CB&Q Suburban Coaches
The Burlington operated extensive commuter service on the “racetrack” out of Chicago Union Station. The volume of trains was one of the reasons three tracks were needed as far west as Aurora. The late 40’s - early 50’s were a time of transition when the Burlington extensively modernized its fleet of suburban equipment. Going into this period, the backbone of the fleet was made up of steel open platform coaches built in the 1920s. In 1949, the Burlington started to rebuild some of these with enclosed vestibules and air conditioning. This program coincided with the purchase of new stainless steel bi-level gallery cars that began arriving in 1950. Some of the former open platform coaches were converted into power cars to supply electricity to the new gallery cars. Lastly, several heavyweight long-distance coaches were also transferred to suburban service. This shuffling of equipment resulted in an interesting variety in suburban service that I wanted to model. This post will focus on the ...