Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad "Aerotrain"
General Motors employed lightweight construction and low center-of-gravity concepts in two "Aerotrains" built in 1955, each comprising a futuristic locomotive and 10 cars accommodating a total of 400 passengers. The locomotive style was conceived by GM's automotive designers, but all of the GM's divisions helped design and build this relatively low-cost train, intended to be cheap to operate.
The Aerotrains were tested by the New York Central, Pennsylvania, and Union Pacific railroads in regular passenger service and demonstrated to many others, but none were ordered. The Aerotrains were then sold to the Rock Island in 1958 for suburban passenger service between Chicago and Joliet, Ill., where they lasted for a decade.
The addition of the trains to the Rock Island roster contributed to the railroads "try anything" reputation which produced one of the most diverse motive power and car rosters in Class I railroading. Despite their futuristic appearance, the Aerotrains, whose coaches were basically widened bus bodies, rode poorly at high speed. This problem, together with a lack of switching flexibility for the semi-permanently coupled trains and special maintenance requirements, caused their replacement by double-deck commuter cars on April 23, 1965.
The addition of the trains to the Rock Island roster contributed to the railroads "try anything" reputation which produced one of the most diverse motive power and car rosters in Class I railroading. Despite their futuristic appearance, the Aerotrains, whose coaches were basically widened bus bodies, rode poorly at high speed. This problem, together with a lack of switching flexibility for the semi-permanently coupled trains and special maintenance requirements, caused their replacement by double-deck commuter cars on April 23, 1965.
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Thanks to Lois Jacob for bringing this up on our Yahoo Page.
Hi, I'm not sure how to send this to the Empehi Reunion group and hope it arrives.
Last year I visited the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Apparently this train ran for a short time in 1959. General Motors built it as a prototype commuter train. It sure has reminders of cars/buses of that era. Does anybody remember seeing this train on the Rock Island Line?
Lois Jacob
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