Charter Manufacturing: On the Rails

8/9/2019 Charter Manufacturing: On the Rails

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C H A R T E R

ON THE RAILS


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Cover photo: Imperial Leaf and Golden Moon

at rest on tracks in British Columbia.


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Charter Manufacturing has helped toreopen the book. While other companiesinvest in corporate jets, Charter owns andoperates four railroad cars. It uses themnot as museum pieces or private pleasure,but for business. The cars are rolling salessuites, Charter’s way of showing appreci-ation for its existing customers and solic-iting the attention of new ones. Even inthe select family of private cars owned bybusiness, Imperial Leaf, Golden Moon,St. James Place, and Charter Club arestandouts. Elegantly finished, meticu-lously maintained, and professionallystaffed, the railroad cars are unique incorporate America.

rains have always held a special place in the American imagination. From Casey Jones and John Henry to Te Wabash Cannonball and Te Orange Blossom Spe-cial, railroad heroes and railroad songs are embedded in the nation’s folklore. Gen-erations have been mesmerized by the throb of the locomotive and the musical chantof the Conductor. Countless Americans have found the pleasure of gliding throughopen country to the rhythm of the rails irresistible - irresistible, that is, until theadvent of the automobile and the airplane. In the 1970’s, with the expresswayscrowded and the airports jammed, the romance of railroading seems to belong to avanished age, to a chapter in American history that has long since closed.

Hampton RoadsThe cars began as an outgrowth of theMellowes family’s lifelong interest in rail-roading. Charles Mellowes, who foundedCharter with his father, Alfred, in 1936,was spellbound by the trains he rode asa boy, and all of his early business tripswere made by rail. John Mellowes, whobecame Charter’s president in 1973, wastoo young to experience the golden ageof passenger service, but he inherited hisfather’s love for railroading. Both menrode the train whenever it was practical,and both built extensive model railroadlayouts in their homes.

On the Rails with Charter:

Imperial Leaf

Golden Moon

St. James Place

Charter Club

The Cars & The Co.


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On the Rails with Charter: In 1969 the nation’s railroads petitioned thefederal government for relief, and Congressresponded by creating Amtrak. In 1971 thetangled web of intercity passenger lines wascondensed into one national system, funded

by riders and the tax-paying public. Amtrakhas provided both locomotion and stationspace for Charter’s cars since its inception,and the relationship has been a good one forboth parties.

Imperial Leaf and Golden Moon

Railroad off icials, the car’s intended audi-ence, were in their element on HamptonRoads; they were appreciative, but hardlyoverwhelmed. It was the non-railraodcustomers who found the car captivating.Some had never been on a tra in, but prac-tically everyone, it seemed, had stories

to tell about railroad men in the family.

Te leap from model railroads to the realthing was made in the late 1960’s. Charterwas already well-established in the eldsof shaped wire and wire products, and itwas fast becoming the country’s leading

manufacturer of lock washers. In 1968Charter purchased National Lock Washerin Newark, New Jersey, whose major prod-ucts included track joint washers used bydozens of American railroads.

In 1970, after months of shopping, thecompany bought Hampton Roads, a

World War I-vintage business car ownedby the Southern Railroad. Alreadyequipped for executive travel and enter-taining, Hampton Roads required littleinterior work, but the car did need newbearings, couplers, and a new coat ofpaint. When the refurbishing was com-pleted, Charter’s first car went out on the

rails to meet Charter’s customers.

he company’s entry into railroadingcoincided with the demise of private pas-senger service. he railroads enjoyed abrief renaissance during the “streamliner”era following World War II, but passen-ger revenue declined with every car and

airplane that rolled out of the factories.

Cabinet, Imperial Leaf

Imperial Leaf

Golden Moon

St. James Place

Charter Club

The Cars & The Co.


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After a meal on Hampton Roads, cus-tomers left the car fascinated, a clear signthat trains had lost none of their romance.More important from a business view-point, they left with the name “Charter”

etched indelibly in their memories.

As the car became a more important busi-ness tool, it also began to seem cramped.Space is at a premium on every railroadcar, particularly if its uses combined cook-ing and dining with sleeping and relaxing.Imperial Leaf, purchased from the North

Western Rai lroad in 1971, was a sleepingcar that had seen service on the UnionPacific and the Southern Pacific as wellas the North Western. It was, like its sis-ters, a Pullman - the American standardin carbuilding. Imperial Leaf was thename Pullman used to designate a fleetof eighteen cars with the same floor plan

- four bedrooms, four compartments, andtwo drawing rooms.

Built in 1942 and retired in 1965, Impe-rial Leaf was one run away from the scra-pyard when Charter acquired it. he carwas dispatched by slow freight to Omaha,where a rebuilder overhauled or replaced

the braking system, the trucks (wheel Dining Room, Imperia l Leaf

Lounge, Imperial Leaf


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assemblies), and the heating/coolingsystem. One end of the car was cut away tocreate an open platform, and a new interiorwas roughed in; featuring an observationlounge, two bedrooms with baths, a draw-

ing room, a dining room, and a kitchencomplete with pantry. Te rebuilt car wasnally hauled to Milwaukee; this time aspart of a high speed passenger train. Impe-rial Leaf found shelter in a shed adjoiningthe plant of Milwaukee Wire Products, aCharter division established in 1948. Localcraftsmen completed the interior work,

installing mahogany woodwork and necarpeting, replating the hardware, renish-ing the furniture, and painting the exteriorin the gray tones of the New York Cen-

tral. In 1972, nearly a year after its closeencounter with the scrapyard, ImperialLeaf was ready to roll.

he Imperial Leaf was designed to run

in tandem with Hampton Roads, but theolder car’s days were numbered. Amtrakissued new requirements for private carsthat made the trucks, springs, and toi-lets of Hampton Roads unacceptable.o make matters worse, another Amtrak

mandate called for aluminum paint andAmtrak striping on private cars. Instead

of rebuilding and repainting HamptonRoads, they decided to sell the car andfind a replacement.

Conference Room, Imperial Leaf

Kitchen, Imperial Leaf


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Imperial Leaf


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On the Rails with Charter: he Golden Moon was purchased f roma collector in 1973. Nearly identicalto Imperial Leaf in age and floor plan,the car had seen years of service forthe Southern Pacific. Like its running

mate, Golden Moon was rebuilt by pro-fessionals, and then fini shed in Milwau-kee. he car’s interior was designed tocompliment Imperial Leaf ’s. Pullman’soriginal layout was replaced by crew’squarters, two drawing rooms withbaths (one featuring a full-size tub),and a lounge whose focal point was a

wood-burning fireplace. Guests couldmove through the cars at a leisurelypace, beginning with refreshments inthe Leaf ’s observation lounge, proceed-ing to a meal in the car’s dining room,and ending with coffee and drinks inthe lounge of the Golden Moon.

With its rolling stock in orderby the middle of 1974, Charter

continued its visits to cities wherethe company did business.

Bedroom A, Golden Moon

Golden MoonImperial Leaf

Golden Moon

St. James Place

Charter Club

The Cars & The Co.


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Bar, Golden Moon


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Imperia l Leaf and Golden Moon spent110 days on the road in 1975, theirfirst full year together, and Charterdeveloped an operating schedule thathas changed lit tle over the years. he

cars are busiest duri ng the spring andfall months. In the depths of winterand the vacation months of summer,they spend most of their time in Mil-waukee’s Amtrak depot. A typicalyear ’s itinerary might include one ortwo weeks in Chicago, five or six inAnn Arbor (Detroit), four in Cleve-

land, and stays of a week or two inPittsburgh, Indianapolis, Boston,New York, Philadelphia, Washing-ton, D.C., Atlanta, Los Angeles,Kansas City, Dallas, Janesville, Seat-

tle and St. Louis.

Charter’s railroad cars gradually becamean institution, and business associatesacross the country looked forward totheir visits eagerly. As the cars beca memore popular (and their calendars morecrowded), Charter found itself without

a car at home for half the year. Shorttrips and local entert aining were out ofthe question.

Bar, Golden Moon


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Golden Moon


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On the Rails with Charter: St. James Place and Charter Club

he solution was a third car, St. JamesPlace, which Charter purchased from acollector in 1985. Built by Pullman in

the early 1950’s, it was an eleven-bed-room sleeper that served the IllinoisCentral until 1971. Its Pullman namewas Belleville, which no one at Charterfound attractive in the least. he car wasrechristened St. James Place.

Like its sisters, the St. James was refur-

bished inside and out before it entered ser-vice. he Milwaukee Rail Car Companyrebuilt or replaced the running equip-ment and chipped away at the interioruntil St. James Place looked like a bag-gage car. A new floor plan was roughedin, with an open rear platform, observa-tion lounge, three bedrooms with baths,

crew’s quarters, dining room, kitchen,and pantry. he finish work was com-pleted in the railcar garage alongside Mil-waukee Wire Products. Amtrak certifiedthe car fit for high-speed travel in springof 1987 and, after a series of shakedownruns to Chicago, St. James Place went towork for Charter at summer’s end. After

nine years of service in the summer of able Setting, St. James Place

Serving Bar, St. James Place

Guages, St. James Place

Imperial Leaf

Golden Moon

St. James Place

Charter Club

The Cars & The Co.


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Lounge, St. James Place


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more complicated than a large house. Itmust have self-contained systems for heat-ing, cooling, plumbing, ventilation, watersupply, electricity, and waste disposal.Positive air pressure must be maintainedat all times to avoid sucking in dust anddirt from the roadbed. A ll of a car’s oper-ating systems must consume an absoluteminimum of space, and they must be ableto withstand extremes of temperatureand constant rolling at speeds that regu-larly exceed seventy miles per hour.

Learning as they went, Charter crewsmade more than one mistake as theytried to bring each car to peak operatingcondition. he task was complicated bychanges along the nation’s railroad tracks.he disappearance of steam connections

in depots required diesel generators toprovide electricity. he demise of twice-daily water stops required larger storagetanks. New regulations required biologi-cal and chemical treatment of wastewaterbefore discharge to the ground. he con-stant revisions and the frequent repairshave been costly and time-consuming,but Charter is committed to keeping itscars up-to-date and on the road.

1996 it was decided to enlarge the loungeon St. James Place to accommodate eightpeople. Changes to the kitchen were alsomade at the same time to enhance thequality of food service.

o the average layperson, a railroad carmight seem fairly straightforward: a steelbox suspended over steel wheels. heaverage passenger car is, in reality, much


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St. James Place


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With the success of its three magnificentrail cars gaining momentum, CharterManufacturing turned its sights towardsacquiring a running mate for St. JamesPlace. During its search, the companydiscovered the perfect dome coach to addto its private f leet. Inaugurated in 2003 asthe Charter Club, the origin of this coachdates to the 1950s when it began as a partof Union Pacific (dome coach #7003). Bythe 1970s, it moved to Auto rain, andthen sold to the C P Huntington chapterof the NRHS. Stairway, Charter Club

Upper Level Dome, Charter ClubImperial Leaf

Golden Moon

St. James Place

Charter Club

The Cars & The Co.


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Lounge, Charter Club


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Purchased by Charter in 2001, theCharter Club underwent an exten-sive rebuild by Avalon Rail, rais-ing it to the same superb standardsset by its sister cars. With carefulemphasis placed on true elegance andexquisite craftsmanship, the CharterClub complements St. James Placevery well, offering the perfect loungeambiance for relaxation and enter-tainment before or after din ner.

Lower Level Lounge, Charter Club


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Charter Club


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Te Cars and Te Company

Since St. James Place entered service,Charter’s guest list has grown even morerapidly. On the road for months at a time,

the railroad cars have undoubtedly raisedCharter’s profile among the industriesit serves. Like the Goodyear blimp, thecars are an easily recognizable corporatesymbol and a very effective medium ofcorporate good will.

Consistent quality - an outgrowth of

custom engineering, employee pride,and superior service - has been the com-pany’s overriding concern for more th anfifty years.

he railroad cars are therefore muchmore than window dressing. Like thecompany, they are unique, something out

of the ordinary. Charter has always pros-pered by following a unique philosophy ofbusiness, one that blends the fiscal rigorof a public company with the flexibilityof a family-owned company. he resultshave been anything but ordinary. Likethe company, the railroad cars embody anemphasis on quality. Charter has always

insisted on the best in its technology, its

work force, and its service to customers.What Charter’s guests see in the cars isreflection of the company they repre-sent. But they see something more aboardImperial Leaf, Golden Moon, St. JamesPlace, and Charter Club. Visiting thecars is a brush with history, an experiencethat brings back the lost pleasures of thegolden age of railroading.


Imperial Leaf

Golden Moon

St. James Place

Charter Club

The Cars & The Co.


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Ann Arbor Station


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Charter’s collection of railroad tablewareis like frosting on a very fine cake. he chi naand silverware on the cars m ake up one of t he

finest private collections in the country.


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Charter Manufacturing Company produces steel wire andproducts made from wire for the automobile and other

industrial markets. It operates eight plants including t wointegrated steel mills and employs over 1,300 people.(2006)

CHARTERMANUFACTURING COMPANY, INC.

“You can have th e finest facilities and the finest food anywhe re , but if your produc ts don’t do the

job fo r your cu tome r, it do es n’t mean a th ing”

– Charles N. Mellowes


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ON THE RAILSGOLDEN MOON IMPERIAL LEAFST. JAMES PLACE CHARTER CLUB

Documents

Charter Manufacturing: On the Rails