The Little Nugget

Picture Taken 1990

"The Little Nugget" car was built in 1937 by the Pullman-Standard Car Manufacturing Company, as part of the Union Pacific and Chicago & North Western Railroads' "new" passenger train - the Streamliner City of Los Angeles. In its day, this new train represented the zenith in modern railcar design and technology.
Picture Taken 1998

"The Little Nugget", one of the most unique and lavishly appointed railroad cars of all times, served as the club-lounge for the train's first class Pullman passenger. In this luxury capacity, she was host to a veritable Who's Who of international big-businessmen and Hollywood entertainment elite. Celebrities like George Burns, Gracie Allen, and Cecil B. deMille were regular clients in those days before commercial air travel became a popular means of long-distance transportation. First-class trains like the City of Los Angeles and the rival Santa Fe Railway's Super Chief were the most comfortable and stylish ways to travel between the east and west coasts. In 1937, these two famous "extra fare" trains, pulled by innovative "new" Diesel locomotives, made the trip from Chicago to Los Angeles in 39-3/4 hours; nearly 24 hours faster than the standard trains of their day.

"The Little Nugget's" principal claim to fame was its fanciful interior, designed by American artist Walt Kuhn. Created as a publicity draw for the "Hollywood Crowd", the main club room was decked out to resemble an Old West dance hall saloon; complete with Victorian-style furnishings, velvet and lace draperies, and gilded plaster Cherubs. The highlight of the car was a collection of 125 photographs and Kuhn paintings, depicting Vaudeville comedians, clowns, dancers and other footlight favorites. No expense was spared, every detail of the decor was custom-made to Mr. Kuhn's personal specifications.

Retired and donated to Travel Town in 1956, "The Little Nugget" is now one of the very few remaining examples of the pre-World War II streamlined passenger car era. The car's value as an education tool to interpret technological, artistic and cultural aspects of the American experience is outstanding. In fact, in 1990 "The Little Nugget" was designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Landmark. She survives today as a supreme reminder of the grandeur and elegance which was once synonymous with rail passenger travel in America.

RESTORATION GOALS: The goal of the American Southwestern Railway Association, through its Rail Heritage Southwest project, is to cosmetically restore "The Little Nugget" back to the way it would have appeared during its years of passenger service on the Streamliner City of Los Angeles. We wish to preserve and maintain this condition so that future museum visitors can see, learn from, and enjoy this historic part of America's past. With a promising future ahead for the Travel Town complex, it is our goal that "The Little Nugget," together with its companion Streamliner sleeping cars Rose Bowl and Hunters Point, will be enclosed within a climate-controlled museum structure, becoming the focal point of a series of educational exhibits pertaining to this bygone era of American railroad travel. We greatly appreciate your help and support in attaining these goals.