1/87 PULLMAN RAILPLANE CAR

Pullman-Standard Railplane, designed by William Stout and manufactured by Pullman Car & Manufacturing Company in 1933. The self-propelled car had an aluminum body, 60' in length. It was exhibited at the Chicago World's fair 1934 and then leased to the Gulf, Mobile & Northern in 1935 for service between Tylertown and Jackson, Mississippi. The Railplane is principally known as a test vehicle although it saw some small commercial service. It weighed 20 percent as much as a conventional railroad car, but using only two minuscule (by railroad standards) 320-hp six-cylinder truck engines, was able to hit 100 miles per hour, while delivering 5 miles per gallon. By comparison to conventional railcars, the ride was superb, engine noise and fumes were all but eliminated and the seating arrangement - using aircraft-type seats as fitted to the Scarab automobile - made the Railplane quite luxurious.