Mt. Broderick Pullman Car facts for kids

MT. BRODERICK Pullman Lounge-Obs-Sleeping Car
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location in Kentucky Show map of Kentucky Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Location	136 S. Main St., New Haven, Kentucky
Built	1926
Architect	Pullman Company, Chicago, IL
Architectural style	Railroad Car
NRHP reference No.	97001345
Added to NRHP	November 18, 1997

The Mt. Broderick Pullman Car is a special historic train car. It's so fancy, people called it a "four-star hotel" on wheels! You can find it today at the Kentucky Railway Museum in New Haven, Kentucky. This car is so important that it's listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Building the Mt. Broderick Train Car

The Mt. Broderick car was built very quickly in 1926. It took only two months to finish! The Pullman Company factory in Chicago, Illinois made it.

It was one of thirty cars built at that time. The car had ten sleeping sections for passengers. It also had a lounge area with twelve seats. At night, twenty people could sleep comfortably. During the day, up to fifty-two passengers could sit in the car.

Special Features of the Car

The Mt. Broderick was quite heavy, weighing 93 tons. This was partly because it had a special poured concrete floor. This type of floor was unique to this car.

Passengers could relax in the solarium lounge at the back. There was also a handy buffet area for food. Even the restrooms were fancy, with shiny polished brass fixtures.

Traveling on the Southland Route

The Mt. Broderick car was updated in 1935. The solarium was redone to make it even nicer. Also, its old cooling system was replaced. Before, it used crude blown air onto ice to keep cool. The new system was a modern air conditioning unit.

In the 1940s and 1950s, the car traveled on the "Southland" Route. This route was part of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. It made regular stops in big cities like Atlanta, Chicago, Cincinnati, Fort Wayne, and St. Louis.

The Mt. Broderick at the Museum

The Kentucky Railway Museum bought the Mt. Broderick car in 1958. They bought it directly from the Pullman Company. The museum wanted to keep the car looking just as it did when it was in service. So, they used paint and carpet from the Pullman Company for its restoration. The car was also restored again in late 1997.

The Mt. Broderick Pullman Car is one of four special items at the Kentucky Railway Museum. All four are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The other three are the Louisville and Nashville Steam Locomotive No. 152, the Louisville and Nashville Combine Car Number 665, and the Frankfort and Cincinnati Model 55 Rail Car.