The 1st Car:
Dynamo / Storage Car KANTLEEK

Originally Pullman club-baggager car WHITNEY (built to Pullman plan 2415B), the Kantleek was rebuilt to contain a dynamo for providing electrical power to the rest of the train. The car got its Rexall name from a brand of stopperless water bottle.

The car's former baggage area served as a workshop and provided some storage space.

After the Rexall tour, the car became Chicago & Alton 419 in 1941, later GM&O 419.

Kentleek was one of the earliest examples of a train using head-end power.

The generators were needed for powering the 3000 lights and 21 motors of the displays -- not to mention the revolutionary new air-conditioning system. Under-car generators or batteries could not have handled the demand.

The car also held the switching hardware for the train's telephone system -- the first train ever to have such a system. Each car had at least one handset. There was even a phone in the locomotive.

At least one source says the car contained a dynamo powered by the locomotive, making the locomotive un-attachable during convention hours.

Image: Rexall Train Souvenir Folder

Image: Author's collection. Kantleek is at left.

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