In the United States, Pullman was used to refer to railroad sleeping cars which were built and operated on most U.S. railroads by the Pullman Company (founded by George Pullman) from 1867 to December 31, 1968.
Other Countries
Pullman also refers to railway dining cars in Europe that were operated by the Pullman Company, or lounge cars operated by the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits. Specifically, in Great Britain, Pullman refers to the lounge cars operated by the British Pullman Car Company.
The nickname Pullman coach was used in some European cities for the first long (four-axle) electric tramcars whose appearance resembled the Pullman railway cars and which were usually more comfortable than their predecessors. Such coaches (Russian: пульмановский вагон, tr. pul’manovsky vagon) ran in Kiev since 1907[1][2] and in Odessa since 1912.[3] Since 1920s tramcars nicknamed Pullmanwagen in German ran in Leipzig, Cologne, Frankfurt and Zürich.[4]
Some Western European countries in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, had especially luxurious motor coaches were sometimes referred to as Auto-Pullmans.
In 1963, the luxurious Mercedes-Benz 600 was introduced, with a range including a long wheelbase version called Pullman. Later, stretched versions of regular Mercedes-Benz S-Class cars were also called Pullman.
The translation of the word, “Pullman” in Greek and Italian, is used to refer to a coach bus. In Greek, it would be spelled as “πούλμαν”.
In Latin America, Pullman may refer to a luxury bus as well as to a railroad sleeping car.
If you have played the video game Sid Meier’s Railroads!, you know that players can bid on the “Pullman’s Palace Car” patent. This patent makes “Passengers pay an extra 25% to bask in its comfort.”