biography
| name: |
Pullman, George Mortimer
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1831–97)
|
| biography:
| Inventor and businessman, born in Brocton, New York, USA. He spent 1848–55 working with his brother, a cabinet-maker in Albion, NY, before moving to Chicago. In 1858 he remodelled two of the day coaches of the Chicago & Alton Railroad into sleepers, a long-time dream of his. He remodelled a third in 1859. The three cars were popular with travellers but not with the railroads, so Pullman left for Colorado, ran a general store (1859–63), and continued revising his plans for sleeper cars. Back in Chicago (1864), he and friend Ben Field patented the folding upper berth and built their first sleeping car, Pioneer (1865), the success of which led to their starting the Pullman Palace Car Co (1867). Other cars designed and built by Pullman and Field included a dining car (1868), the parlour car (1875), and the vestibule car (1887). Pullman plants were located in several cities, with headquarters in Pullman, IL (now part of Chicago), a town built expressly for his employees (1881). For many years the Pullman Co built, staffed, and operated most of the sleeping cars on US railroads, and his cars were adopted by many railroads throughout the world. |
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