the ferdinand magellan - Florida Online Journals

THE FERDINAND MAGELLAN
The Only Pullman Car Built
for the Exclusive Use of a President
is One of Broward's National Register Sites
By Blick Price
Th e Ferdinand Mag ellan is owned and proudly
displayed in Fort Laud erdale, Florida , by the Gold
Coast Railroad . a non-profit organization of volunteer
railroad enthusias ts. It is uniqu e among Pullman cars:
it is th e only one ever custom-built for th e exclusive
use of the President of the United States. Originally
constructe d by th e Pullman Company in 1928. it was
one of th e last private cars ever built . and one of a
group of six conventional private cars nam ed afte r
famou s explorers. They were , in addition to the
Magellan. th e David Livingstone. Henry Stanley.
Marco Polo. Rob ert Peary . and the Roald Amundsen .
These cars wer e all placed in general Pullman service
at about the sam e time. and wer e owned and oper ated
by th e Pullman Company.
Mr. Price is a mem ber of th e Gold Coast Rai lroad and
is largely re spon sible fo r th e acquisition and preserva tion of th e Ferdin and Magella n. His article app ears
here with the permission of th e Railroad.
" Let' s make it a littl e more comfortable," was
President Roosevelt 's comment to Mike Reilly. So, at
Calum et , the number of staterooms was reduced from
five to four , creating more room in the dining room
and observation lounge. Steel armor plate , fiveeig hths inch thick , was riveted ont o th e sid es , floor ,
roof and en d. Three inch , bullet-proof glas s replaced
conventional safety glass in the windows. Two escape
hat ches were constructed - one in the ceiling of the
obser vation lounge one on the side near th e center of
the car , abov e the shower bath. Special trucks , wheels
and roller bearings wer e installed to support th e
additional weig ht. A standard, heavy-weight Pullman ,
of the type built prior to World War II, weighed
160,000 pounds. The rebuilt Magellan weighs 285 ,000
pounds . or 142'/ 2 tons .
Until lat e 1942. the President of th e United States
rode in a standard. private Pullman whe n he traveled
by train. He did not ride in a specific car. alth ough the
Roald Amundsen was frequentlv assigned to him .
Whit e House aide s Micha el Reilly and Steve Earl y felt
that the Chief Executive should have a custom-built
railroad car - one that would afford maximum
protection when he tr aveled by rail. President Franklin
D. Roosevelt approved of the idea when he was told
that su ch a car would be not only for his use . but for
the use of future Presidents as well. The Ferdinand
Mag ellan was chosen to become U.S. Car No.1. So, in
1942 , it was withdrawn from general service and
ret urn ed to Pullman 's Calumet shops near Chicago for
complete rebuilding. The only Pullman car ever to be
owned outright by th e United States Government . the
Magellan was to become the traveling home of three
Presidents - Roosevelt, Truman , and Eisenhower thus assuring for itself a place in our nation's history.
Th e car, painted original Pullman green, is 83'/ 2
feet long, 14 1/ 2 feet high, and 10 feet wide . Inside . on
either side of the front entrance aisle, are refrigerators. an ice hatch, and storage compart me nts .
Next is the galley. pan try, and serv ant s' qu arters , th e
latt er containing small upper and lower berths , a
lavatory and shower, and a small closet. Overhead are
hot and cold water storage tanks , air conditioning
app ar atu s, blowers, and fan s .
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The dining and conference room on the Magel/an has bee n painstakingly restored to its former elega nce . All the furniture is original.
The elegant dining room or conference room is
the largest room in the car . It contains all the original
furniture, including a beautiful solid mahogany table ,
thirty-eight by seventy-two inches, which seats eight.
Matching chairs are upholstered in a green and gold
striped satin da mask. Wall candelabras and chandeliers are gold- plated . The four china cabinets and
eleven buffet drawers are felt- lined. 1 11 ~ walls are
paneled in limed oak, and the ceiling is : -ory, etched
in antique gold .
The two center rooms , C and B, form the
Presidential Suite, with a connecti ng ba throom
betw een . Sta teroom C is th e Presidential Stateroom ,
paint ed a blue-green , with matching deep-pile carpet ,
and satin-chrome fixtures . The lower be d is a
permanent one, slig htly larger than a conve ntional
Pullman berth. An upper berth pulls down fro m
above . Stateroom B, for the First Lady, is tastefully
decorated in shades of peach and beige, with satinchrome hardware. It is equipped with a full-sized,
permanent bed, vanity table, closet, wash bas in and
cabinet. The connecting room has a bath tub and
shower , toilet, wash basin, and cabinet, with bright
chrome fixtures, and a black -and-white check linole um
floor .
Between the dining room and observation lounge
are fou r staterooms , D, C, B, and A. Guestrooms D
and A are ide ntical; each contains an upper and lower
berth , toilet, closet, vanity table , chair, and medicine
cabin et above the wash basin. Both are carpeted in
dark green, with light green walls and brass electrical
fixtures and hardware.
The luxurious, twe lve-foot observation lounge is
spacio us and restful. It has soft crea m woodwork, with
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Outside ar e many special devices . For example.
un de r th e ca r are sixteen lockers for ca rrying
110-220VA C / 32VDC electrica l rectifier s. te lephone
equip me nt . p ublic address a mplifiers. AC / DC e lectr ical inpu ts . a standby air compressor for the
plumb ing system. batteries . and six tho usand pounds
of ice for the air conditioning . To cool the car. a water
pump forces ice water through cold coppe r tubing up
to a ceil ing eva porator. whe re blowers force cool air
out th rough ce iling ventilat or s which run the len gth of
th e interior . Thermostats contro l the te mpe rat ure .
Durin g operation . st eam gen era ted in the locomotive .
travel s in pipes un der the car and is used for heating
in the winter . as well as for hot water for the sta terooms
and galley. The main water ta nk holds 274 ga llons .
an d th ere are seven air sto rage ta nks for t he brakes.
plumbing and air conditioning . Two se ven and a ha lf
kilowat t, thirty-two volt DC, axle -driven ge nerators
produ ce th e necessary electr icity to charge the
batteries when the car is movi ng .
green ea rpet ing . Walls are pad ded a nd tufted in an
att rac tive ligh t b rown mat eri al resembling leath er. All
th e furn iture through out th e ca r is orig ina l. In th e
loun ge are two ba rr el chai rs and a sofa . uph olstered in
medium blue. and four arm chai rs in brow n. Eig ht
windows and sixteen light fixtures in the ceiling
illum ina te the lounge . Although portio ns of the
interior have been repainted as part of the Gold Coast
Railr oad ' s mainten an ce prog ram. all paint has bee n
care fully matched with the original colors. so the de cor
rem ains un ch ang ed.
Eac h room has a telep hone . Wh e n the President ia l train was standi ng. the telephone system was
connec te d to a tra ins ide out let. Wh e n t he train was
traveling. communicat ion was handled by Signa l Cor ps
per sonn el in Communications Car # 140 1. a converted
B&Obaggage car. The ope n-end. brass- ra iled plat form
was oft en used by th e Presid ent as a podiu m for
speech-ma king . It has five microp hone connect ions for
the public address sys tem and for rad io broadcasting.
On the roof abov e th e platform are pe rma ne nt loud speakers . wh ich carrie d the speeches to th e crowds .
Outp uts for additional sp eaker s . as well as for
te lep hon es. are in sma ll boxes on eithe r sid e of th e
observation pla tform .
The rebuilt M ag ellan was presented to President
Franklin D. Roosevelt on Decembe r 18. 1942. exactly
fourteen years to the day from th e date it was
outs ho pped. For security reas ons du rin g World War II.
only the word " Pullman " appea re d on the outside. so
Though it lacked any distinguishing marking s. U.S. Car No. t was equipped with a variety of features which set it apart from other Pullmans. The rear platform was provided with microphone s , spea kers, and a built-in podium .
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that from a distance this rolling fortress looked just
like an ordi nary private railroad ear. Whenever it was
par t of a tra in. however . the train moved under the
code word POTUS. meaning President of th e Unite d
States . Every railroad knew that POTUS had th e righ t
of way over all ot her railroad traffic .
last car, into which th e casket was placed by removing
a side window. The heavy, bullet-proof glass in th e
M agellan could not be re moved . Consequentl y. the
M agellan was not used as the funer al car.
After having been leas ed to th e Unite d States
Government by the Association of Ameri can Railroads
since 1942, th e M ag ellan was sold to the Government
in 1946 for $10.00 . and th ereafter carried th e official
design ati on of U. S. Car No. I. The actual cost of th e
car has never been revealed .
To lessen th e chances of sabotage during Wor ld
War II. the car did not have a permanent location in
Washington . D.C. It was moved aro und when not in
use and was stored variously on a sid ing at
Washington' s Union Stat ion. the Potomac railroad
yards . the Naval Gun Factor y at the Navy Yard . and in
the sub -basement of the Bureau of Engraving and
Prin ting. At the Navy Yard. a specia l elevator was
insta lled on the observation platform to enable
President Roosevelt to board the car from a wheelchair . This elaborate device was rem oved after
Roosevelt's death .
President Harry S. Truman perhaps traveled in
the Ma g ellan more than Roosevelt. In his famous 1948
barnstorming campa ign alone , Truman covered 21.000
miles and delive red more than 300 speeches from the
rear platform. Unlike Roosev elt. Truman preferred
speeds up to eighty miles per hour. According to a
letter from President Truman , th e heavy car "gave
nigh tmares to every railroad engi neer in the country
who had to pull it on the back of his train."
On Janu ary 9. 1943. a five-car tra in was qu ietl y
assembled in Wash ington. The President's Navy mess
attendants from the yacht Potomac were summoned to
perform th e services ordinarily render ed by Pullm an
porters . Officials in charge of makin g up thi s speci al
train were told not to issue any instruc tions that would
cause specul ation. The train left Washington at 10:00
P.M. with President Roosevelt aboard the Magellan,
and traveled north . ostensibly to Hyde Par k. However ,
it wen t only as far as Fort Meade . Marylan d. An hour
later, it headed so uth . Thus be ga n the first leg of
President Roosevelt' s jou rney to the now-famous
Casab lanca Conference . Before daw n on January 11.
1943. the tra in arrived in Miam i at S.W . 27th Avenue
and Dixie Highway via the Florida East Coast Railway.
Her e. the President was dri ven by car to Dinner Key,
whe re he boarded a seaplane for Africa . The train the n
left for Jacksonville , but retu rned again at 8:00 A. M .,
Ja nuary 26. At 6:00 P.M .. on the 30th, the tra in left
Miami for the re turn trip to Washington, with
President Roose velt aboard . A report of this trip by
the Pu llman Special Agent-Inspector, the late P.
Clifto n Dar cey, is on display in the car . Twe nty-t hr ee
years later, Mrs. Darcey wrote: " . .. I remember the
trip so well. I didn't hear from him for almost a month.
After he was gone about five days, the White House
called me and said if 1 had to get in touch with him to
call the m. They would get word to him in five minu tes.
I never knew where he had been until I found the
report, as 1 ne ver asked any question s about any of
th e trips . .. "
Th e third and last President to occupy U. S. Car
No.1 was Dwight D. Eisenhower. who used it ver y
littl e . He did us e it occasionally on trips to
Philadel ph ia , once on a trip to upstate New York, and
also on a state visit to Canada in November 1953 to
address the Canadian Parliament at Ottawa. The last
tim e th e Mag ellan was used officiall y was in 1954,
when Mrs . Eise nhower went fro m Was hington, D.C.
to Grot on. Conn ecti cut to christen the world's first
atomic submarine, Nautilus. After th at, the car stood
idle for four years.
It was declared surplus Government property in
April 1958 and was transferred to th e U. S. Army 's
Fort Holabird in Maryland , ending sixteen years of
officia l service. All Army records of the car were
ordered destroyed six months later. The radio,
telepho ne, and publi c address equipment were
removed and sold as surplus , but the historic car iself
was eagerly sought after by th ose who knew about it.
It was not until 1958 that a member of the Gold Coast
Railr oad read abo ut t he car in a railroad trade
pub lication . Losing no time , the founders of the Gold
Coast Railroad, a Senator from the State of Florida.
and th e President of the Unive rsit y of Miami became
interested parties. Negotiations re sulted in the United
States Government transferring the Magellan to the
Florida Development Commission, who, in turn , gave
the ca r to th e University of Miami. The General
Servic es Administration valued the surpl us car at
$80,2 77.53, exclusive of its value as an historical
property.
Roosevelt cove red abo ut 50,000 miles in th e
Magellan. preferring to travel at thi rty-five miles pe r
hour . This car was part of the eighteen -car funeral
trai n that carried th e President's body from Wa rm
Springs, Georgi a, to Hyde Park, New York, April
13-15, 1945. Mrs . Roosevelt rode in the Magellan ,
which was next to the last car. The Conneaut. normally
second from the rear on Presiden tial rain s, was the
On January IS, 1959, the Ma gellan arrived at the
University of Miami' s Campus, nine miles south of
Miam i. where the Gold Coast Railroad was already
giving train rides to th e public in a coach and a
caboose pulled by a full-sized, steam locomotive. Since
1959, the Ferdinand Ma gellan has be en one of the
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main attractions at the Ra ilroad . On
November 13. 1966. the Gold Coast
Railro ad mov ed its operations to Fort
Lauderdale. and shortly th ereafter
outrig ht ownership of th e Mag ellan
pas se d to t he Gold Coast Railroad,
Inc.. a non-p rofit corporation . In 1977
the car was placed on the Natio nal
Regi st er o fHis torical Place s.
STEAM TRAIN
TO THE PAST
at
Eac h year , over 10.000 visitors tour
the Magel lan. Adm issions and do nation s. which are tax-deductible. hel p
pay for maintenance materials. Preve ntive maintenance is performed on
thc ca r eve ry week by unpaid volunteer me mbe rs of the Gold Coast
Ra ilro ad . No attempt is made to
" mod ern ize "
or "i mprove" the
original appearance. All efforts are
toward pre serving it. rather than
cha ng ing it.
FT. LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA
on
The sta te ly Mage llan is prot ected
fro m th e weather now. a nd rests on
con ne ct ing trackage ins ide the Gold
Coast Railroad ' s large te rminal b uilding a t 3398 S.W . 9th Avenue , Fort
Lauderdale, Florida. It is open to
visitors every Sunday afternoon.
{;:{ Operating Full-Size Steam Locomotive
{;:{ Featuring Famous U. S. Presidential Pullman
{;:{ Cabooses, For Children of All Ages
{;:{ Aut hentic, Old-Fashioned Cars
{;:{ Historic Displays In Museum Car
{;:{ Conveniently Located - Close In
IN OPERATION EVERY SUNDAY AFTERNOON
" YEA R ROUND"
SUMMER 1:00 to 5:00 P.M .
WINTER 12 Noon to 4:00 P.M.
HEADQUARTERS
The Gold Coast Railroad has man y attractio ns
othe r t ha n the M agellan . The Railroad also
ope ra tes several steam locomotives and maintains an ext raordi na ry ex hibit of artifacts and
mode ls.
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3398 S.W, 9th AVENU E