Great Northern 1096

Streamlined Coach

1096 is one of two identical Great Northern, ex-C&NW "400" streamlined coaches owned by the Minnesota Transportation Museum. It is a member of the museum's GN streamlined passenger train set.

Both were originally built for the Chicago and North Western's premier "400" passenger trains. Part of an August 1946 order for 26 cars, 1096 was delivered as C&NW 3453 in October 1947. It was part of lot 6812, and built to plan 7485. Construction details included full-width diaphragms, side skirting below the frame line and fold-up vestibule steps, 41-N trucks with Hyatt 5.5" x 10" roller bearings, no snubbers and truck-mounted brake cylinders, a Waukesha propane-powered ice engine (air conditioning compressor) and very similar Waukesha 7.5 kw enginator (engine-generator set.) The exterior had yellow sides and a green roof, letterboard and skirting. Black pinstripes separated the green and yellow, and a third ran just below the windows. "CHICAGO AND NORTH WESTERN" was spelled out in silver on the letterboard in railroad roman, a speedlined "400" was centered on the car side below the windows, and the car number was below the set of three end windows, offset towards the center of the car. The interior was very much the way it is today, except more richly decorated with venetian blinds, leather panels between the windows, textured fabric seat upholstery, and bullseye - wings designs in the aisle linoleum. The small room at the end with circular windows was a smoker's lounge with three chairs at each end and two more in front of the center window. Two fabric curtains covered the panels between the three windows. Click here to see a high-res scan of the C&NW equipment diagram.

In 1958-59, 3453 was rebuilt by Pullman and renumbered 801. It was reconditioned to as-new and the decor greatly simplified. Outside, standard diaphragms replaced the full-width ones, the side skirting was removed, and rigid vestibule steps replaced the fold-up ones. The black pinstripes and "400" logo were omitted, the letterboard lettering was yellow instead of silver, and the car number was in black, located below the windows near each end. Inside the fancy aisle design and window trim disappeared, the seats were reupholstered in vinyl, and the windows given a heavy green tint.

In 1963, after the Twin Cities 400 and Rochester 400 had been discontinued, 801 was sold to the Great Northern, who needed extra seating for the 1962 World's Fair in Seattle. They renumbered it 1096 and painted it in their "Empire Builder" Omaha orange and Pullman green. One mechanical change made was replacing the Waukesha enginator with an axle-driven generator. At some point also the smoking lounge was converted into a small kitchen, which involved blanking out the end window. Click here to see a high-res scan of the GN equipment diagram.

After the startup of Amtrak, 1096 and 1097 were used on the State of Minnesota-sponsored Twin-Cities to Duluth "Arrowhead." When Amtrak began purchasing new cars, they were returned to the BN because they were not of stainless steel construction.

1096 was acquired by the Minnesota Transportation Museum and is now used on Osceola & St. Croix Valley passenger trains. It has 56 seats and, like 1097 and 1213, has air conditioning. Because most of the C&NW "400" cars were scrapped, these two are rather rare pieces of history.

Significant work has been done to 1096 recently. For the 2002 season, an air-assist toilet was installed in the women's room, and two holding tanks hung underneath the car. By 2003, the men's room also had a working toilet. There was considerable water damage, so restroom floors and walls had to be rebuilt. For the 2004 season, all coach-section windows have been upgraded to current standards, rust damage around eleven of them was repaired, roof leaks were patched, and water damage under the air conditioner cabinet repaired. For the 2007 season, an original-equipment Waukesha generator was reinstalled, along with a baseboard heating loop. Current plans have 1096 sitting out the 2008 season for floor repairs and steelwork around the vestibule and restrooms.

For students of passenger car history, RPC publications (publishers of the "Official Pullman-Standard Library") has assigned this car serial number PS47-1336-011.

Sources:

1. "The 400 Story," by Jim Scribbins; data & photos p220, 221, 224.
2. "Great Northern Pictorial - Vol. 4," by John F. Strauss, Jr.; data p161 & 164.
3. "Great Northern Pictorial - Vol. 5," by John F. Strauss, Jr.; photo p93, 115.
4. "The Official Pullman-Standard Library - Vol. 9 Chicago & North Western," by W. David Randall & William G. Anderson; Photos, data, plans p82-91.
5. "Mech. Dept. Passenger Car Diagrams," pub. by the Great Northern, 11-1-69; data & plan, p100.
6. "Passenger Car Diagram Book," pub. by the Chicago & North Western Historical Society; data & plan, 2nd p45.