliance was likely added to the Blue Goose as a way to test clearances for the domes. |  |
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| At least a short piece - if not more - of the rear roof was painted silver (seen here from the side, and in the following image from the back). Please email if you know why. |  |
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If this is the Blue Goose, here's another shot that seems to show a shiny silver roof. Image: June 1947 |
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Blue Goose also carried the ramps needed at each display site. |
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The Blue Goose in its final ToT paint scheme and lettering. The 'metal' fluting applied to the car below the windows at St. Louis in Dec '48 or Jan '49 to match the rest of the train was actually just paint on panels. Image: Ric Morgan Later, the car was used by EMD as a mobile Diesel Locomotive Training Center. Then to Rock Island as Locomotive Instruction Car 1820. |
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Photographed October 3, 1964 at Council Bluffs, IA as Chicago Rock Island & Pacific Locomotive Instruction Car 1820. Later, this was reduced to simply Instruction Car, as seen here. Image: Lou Schmitz, Chuck Zeiler collection Many years later the car may have ended up in Rocky River, Ohio lettered for the Baltimore & Ohio, though the B&O apparently never actually owned the car. Please email if you know what happened to this car. |
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