The

Gulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad The Gulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad was a railroad in the Southern United States. The first World War had forced government operation upon the company; and in 1919, when it became once more a free agent, it chose Isaac B. Tigrett to chart its ...

''Rebels'' were lightweight,

streamlined Streamlines, streaklines and pathlines are field lines in a fluid flow. They differ only when the flow changes with time, that is, when the flow is not steady flow, steady. Considering a velocity vector field in three-dimensional space in the f ...

diesel-electric trains built by American Car and Foundry. The first two trains, purchased in 1935, provided service over the roughly between

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, and

Jackson, Tennessee Jackson is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Tennessee, United States. Located east of Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis and 130 Miles Southwest of Nashville, it is a regional center of trade for West Tennessee. Its total population wa ...

. The third train, purchased in 1937, allowed service to be added between Jackson and

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...

. Unlike other earlier diesel streamliners, these trains were not articulated, as their normal operation required adding and removing cars from the consist. Gulf Mobile and Northern Rebels

The trains were powered by lightweight, shovel-nosed

power car In rail transport, the expression power car may refer to either of two distinct types of rail vehicle: *a vehicle that propels, and commonly also controls, a passenger train, potentially a multiple unit train, often as the lead vehicle; *a veh ...

s, styled by Otto Kuhler, and equipped with , six-cylinder McIntosh & Seymour 531 prime movers and Westinghouse electric transmission components. The units had an uncommon 2-B wheel arrangement, mounted atop a pair of road

trucks A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport freight, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...

. The aft section was divided into two separate compartments: one was used to transport baggage and the other served as a small

railway post office In Canada and the United States, a railway post office, commonly abbreviated as RPO, was a railroad car that was normally operated in passenger service and used specifically for staff to sort mail en route, in order to speed delivery. The RPO w ...

, or RPO (the forward door, located just behind the radiator louvers, was equipped with a mail hook). Two of these power cars, numbered 352 and 353, were purchased as part of the 1935 order, along with three buffet-coach cars, and two sleeper-observation cars. Normal operating procedure was for a northbound train to leave New Orleans with two coaches and an observation car. Due to lower ridership on the northern portion of the route, one of the 2 coaches would be removed from the northbound train at

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city sits on the Pearl River (Mississippi–Louisiana), Pearl River and is locate ...

, and the train would continue on to Jackson, Tennessee as a 3 car consist. The southbound train would add the extra coach during its own stop at Jackson, Mississippi. The 1937 order included a third power car, and 2 coach-sleepers. This third power car was numbered 354, and though it had additional air intakes in the carbody, mechanically it was identical to the other two. It ran from Mobile, to Union, Mississippi with a single coach-sleeper, which was added to the northbound mainline train from New Orleans. It then returned to Mobile with the coach-sleeper from the southbound train. Due to low ridership and wartime exigencies, this run was cut off on April 28, 1942. While the original Rebel served New Orleans and Jackson, after the merger of the GM&N and Mobile and Ohio to create the

Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad The Gulf, Mobile and Ohio was a Class I railroad in the central United States whose primary routes extended from Mobile, Alabama, and New Orleans, Louisiana, to St. Louis, Missouri, St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri, as well as Chicago, Illin ...

in 1942, the trains route was extended to St. Louis. At this time, it was converted to full-sized equipment hauled by DL-105 locomotives (see ALCO DL-109) which were also styled by Otto Kuhler. The powercars were scrapped in 1962.

Footnotes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rebel (Train) 2-B locomotives Rebel power cars American Car and Foundry Company North American streamliner trains Scrapped locomotives Passenger trains of the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad Named passenger trains of the United States Railway locomotives introduced in 1935 Diesel locomotives of the United States Night trains of the United States

See also

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References