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Cyrus Osborn
Cyrus Osborn (August 27, 1897 – November 15, 1968) was a manager at General Motors in the 1930s and 1940s. He is best known for inventing the railroad dome car in 1947. Born in Dayton, Ohio, Osborn served in World War I and graduated from the University of Cincinnati with an M.E. degree in 1921. Osborn then started as an apprentice with Dayton Engineering Laboratories (a division of General Motors). He rose through the ranks to manage G.M.'s overseas division, and then became the second in command at G.M.'s Opel division in Germany in 1936. His leadership of Opel from 1937 to 1940 was marked by increasing controversy as tensions between the United States and Germany increased prior to the outbreak of World War II.Henry Ashby Turner, ''General Motors and the Nazis'' (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005). This is based on extensive correspondence with and about Hoffman in the records of Vauxhall Motors, VX 006466-850 Osborn was elected a vice president of the corporation in 1943. H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dome Car
A dome car is a type of railway passenger car that has a glass dome on the top of the car where passengers can ride and see in all directions around the train. It also can include features of a coach, lounge car, dining car, sleeping car or observation. Beginning in 1945, dome cars were primarily used in the United States and Canada, though a small number were constructed in Europe for Trans Europ Express service, and similar panorama cars are in service on Alpine tourist railways like the Bernina Express. In North America, dome cars were manufactured by the Budd Company, Pullman Standard and American Car & Foundry. Southern Pacific Railroad built its own dome cars in its Sacramento, California, shops. In the 1990s Colorado Railcar began producing dome cars. Generally, seats in the dome were considered "non-revenue" like lounge car seats. Configuration A portion of the car, usually in the center of the car but offset towards one end, is split between two levels. The offset resu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
