The New Deal's Glorious Green Diamond Streamliner

Above: On May 17, 1936, Audrey Jones, granddaughter of Jesse Jones, head of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC), christened the Green Diamond before it made its inaugural and 294-mile run from Chicago to St. Louis. The RFC provided much funding for the Illinois Central, but funds for the Green Diamond came from the Public Works Administration (PWA). Image from the Dieterich Special-Gazette (Dieterich, Illinois), May 14, 1936, and newspapers.com. Used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: The Green Diamond at a railroad shop. The Green Diamond cost $425,000 to build, was quite fast, and had all sorts of innovative suspension and safety features. Unknown date, location, and photographer. Image scanned from a personal copy and used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: A postcard showing the colors of the Green Diamond and its 5-car arrangement - a power car, a mail & baggage car, two coaches, and an observation lounge. There were many colorful streamline trains during the 1930s, often financed by the New Deal. Why don't we have colorful trains today? Painting by Bob Lorenz, published by Audio-Visual Designs (Earlton, New York), image scanned from a personal copy, and used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: The back of the postcard, explaining a few of the details about the Green Diamond.

Above: From late March through mid-May, the brand new Green Diamond toured many cities. Hundreds of thousands came out to see & tour it. Do we still do stuff like that today, with new trains and locomotives? Image from The Paducah Sun-Democrat (Paducah, Kentucky), April 20, 1936, and newspapers.com, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: The Green Diamond visits another town. Image from the Journal Gazette (Mattoon, Illinois), April 21, 1936, newspapers.com, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: A page from a 1936 fold-out brochure on the Green Diamond, produced by the Illinois Central Railroad and Rand McNally. Scanned from a personal copy, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: Passengers aboard the Green Diamond, from the same fold-out brochure as the previous image. Riders enjoyed air conditioning, extra wide cars, and meals served here, in the observation lounge, or at their regular seats. The Green Diamond ran the Chicago to St. Louis route from 1936-1947, then was renamed the "Miss Lou" and put on a New Orleans to Jackson, Mississippi route. In, 1950 the train was scrapped. As one writer put it, "a rather sad ending for a train that helped pioneer the modern diesel-powered passenger train at a time when times were rough for the country!" (Dan Gunderson, "The Green Diamond Story," The Mid-American, Illinois Central Railroad Heritage Association, Issue No. 1, Volume 2009, p. 23).

New Deal Comet

Above: The Comet train, of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company. The train was financed with a PWA loan. Its initial passenger service run was between Boston, Massachusetts and Providence, Rhode Island. According to the train's Wikipedia page, it ran from 1935 to 1951 (in its later years it ran a more local route around Boston). Photographer and year unknown, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: A photograph of passengers aboard the Comet. A 1935 brochure created by the New York, New Haven and Hartford boasted: "Inside are deep seats of extra width, low, without the need for footrests... indirect lighting... air-conditioning, thermostatically controlled, with the warmed or cooled fresh air entering the car through slots near the ceiling... rubber inserts and insulation to obviate noise and vibration, specially designed shock absorbers... in fact, every device of modern engineering has been employed to make The Comet a thing of grace and beauty... a luxuriously comfortable new-type train." Photo also from the brochure.

Above: A poster advertisement for the Comet, showing the "pencil beam" light used to alert motorists of the Comet's approach. The design of the Comet gave it "an unbelievable rate of acceleration" (David Dietz, "Dawn of the Diesel Age," The Indianapolis Times, September 7, 1935, p. 7). Unknown artist, scanned from a personal copy.

Above: From the New York, New Haven and Hartford's 1935 brochure. Scanned from a personal copy.

Above: The brochure touted the Comet's "Ultra-Modern" design and engineering. Scanned from a personal copy.

Above: The brochure's description of the Comet's speed and safety. Scanned from a personal copy.

Above: Part of a longer article about the Comet, from The Indianapolis Times, September 7, 1935, p. 7. The image seems to highlight the less-polluting nature of the Diesel-electric Comet vs. the traditional smoke-belching steam trains. Image from newspapers.com, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.