The Gallery Car is a

bilevel rail car A bilevel car (American English) or double-decker coach (British English and Canadian English) is a type of Passenger railroad car, rail car that has two levels of passenger accommodation as opposed to one, increasing passenger capacity (up t ...

, originally created by the

Pullman Company The Pullman Company, founded by George Pullman, was a manufacturer of railroad cars in the mid-to-late 19th century through the first half of the 20th century, during the boom of railroads in the United States. Through rapid late-19th century d ...

as the Pullman Gallery Car. It has had five total different manufacturers since its creation, including Budd, St. Louis Car Company, Amerail,

Nippon Sharyo , formed in 1896, is a major rolling stock, Heavy equipment, heavy equipment, Diesel generator, generator, Special-purpose entity, special purpose vehicle and bridge manufacturer based in Nagoya, Japan. In 1996, it abbreviated its ...

and Canadian Vickers. These double-decker

passenger cars A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

were built by

Pullman-Standard The Pullman Company, founded by George Pullman, was a manufacturer of railroad cars in the mid-to-late 19th century through the first half of the 20th century, during the boom of railroads in the United States. Through rapid late-19th century d ...

during the 1950s to 1970s for various passenger rail operators in the United States. The car is designed with the first floor at what would normally be considered "high platform" level, and originally featured bench seating. The second level is actually four separate balconies with single seating that are accessed by four spiral staircases in the central vestibule. The space between the balconies is left open to allow conductors to check tickets without going upstairs. The doors are located in the middle of the car along with a bathroom.

Design

Railcar

The Gallery Car is made of the usual stainless steel and is a bilevel, however there is a drop down in the middle to the first floor. This choice was made in particular to allow conductors to make a single pass through the car to collect passenger fares instead of having to go to each floor. The car height is near the same as a Superliner (16' 2"), being only approximately four inches shorter, at 15' ~10". The height isn't the same across the brands, such as when comparing a Budd to an Amerail.

BNSF BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that provide ...

have their own versions of Budd's design, with differently designed trucks and differences on the outer body, along with text over the doors such as "BURLINGTON" or "BNSF RAILWAY". The windows are not the same across the brands either (with designs building on each other): * The Pullman have short-heighted chamfered windows. * The Budds/

Canadian Vickers Canadian Vickers Limited was an aircraft and shipbuilding company that operated in Canada from 1911 until 1944. A subsidiary of Vickers Limited, it built its own aircraft designs as well as others under licence. Canadair absorbed the Canadian Vi ...

shorten them horizontally and round them off. * The

Budds are a mix of the previous two, not shortened but rounded off. * The Amerails increase them in size vertically. * The Nippon Sharyos again increase them in size, making them the largest ones.

Highliner II

electric multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number o ...

(EMU) variant of the railcar has been produced by

, of which only

Metra Metra is the primary commuter rail system in the Chicago metropolitan area serving the city of Chicago and its surrounding suburbs via the Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway, and other railroads. The system operates 243 train station, stati ...

and the NICTD South Shore Line own and operate. They operate on overhead wires, and only have cab car variants, with each set containing two.

History

The Gallery Car was constructed originally by Pullman and Budd in between the 1950s-70's, as 4 different models: The 7006A, 7600, 8700, and the Town Cars. The 8700 Series introduced the cab cars, with CN&W being the first customers for it. As Pullman went bankrupt, other companies began to manufacture the railcar, those mainly being Amerail and

. Nippon Sharyo is currently the only manufacturer left as all of its other manufacturers no longer exist.

Models

There were four types:

Operators

* '' AMT'' -

-built gallery cars (all retired) *

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

: Acquired twelve cars from the

Chicago and North Western Railway The Chicago and North Western was a Railroad classes#Class I, Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the "North Western". The railroad operated more than of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over of t ...

in the 1970s; ten coaches and food-service cars. Amtrak converted four of coaches into

control car A control car, cab car (North America), control trailer, or driving trailer (UK, Ireland, Australia and India) is a non-powered rail vehicle from which a train can be operated. As dedicated vehicles or regular passenger cars, they have one or t ...

s in 1981–1982. All twelve were off the roster by 1994. *

Burlington Northern and Santa Fe BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that provide ra ...

- acquired the six Transcisco Tours gallery cars and converted them to be used as business cars (BNSF #40–45); two were later converted to track geometry cars. *

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

- Montreal passenger routes and cars transferred to STCUM, and then to AMT (all retired) *

Chicago and North Western The Chicago and North Western was a Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the "North Western". The railroad operated more than of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states befor ...

- sold cars to Metra and Amtrak *

Foxville and Northern Foxville is an unincorporated community in Frederick County, Maryland, United States. Foxville is located on Maryland Route 77, west of Thurmont. Settled in the late 18th century, the historic village is situated between South Mountain to the ...

- shortline operator in North Carolina. Owns 7 former VRE cars. Leased to other operations for various events. *

WeGo Star The WeGo Star , formerly the Music City Star, is a commuter rail service running between Nashville and Lebanon, Tennessee. The service uses the existing track of the Nashville and Eastern Railroad. The line stops at seven stations: Riverfront ...

- acquired seven Metra gallery cars. *

Southern Pacific The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the names ...

Peninsula Commute The Peninsula Commute, also known as the Southern Pacific Peninsula or just Peninsula, was the common name for commuter rail service between San Jose, California, San Jose and San Francisco, California, San Francisco on the San Francisco Peninsu ...

, then

Caltrain Caltrain (reporting mark JPBX) is a commuter rail line in California, serving the San Francisco Peninsula and Santa Clara Valley (Silicon Valley). The southern terminus is in San Jose, California, San Jose at the Tamien station with weekday r ...

. Operated 46 gallery cars (SP 3700–3745) until 1985. Sold to Tour Alaska in 1986. Colorado Railcar converted four (SP 3734, 3740, 3744, 3745) into "

Ultra Dome The Ultra Dome is a bilevel dome coach manufactured by Colorado Railcar for various operators between 1988–2007. Colorado Railcar, and its predecessor Rader Railcar, constructed a total of 44 cars. All 44 were purchased by touring companies in ...

" cars at Tillamook, Oregon. Six sold to Transcisco Tours (SP 3700–3703; 3707, 3708), subsequently acquired by BNSF. * Transcisco Tours - acquired six from SP and converted them for tour use (#800532–800537). *

Utah Transit Authority The Utah Transit Authority (UTA) is a special service district responsible for providing public transportation throughout the Wasatch Front of Utah, in the United States, which includes the metropolitan areas of Ogden, Utah, Ogden, Park City, U ...

FrontRunner ''FrontRunner'' is a Commuter rail in North America, commuter railway operated by the Utah Transit Authority (UTA) that runs along the Wasatch Front in north-central Utah with service from Ogden Central station in central Weber County, Utah, ...

- for parts *

Virginia Railway Express Virginia Railway Express (VRE) is a commuter rail service that connects outlying small cities of Northern Virginia to Washington Union Station in Washington, D.C. It operates two lines which run during weekday rush hour only: the Fredericksbur ...

- Operated 50 ex-Metra gallery cars from 2001 until replacement by new

gallery cars from 2006 to 2017. *

GO Transit GO Transit is a regional public transit system serving the Greater Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario, Canada. With its hub at Union Station in Toronto, GO Transit's green-and-white trains and buses serve a population of more than seven mil ...

- borrowed both

CP Rail The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited, known unt ...

and

cars for trial runs in 1976. * MARC Train - Acquired 12 Ex-

gallery bilevel coaches, often used on the Brunswick Line; replaced by Bombardier MARC IV in early 2015 and returned to Metra.

Current owners

† Eight cars ordered in February 2012 with options for 42 more. As of 2018, 21 further cars had been procured from these options.

EMU current owners

Preserved cars

* Three cars, two coaches and a cab car, are preserved at the

Illinois Railway Museum The Illinois Railway Museum (IRM, reporting mark IRMX) is the largest railroad museum in the United States. It is located in the Chicago metropolitan area at 7000 Olson Road in Union, Illinois, northwest of downtown Chicago. Overview ...

. Others serve on

heritage railroad A heritage railway or heritage railroad (U.S. usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) ...

s like the North Shore Scenic Railroad, which has 3, all of which are in the original C&NW paint scheme. Numerous others survive, but are still in operation on railroads like

. *Ex- Agence metropolitaine de transport gallery cab coach number 901 is on display at the

Canadian Railway Museum The Canadian Railway Museum () ''Musée ferroviaire canadien''), operating under the brand name Exporail in both official languages, is a rail transport museum in Saint-Constant, Quebec, Canada, on Montreal's south shore. Collection Establishe ...

Saint-Constant, Quebec Saint-Constant () is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is located on the south shore of Montreal in the Roussillon Regional County Municipality of the Montérégie region. The population as of the Canada 2016 Census was 27,359. Histo ...

. *The Gold Coast Railroad Museum homes 4 Coaches and 2 Cab Control cars, which are used on their bigger, more popular trains. *Ex-Metra cab car 8758 is stored at the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum in

Campo, California Campo ( Spanish for "Field") is an unincorporated community in the Mountain Empire area of southeastern San Diego County, California, United States. The population was 2,955 at the 2020 United States census. The United States Census Bureau def ...

, with CZRY

reporting marks Reporting may refer to * any activity that leads to reports * in particular business reporting * Data reporting * Sustainability reporting * Financial reporting * international reporting of financial information for tax purposes under the OECD's ...

. *The Baja California Railroad also makes use of some gallery cars on the Tijuana-Tecate Tourist Train.

Future

Eventually this railcar will be phased out. Two large passenger railroads are getting new equipment to phase out the cars, with Metra and Virginia Railway Express purchasing custom Coradia Bi-Levels from

Alstom Alstom SA () is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer which operates worldwide in rail transport markets. It is active in the fields of passenger transportation, signaling, and locomotives, producing high-speed, suburban, regional ...

, and Caltrain getting Stadler KISS EMUs from

Stadler Rail Stadler Rail AG is a Swiss manufacturer of railway rolling stock, with an original emphasis on regional train multiple units and trams, but moving also into Rapid transit, mass rapid transit, High-speed rail, high speed, Inter-city rail, interci ...

, to become fully electrified.

Gallery

File:Metra gallery cars (24529826512).jpg, A

Train, with the closest two cars being Budd, the second from the rear being

, and the rearmost car being Amerail. File:Gallery cars at 4th and King station, November 2008.jpg, A

Train, All of them being

. File:A gallery car on Metra train (195483354).jpg, The Upper Level of a Gallery Car. Usually, there is a Rack in the Dropdown for Baggage. File:Metra Cab Car 8473 Being Worked on after the Train hit a Truck.jpg, Metra Cab Car No. 8473 having its plow cut off after the

Clarendon Hills Clarendon Hills is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. The population was 8,702 at the 2020 census. It is a south-west suburb of Chicago. History The area that is now Clarendon Hills was a wide, rolling prairie bordering the eas ...

crash. File:20120730 11 VRE Washington, DC (9081138026).jpg,

#V425. Originally in service with the C&NW

References

External links

{{Pullman rolling stock Railcars of the United States Double-decker rail vehicles