Description
The "Burlington Bulletin" No. 13 (4th quarter 1984), the publication of theBurlington Route Historical Society, had an article entitled "Shovelnoses" by
Hol Wagner. This was a history of the CB&Q articulated shovelnose Zephyrs,
and included the following:
"...Budd went looking for a suitable diesel engine to power a lightweight
railcar.
While searching for such an engine in Europe, where diesel technology was
more advanced, the Budd Company entered into an unusual agreement with
Michelin, the famed French tire producer. Budd licensed Michelin to use
Budd's stainless steel fabrication methods, and in return, Budd was granted
U.S. rights to Michelin's pneumatic rubber-tired flanged wheel for railcars.
Michelin, as experience would quicly show, got the far better part of the
deal.
At any rate, Budd soon settled on German-built Junkers diesel engines and in
1932 proceeded to construct an experimental fluted-side stainless steel
railcar with an 82-horsepower Junkers engine and Michelin wheels. The
32-passenger bus-like car, dubbed the "Green Goose," was successful enough
that several additional, somewhat larger cars were subsequently built: one
for export to France, one for the Reading, a pair for the Pennsylvania
Railroad and a two-car trainset for the Texas & Pacific. The Michelin
rubber-tired flanged wheels, however, simply didn't live up to expectations,
and the T&P order utilized them only under its unpowered trailer. A domestic
source of suitable diesel engines was also located, and U.S.-built Cummins
diesels were consequently used in the PRR cars, although the T&P power car
utilized a pair of American LaFrance gasoline engines.
The T&P trainset, intended for service between Fort Worth and Texarkana,
Tex., is noteworthy for several reasons. First, it abandoned the unsuccessful
Michelin wheels (on the power unit, at least) in favor of a pair of standard
trucks, with traction motors on the lead truck, right under the engines, as on
conventional motor cars. Next, its styling was less like that of a bus and
more like the streamlined trains soon to come. In fact, some consider it the
first streamlined train in the United States. It featured a sloping though
quite angular prow, and its trailer had a rounded rear end (a desigh feature
frequently used since the early 1900's on motor cars, especially McKeen and
General Electric products). And its stainless steel sidea and roof set the
pattern for future Budd construction, being an integral part of the
all-stainless steel carbody structure, and with large fluted sheathing below
the belt rail and much smaller fluting on the roof sheathing. (The pier or
window panels on these cars also had the roof-style fluted sheathing,
something not used on subsequent production). This fluted sheathing was not
only attractive, it also added greatly to the strength of the sides and roof.
The T&P trainset was already under construction when the Burlington placed
its Zephyr order in June 1933. Completed in October, T&P power car 100 and
trailer 150 were tested on the Burlington in Chicago suburban territory before
being delivered to Texas, where the motor train was promptly named "Silver
Slipper" due to one of the power car's less desirable operating
characteristics. Unfortunately, quite unlike the soon-to-follow Zephyrs, the
T&P cars were anything but successful and were quickly returned to Budd and
eventually scrapped. It should be noted, however, that their failure in
service was in no way related to their stainless steel construction but rather
to shortcomings in their propulsion system and in the Michelin wheels of the
trailer.