Otto Kuhler
Encyclopedia
Henry Dreyfuss
Henry Dreyfuss was an American industrial designer.-Career:Dreyfuss was a native of Brooklyn, New York. As one of the celebrity industrial designers of the 1930s and 1940s, Dreyfuss dramatically improved the look, feel, and usability of dozens of consumer products...
and Loewy
Raymond Loewy
Raymond Loewy was an industrial designer, and the first to be featured on the cover of Time Magazine, on October 31, 1949. Born in France, he spent most of his professional career in the United States...
combined. His extensive concepts for the modernization of the American railroads have repercussions onto the railways worldwide until today. In addition he was a prolific artist of industrial aesthetics and of the American West in general.
Kuhler became a U.S. citizen in 1928. Eight years before he had married Simonne Gillot, daughter of a Belgian doctor. They had one daughter, Winona married Zabriskie, and one son, Renaldo, who became known as a natural-history museum artist.
Early life
Kuhler was born in RemscheidRemscheid
Remscheid is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is, after Wuppertal and Solingen, the third largest municipality in Bergisches Land, being located on the northern edge of the region, on south side of the Ruhr area....
near Essen
Essen
- Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
as only child into an anvil casters' family. He was determined to study electrical engineering, but returning from an early school exchange with Belgium he showed a conspicuous drawing talent. At age 19 he was commissioned to illustrate a catalog of steam locomobiles. He served in the German Army during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, was suspended because of an automobile accident, but called up again to command a logging railway troop in Belgium where he met his future wife.
Early work
His automobile body design sent in to Kathe & Soehne for a Mercedes chassis won a gold medal in 1913. Employed as a stylist with N.A.G. Berlin he designed movie sets for William Wauer's silent film "The Tunnel" besides, moreover he became associate editor of "Der Motor" magazine and then styled car bodies for Snutsel Père&Fils (Brussels) and European automobile producers. Influenced by the art of PennellJoseph Pennell
Joseph Pennell was an American artist and author.-Biography:Born in Philadelphia, and first studied there, but like his compatriot and friend, James McNeill Whistler, he afterwards went to Europe and made his home in London...
he learned etching after WWI and enrolled at the Academy of Art in Düsseldorf. After emigration to the United States in 1923 he worked as a commercial artist in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His works centered around industrial landscapes, steel works and locomotive building.
Brill Company
Kuhler opened a Manhattan studio in 1928 and using the media promoted streamstyling of the antiquated railroads for more passenger appeal, only to be hit head-on by Black Friday (1929). Three years later he got an assignment at J. G. Brill and Company for Union Pacific RailroadUnion Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....
's competition leading to the streamliner M-10000
M-10000
The Union Pacific Railroad's M-10000, delivered to the railroad on February 12, 1934, at a cost of $230,997, was the first internal combustion engine, lightweight streamlined express passenger train in the United States. The carbodies and interior fittings were built by Pullman-Standard...
and won by Pullman. For Brill he also styled their PCC
PCC streetcar
The PCC streetcar design was first built in the United States in the 1930s. The design proved successful in its native country, and after World War II was licensed for use elsewhere in the world...
trolley prototype for Chicago and later the "Rebel" power cars for Gulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad
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 Ike Tigrett to charter its new course...
. Parent company American Car & Foundry used Kuhler's talents to style its growing line of motorrailers throughout the 1930s culminating in the double-ended rail motor cars for the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway
New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway
The New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway , also known as the Susie-Q, or simply the Susquehanna, is a Class II American freight railway operating over 500 miles of track in the northeastern states of New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. It was formed in 1881 from the merger of several...
in 1940 and for Boston's Metropolitan Transit Authority in 1946.
American Locomotive
American Locomotive Company
The American Locomotive Company, often shortened to ALCO or Alco , was a builder of railroad locomotives in the United States.-Early history:...
(ALCO) assigned Kuhler to its advertising department in 1931 and commissioned him as a design consultant from the following year on. First task was restyling the exterior trim of ALCO's Diesel switcher HH600 that persisted through all following variants. The next task established Kuhler's worldwide fame. The Milwaukee Road wanted a high-speed steam train for the route between Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and Minneapolis where there was much competition. While the cars were built in the company's own shops, the four A class
Milwaukee Road class A
The Milwaukee Road class A comprised four high-speed, streamlined 4-4-2 "Atlantic" type steam locomotives built by ALCO in 1935-37 to haul the Milwaukee Road’s Hiawatha express passenger trains. They were among the last Atlantic types built in the United States, and certainly the largest and most...
locomotives were constructed by ALCO. Kuhler embellished their inverted bathtub look by a carefully colored livery. These Hiawatha
Hiawatha (passenger train)
The Hiawathas were named passenger trains operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad , and traveled from Chicago to the Twin Cities in Minnesota. The original train takes its name from The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow...
trains became the fastest passenger service in the world by 1935. But he had also designed the cars' interior down to the napkins or draperies of the dining car. His finned beaver-tail observation car
Observation car
An observation car/carriage/coach is a type of railroad passenger car, generally operated in a passenger train as the last carriage, with windows on the rear of the car for passengers' viewing pleasure...
of the next generation was sensational, as were again the streamlined second-generation Milwaukee Road class F7
Milwaukee Road class F7
The Milwaukee Road's class F7 comprised six high-speed, streamlined 4-6-4 "Baltic" or "Hudson" type steam locomotives built by ALCO in 1937–38 to haul the Milwaukee's Hiawatha express passenger trains...
4-6-4
4-6-4
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-6-4 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and four trailing wheels on two axles .Other equivalent classifications are:UIC classification:...
passenger locomotives designed by Kuhler. Also he designed the ALCO DL-109
ALCO DL-109
The ALCO DL-109 is one of six models of A1A-A1A diesel locomotives built to haul passenger trains by the American Locomotive Company between December, 1939 and April, 1945...
, the predecessor of world famous ALCO PA
ALCO PA
ALCO PA refers to a family of A1A-A1A diesel locomotives built to haul passenger trains that were built in Schenectady, New York in the United States by a partnership of the American Locomotive Company and General Electric between June, 1946 and December, 1953...
diesel locomotives.
Baltimore & Ohio
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was one of the oldest railroads in the United States and the first common carrier railroad. It came into being mostly because the city of Baltimore wanted to compete with the newly constructed Erie Canal and another canal being proposed by Pennsylvania, which...
magazine Kuhler was instrumental in developing the blue and gray color scheme and the modernized herald of B&O. When B&O turned to streamlining its Washington-New York run Kuhler could finally establish his "bullet nose" design on a steam locomotive that became known as "Kuhler type". The "Kuhler type" locomotive pulled the famous Royal Blue train (as an ultimate compliment Raymond Loewy
Raymond Loewy
Raymond Loewy was an industrial designer, and the first to be featured on the cover of Time Magazine, on October 31, 1949. Born in France, he spent most of his professional career in the United States...
later used a bullet nose on the giant engine S-1 for the New-York World Fair). Since the B&O run ended in Jersey City passengers were transferred to Manhattan by White Motor Co. buses that were styled by Kuhler, too, and provided with a makeshift air conditioning using ice. Kuhler's three-men office (assistants James Henderson Barr and Henry A. Nau) continued to streamstyle steam locomotives of ALCO clients with one exception: New Haven's
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , was a railroad that operated in the northeast United States from 1872 to 1968 which served the states of Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts...
I-5 class 4-6-4 locomotives built by Baldwin Locomotive Works
Baldwin Locomotive Works
The Baldwin Locomotive Works was an American builder of railroad locomotives. It was located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, originally, and later in nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania. Although the company was very successful as a producer of steam locomotives, its transition to the production of...
in 1937. For the Lehigh Valley Railroad
Lehigh Valley Railroad
The Lehigh Valley Railroad was one of a number of railroads built in the northeastern United States primarily to haul anthracite coal.It was authorized April 21, 1846 in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and incorporated September 20, 1847 as the Delaware, Lehigh, Schuylkill and Susquehanna Railroad...
he streamstyled loco plus cars of the John Wilkes and related trains - arguably the most interesting Kuhler locomotive (could be called his "Darth Vader"). As a consultant to the railroads' architectural departments Kuhler helped modernizing nine stations like Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the US state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857...
, of Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad
The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad was a Class I railroad in the United States. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock.-Incorporation:...
or Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
, of the Milwaukee Road.
American Car & Foundry
The onset of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
meant a long term suspension to improvements in passenger comfort. Kuhler styled the diesel loco DL-109
ALCO DL-109
The ALCO DL-109 is one of six models of A1A-A1A diesel locomotives built to haul passenger trains by the American Locomotive Company between December, 1939 and April, 1945...
by ALCO and the New Haven Railroad was allowed by the War Production Board
War Production Board
The War Production Board was established as a government agency on January 16, 1942 by executive order of Franklin D. Roosevelt.The purpose of the board was to regulate the production and allocation of materials and fuel during World War II in the United States...
to order 60 more. Now limitation on railway design and Kuhler's German accent proved to be a disadvantage a sure sign being that he never got paid for his last streamstyling job of a steam locomotive for Southern Railway
Southern Railway (US)
The Southern Railway is a former United States railroad. It was the product of nearly 150 predecessor lines that were combined, reorganized and recombined beginning in the 1830s, formally becoming the Southern Railway in 1894...
- in his own judgment his best design. Finally Kuhler had to abandon free-lancing and to enter a position at American Car & Foundry (ACF) in 1944 where he developed double-deck sleepers, subway cars with standee windows and more. Most of his patents were applied for while at ACF. But in 1947 he was given his notice in one of the many reshuffles at ACF.
Farming and painting
The Kuhlers sold their beautiful home with studio on a hill near Blauvelt, New YorkBlauvelt, New York
Blauvelt is a hamlet , formerly known as Greenbush and then Blauveltville, in the Town of Orangetown Rockland County, New York, United States located north of Tappan; east of Nauraushaun and Pearl River; south of Central Nyack and west of Orangeburg...
, and bought a ranch near Pine, Colorado. Cattle raising and painting the West were now on Kuhler's agenda the fruits of which can be seen in many American museums. The farmhouse burned down and was rebuilt by them. At age 75 he sold the farm and moved with Simonne to Santa Fé, New Mexico, in 1969 to continue painting. Eight years later they moved back to Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
, where Kuhler died at age 83. Currently some of his work can be seen at the Colorado Railroad Museum
Colorado Railroad Museum
The Colorado Railroad Museum is a non-profit railroad museum The museum is located on at a point where Clear Creek flows between North and South Table Mountains in Golden, Colorado....
in Golden, CO.
Kuhler designs
- Automobile bodies for Kathe&Soehne, Austro-Daimler, N.A.G., Snutsel, Delage, Fiat, and Hansa 1913-18
- Streamline concept published for conventional J-1 steam loco of New York Central 1928
- ALCO HH600 diesel switcher (shape kept with following switcher generations like S-1ALCO S-1 and S-3The ALCO S-1 and S-3 were switcher diesel-electric locomotives produced by ALCO and their Canadian subsidiary Montreal Locomotive Works . Basically, the two locomotives differed only in trucks, with the S-1 using ALCO's own Blunt trucks, and the S-3 riding on standard AAR type A switcher trucks...
) 1934 - ACF/ALCO non-articulated power cars The RebelRebel (train)The Gulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad Rebels were lightweight, streamlined Diesel-electric trains built by American Car and Foundry. The first two trains, purchased in 1935, provided service between New Orleans, Louisiana and Jackson, Tennessee. The third train, purchased in 1937, allowed...
for Gulf, Mobile and Northern RailroadGulf, Mobile and Northern RailroadThe 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 Ike Tigrett to charter its new course...
1934 plus more ACF motorailers - J. G. Brill prototype 7001 of PCC streetcarPCC streetcarThe PCC streetcar design was first built in the United States in the 1930s. The design proved successful in its native country, and after World War II was licensed for use elsewhere in the world...
for Chicago 1935 - ALCO Milwaukee Road class AMilwaukee Road class AThe Milwaukee Road class A comprised four high-speed, streamlined 4-4-2 "Atlantic" type steam locomotives built by ALCO in 1935-37 to haul the Milwaukee Road’s Hiawatha express passenger trains. They were among the last Atlantic types built in the United States, and certainly the largest and most...
streamlined steam locos plus HiawathaHiawatha (passenger train)The Hiawathas were named passenger trains operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad , and traveled from Chicago to the Twin Cities in Minnesota. The original train takes its name from The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow...
trains of Milwaukee Road 1935 - Remington Combined Automatic Typewriter and Stand 1936, US patent D103,459
- Color-scheme for Mountaineer Limited of New York, Ontario and Western RailwayNew York, Ontario and Western RailwayThe New York, Ontario and Western Railway, more commonly known as the O&W or NYO&W, was a regional railroad with origins in 1868, lasting until March 29, 1957 when it was ordered liquidated by a US bankruptcy judge. The O&W holds the distinction of being the first major U.S...
1937 - Color-scheme, logo and streamstyled loco P-7 #5304 plus train for B&OBaltimore and Ohio RailroadThe Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was one of the oldest railroads in the United States and the first common carrier railroad. It came into being mostly because the city of Baltimore wanted to compete with the newly constructed Erie Canal and another canal being proposed by Pennsylvania, which...
's Royal Blue and more 1937 - White Motor Co. buses for passenger transfer of B&O
- exterior trim and interior design of subway cars (Pittsburgh Pressed Steel Car Company) for City of Philadelphia
- BaldwinBaldwin Locomotive WorksThe Baldwin Locomotive Works was an American builder of railroad locomotives. It was located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, originally, and later in nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania. Although the company was very successful as a producer of steam locomotives, its transition to the production of...
I-5 class steam locos for Shoreliner of New York, New Haven and Hartford RailroadNew York, New Haven and Hartford RailroadThe New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , was a railroad that operated in the northeast United States from 1872 to 1968 which served the states of Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts...
1937 - ALCO Milwaukee Road class F7Milwaukee Road class F7The Milwaukee Road's class F7 comprised six high-speed, streamlined 4-6-4 "Baltic" or "Hudson" type steam locomotives built by ALCO in 1937–38 to haul the Milwaukee's Hiawatha express passenger trains...
steam locos and Hiawatha trains of Milwaukee Road 1938 with finned observation carObservation carAn observation car/carriage/coach is a type of railroad passenger car, generally operated in a passenger train as the last carriage, with windows on the rear of the car for passengers' viewing pleasure... - Redecoration of doodlebugDoodlebug (rail car)In the United States, doodlebug was the common name for a self-propelled railroad car . While such a coach typically had a gasoline-powered engine that turned a generator which provided electricity to traction motors, which turned the axles and wheels on the trucks, versions with mechanical...
17 (Osgood-Bradley) for Lehigh Valley RailroadLehigh Valley RailroadThe Lehigh Valley Railroad was one of a number of railroads built in the northeastern United States primarily to haul anthracite coal.It was authorized April 21, 1846 in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and incorporated September 20, 1847 as the Delaware, Lehigh, Schuylkill and Susquehanna Railroad...
1938 - Exterior trim and interior design of train Asa Packer for Lehigh Valley 1938
- Streamstyled steam locos K-5 plus train John Wilkes and Black Diamond for Lehigh Valley RailroadLehigh Valley RailroadThe Lehigh Valley Railroad was one of a number of railroads built in the northeastern United States primarily to haul anthracite coal.It was authorized April 21, 1846 in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and incorporated September 20, 1847 as the Delaware, Lehigh, Schuylkill and Susquehanna Railroad...
1939 - ALCO DL-109ALCO DL-109The ALCO DL-109 is one of six models of A1A-A1A diesel locomotives built to haul passenger trains by the American Locomotive Company between December, 1939 and April, 1945...
diesel locos, in part with DL-110 booster 1940; successor PA-1ALCO PAALCO PA refers to a family of A1A-A1A diesel locomotives built to haul passenger trains that were built in Schenectady, New York in the United States by a partnership of the American Locomotive Company and General Electric between June, 1946 and December, 1953...
inherited many features - full-train styling of Gulf Coast Rebel pulled by DL-109 for GM&OGulf, Mobile and Ohio RailroadThe 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...
1940 - Streamstyled steam loco Ps-4 #1380 for The Tennessean of Southern RailwaySouthern Railway (US)The Southern Railway is a former United States railroad. It was the product of nearly 150 predecessor lines that were combined, reorganized and recombined beginning in the 1830s, formally becoming the Southern Railway in 1894...
1941
- Heat insulated food container (company unknown), US patent 2,367,409
- ACF subway car proposal for New York City (built as R11R11 (New York City Subway car)The R11 was a class of New York City Subway cars built by the Budd Company in 1949.Because of their expensive price tag - each subway car cost more than $100,000 - the ten R11 cars are frequently referred to as the Million Dollar Train. From 1964-1965, the ten R11 cars were overhauled in the...
by BuddBudd CompanyThe Budd Company is a metal fabricator and major supplier of body components to the automobile industry, and was formerly a manufacturer of stainless steel passenger rail cars during the 20th century....
), US patent Des.153,367, and for Boston 1947 - Proposal of suspended monorailMonorailA monorail is a rail-based transportation system based on a single rail, which acts as its sole support and its guideway. The term is also used variously to describe the beam of the system, or the vehicles traveling on such a beam or track...
mass transit system for Denver 1948
External links
- The Hiawatha Room at Coffeedrome