| Chicago Burlington & Quincy Railroad 6000, named SILVER PENDULUM, at the Zephyr Pit in Chicago, Illinois on an unknown date, photograph by William A. Raia, Chuck Zeiler collection. I estimate the date at around 1963, based on a photo I shot in 1963 of this car in service in and out of Chicago. This was a relatively rare car, only three were built by the Pacific Railway Equipment Company. This one was built January 1942 as a 60 seat coach. In addition, one was built for the Great Northern, and one for the Santa Fe. The name "Silver Pendulum" was derived from the car's design, which was described in both Railway Age ( Jan. 24, 1942 ) and Railway Mechanical Engineer ( Feb. 1942 ) as; "Pendulum car truck is designed to support the car body 14 inches above the center of gravity and secure easy riding around curves at high speed." There is a photo to go with that statement showing the truck, and it appears that the springs and stabilizers extend upward into the carbody a couple of feet, which probably explains the lack of windows over the truck centers. |