102 Miracles Ahead! 



leaders in the railroad industry sought ways to meet this com- 

 petition. In the early 1930*8 William Stout, the Detroit engi- 

 neer, designed the first streamlined, lightweight, gasoline- 

 driven train in the United States for the Pullman Car & Manu- 

 facturing Corporation. The "Railplane" was made of welded 

 steel tubing covered with duralumin, and Stout claimed that 

 tests showed the Railplane truck was one-tenth the weight 

 and two and a half times as strong as the standard railroad 

 truck. Its two 163 horsepower engines gave the Railplane a 

 top speed of ninety miles per hour and it traveled on rubber- 

 lined wheel rims, which absorbed the shock. Sealed windows 

 and forced ventilation assured passengers of a comfortable 

 dust-free ride. 



Several years passed, however, before the railroads began 

 using streamlined and Diesel-motored trains to compete with 

 airplanes, trucks, busses, and private automobiles. But by 1940 

 the United States had the largest number of trains in its his- 

 tory with scheduled runs of sixty miles per hour or more, and 

 freight trains ran half again as fast and hauled more cars. 

 Coaches were more comfortable and attractive than the Pull- 

 man cars used on all the first-class railroads a few years 

 earlier. 



Postwar advances in railroading will eclipse those made in 

 prewar years. Abundant supplies of cheap aluminum and 

 magnesium and new steel alloys, will permit the railroads to 

 rebuild their rolling stock. The ever-busy Henry J. Kaiser 

 announced in May, 1943, that he intends to turn out fast, 

 lightweight railroad cars in the yards where he now produces 

 ships. 



"These yards," he explained, "can be quickly converted to 

 handle railroad equipment. They can turn out welded cars 

 on a mass production basis with speed and economy. We 

 agree," he added, "that our railroads must be rebuilt after the 



