The

Gulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad The Gulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad was a railroad in the Southern United States. The first World War had forced government operation upon the company; and in 1919, when it became once more a free agent, it chose Isaac B. Tigrett to chart its n ...

''Rebels'' were lightweight,

streamlined Streamlines, streaklines and pathlines are field lines in a fluid flow. They differ only when the flow changes with time, that is, when the flow is not steady. Considering a velocity vector field in three-dimensional space in the framework of ...

diesel-electric trains built by

American Car and Foundry ACF Industries, originally the American Car and Foundry Company (abbreviated as ACF), is an American manufacturer of railroad rolling stock. One of its subsidiaries was once (1925–54) a manufacturer of motor coaches and trolley coaches und ...

. The first two trains, purchased in 1935, provided service over the roughly between

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, and

Jackson, Tennessee Jackson is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Tennessee, United States. Located east of Memphis, it is a regional center of trade for West Tennessee. Its total population was 68,205 as of the 2020 United States census. Jackson ...

. The third train, purchased in 1937, allowed service to be added between Jackson and Mobile, Alabama. Unlike other earlier diesel streamliners, these trains were not

articulated An articulated vehicle is a vehicle which has a permanent or semi-permanent pivot joint in its construction, allowing it to turn more sharply. There are many kinds, from heavy equipment to buses, trams and trains. Steam locomotives were sometim ...

, as their normal operation required adding and removing cars from the consist. Gulf Mobile and Northern Rebels

The trains were powered by lightweight, shovel-nosed

power car In rail transport, the expression power car may refer to either of two distinct types of rail vehicle: *a vehicle that propels, and commonly also controls, a passenger train, multiple unit or tram, often as the lead vehicle; *a vehicle equipped ...

s, styled by

Otto Kuhler Otto August Kuhler (July 31, 1894 – August 5, 1977) was an American designer, one of the best known industrial designers of the American railroads. According to ''Trains'' magazine he streamstyled more locomotives and railroad cars than Cr ...

, and equipped with , six-cylinder McIntosh & Seymour 531 prime movers and Westinghouse electric transmission components. The units had an uncommon 2-B wheel arrangement, mounted atop a pair of road

trucks A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...

. The aft section was divided into two separate compartments: one was used to transport baggage and the other served as a small

railway post office In Canada and the United States, a railway post office, commonly abbreviated as RPO, was a railroad car that was normally operated in passenger service as a means to sort mail en route, in order to speed delivery. The RPO was staffed by highly tr ...

, or RPO (the forward door, located just behind the radiator louvers, was equipped with a mail hook). Two of these power cars, numbered 352 and 353, were purchased as part of the 1935 order, along with three buffet-coach cars, and two sleeper-observation cars. Normal operating procedure was for a northbound train to leave New Orleans with two coaches and an observation car. Due to lower ridership on the northern portion of the route, one of the 2 coaches would be removed from the northbound train at

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the capital of and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, along with Raymond. The city had a population of 153,701 at t ...

, and the train would continue on to Jackson, Tennessee as a 3 car consist. The southbound train would add the extra coach during its own stop at Jackson, Mississippi. The 1937 order included a third power car, and 2 coach-sleepers. This third power car was numbered 354, and though it had additional air intakes in the carbody, mechanically it was identical to the other two. It ran from Mobile, to

Union, Mississippi Union is a town in Neshoba and Newton counties, Mississippi. The population was 1,988 at the 2010 census. Geography Union is located at (32.571320, -89.118118). Most of the town is in Newton County with a portion extending north into adjacen ...

with a single coach-sleeper, which was added to the northbound mainline train from New Orleans. It then returned to Mobile with the coach-sleeper from the southbound train. Due to low ridership and wartime exigencies, this run was cut off on April 28, 1942. While the original Rebel served New Orleans and Jackson, after the merger of the GM&N and Mobile and Ohio to create the

Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad The Gulf, Mobile and Ohio was a Class I railroad in the central United States whose primary routes extended from Mobile, Alabama, and New Orleans, Louisiana, to St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri, as well as Chicago, Illinois. From its two ...

in 1942, the trains route was extended to St. Louis. At this time, it was converted to full-sized equipment hauled by DL-105 locomotives (see

ALCO DL-109 The ALCO DL-109 was one of six models of A1A-A1A Diesel locomotives built to haul passenger trains by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) between December, 1939 and April, 1945 ("DL" stands for Diesel Locomotive). They were of a cab unit de ...

) which were also styled by Otto Kuhler. The powercars were scrapped in 1962.

Footnotes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rebel (Train) 2-B locomotives Rebel power cars American Car and Foundry Company North American streamliner trains Scrapped locomotives Passenger trains of the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad Named passenger trains of the United States Railway locomotives introduced in 1935 Diesel locomotives of the United States Night trains of the United States

See also

Footnotes

References