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The Budd Company was a 20th-century metal fabricator, a major supplier of body components to the automobile industry, and a manufacturer of stainless steel passenger rail cars, , missile and space vehicles, and various defense products.
The company was founded in 1912 in Philadelphia by Edward G. Budd, whose fame came from his development of the first all-steel automobile bodies in 1913, and his company's invention of the "shot welding" technique for joining pieces of stainless steel without damaging its anti-corrosion properties in the 1930s.
The Budd Company became part of Budd Thyssen AG in 1978, and in 1999 a part of ThyssenKrupp Budd. Body and chassis operations were sold to Martinrea International in 2006. No longer an operating company, Budd filed for bankruptcy in 2014. It currently exists to provide benefits to its retirees.
Budd Company jointly founded, and from 1926 to 1936, held an interest in The Pressed Steel Company of Great Britain Limited (Cowley, England), which built bodies for Morris Motors and others, and Ambi-Budd (Germany), which supplied Adler, Audi, BMW, NAG and Wanderer; and earned royalties from Bliss (who built bodies for Citroën and Ford of Britain). The Budd Company also created the first "safety" two-piece truck wheel, used extensively in World War II, and also built truck cargo bodies for the US military.
Following the introduction of the "unibody" Citroën Traction Avant in 1934 using its technology, Budd developed North America's first mass-produced unibody automobile, the Nash 600. In the mid-1980s, Budd's Plastics Division introduced sheet moulding compound, a reinforced plastic in sheet form, suitable for stamping out body panels in much the same way, and as quickly as sheet metal equivalents are made. The Pontiac Fiero has some exterior SMC body parts manufactured by Budd Plastics – such as quarter panels, roof skin, headlamp covers, and trunk lids.
In 1949, Budd built ten prototype stainless steel R11 rapid transit cars for the New York City Board of Transportation;R-11 Datasheet these were intended for the Second Avenue Subway. The New York Times, March 24, 2007
In the late 1940s, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad sought a way to increase capacity on commuter trains serving Chicago, Illinois, without having to add more cars. Chicago Union Station charged railroads by the length of each train. Budd proposed coaches that were taller than the typical lightweight passenger car while keeping the streamlined car's length of 85 feet but with double the capacity of cars. To address the issue of the conductor collecting tickets without having to climb stairs, the upper level was designed with its center portion open so that the conductor could reach the tickets from upper-level passengers. Rows of individual seats on each side of the car provided the increase in seating capacity.
The unique design of the upper level's open center section led to the cars being called . Burlington approved the design and ordered 30 cars. These cars, built as Budd lot 9679–041, were delivered between August 1950 and January 1951 and not only marked a change in how the commuters were handled but were the first cars in commuter service to have air conditioning. The Burlington retrofitted its earlier cars with air conditioning once the new cars entered service.
With the first of the new commuter cars in service on the Burlington, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway also approached Budd to improve their rolling stock. In September 1952, the Santa Fe placed an order for two two-level prototypes, Budd's Lot 9679–129. Carrying the numbers 526 and 527, they were delivered in July 1954, at which time both were placed into service for evaluation.
These prototypes had seating on both levels, stairs on one end to provide access to single-level cars, a stairway at the center of the car for access to toilets on the lower level, and a side door for passenger access. The lower floor also contained various mechanical and pneumatic equipment that otherwise would be mounted below the floors of single-level cars.
With the two Hi-Level prototypes in service proving to not only meet the needs of line but also being popular with passengers, the Santa Fe again approached Budd with the idea of building additional two-level cars.
Budd developed another generation of cars for Santa Fe in five different configurations: step-down coaches like the two prototype cars, convertible coaches which could have one end of the car converted from the high level on both ends to a step-down car as needed, coaches with both ends of the car having the end door at the upper level's height to provide access to adjoining passenger cars, and dining and lounge cars (with kitchens on the lower level) with partially glassed-in roofs similar to the Big Dome lounge cars that were also built by Budd and delivered around the time the prototype Hi-Level cars were built.
The order for additional cars was placed in March 1955 for 10 68-seat step-down coaches (delivered between December 1955 and January 1956 and numbered 528 to 537), 25 72-seat Hi-Level coaches (delivered between January and April 1956 numbered 700 to 724), six 60-seat bar/lounge/news-stand coaches with 26-seat lower-level lounges (delivered between May and June 1956), and six 80-seat dining cars (delivered between June and August 1956 numbered 650 to 655).
With these cars delivered, the Santa Fe re-equipped the El Capitan, the only coach train operated between Chicago and Los Angeles, and assigned some to the Chicago–Galveston, Texas, Texas Chief line. An additional 12 step-down coaches, numbered 538 to 549, and 12 convertible coaches, numbered 725 to 736, were ordered in November 1962 and delivered between December 1963 and April 1964.
Stainless steel Budd cars originally built for the Canadian Pacific Railway's 1955 train The Canadian are still in service with Via Rail. Since 1951, two formations of six Budd cars operated by Ferrobaires have run a weekly service called "El Marplatense" from Buenos Aires to the ocean-side city of Mar del Plata in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina; they were originally built for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway.
Budd-patented processes and designs were also used in Brazil (by Mafersa), France, and Belgium after World War II to construct SNCF electric-powered multiple-unit cars, Push-pull train suburban trainsets, Wagons-Lits CIWL and even SNCF Class CC 40100, a small class of four-current six-axle high speed electric locomotives for Trans Europ Express service between Paris, Brussels, and Amsterdam and SNCB class 56 EMU.
In Japan, the Tokyu Car Corporation became the licensee of the Budd process and made stainless steel commuter cars like its Series 7000. Mafersa continued to manufacture cars based on Budd designs, building 38 for Virginia Railway Express between 1990 and 1992, some now at Shore Line East. Canadian Vickers and Avco built cars and incomplete knock-down kit (for GE) under Budd license, including the 1980 PATCO Series II cars, Metro-North M-2 Cosmopolitan, and the Arrow II/III/Silverliner IV MUs.
Budd also issued a licence to Australian manufacturer Commonwealth Engineering in Sydney in the late 1950s and 1989 for a variety of projects including the monocoque self steer V set double-decker interurban electric multiple units considered by many to be one of the world's most advanced double-decker designs. Budd's extensive research into the use of stainless steel carries on today in consulting businesses like Bay Rail.
Budd was contracted in 1966 by the PRR and the U.S. Department of Commerce's Office of High-Speed Ground Transportation (prior to the establishment of USDOT) to build the original Budd Metroliner multiple unit cars for luxury high-speed service on the Northeast Corridor. The 50 original cars were delivered in 1967–69. An additional 11 coaches were built for SEPTA but were not put into service until 1972 by Amtrak. The Metroliners have been either retired, rebuilt into coaches without the cabs, or de-powered and used as .
The Silverliner II had a top speed of but ran at up to when the PRR used them on its Philadelphia-Harrisburg service. The Metroliner EMU cars operated at 110 to , but every car was tested to at least , although breakdowns in the system led Amtrak to derate them to . Since their retirement from regular service, Amtrak has used them as cab-coaches.
There were 46 single units and 112 "married" pairs. The pairs were a "mixed marriage" because the odd-numbered car came with General Electric motors and equipment and was permanently coupled to the even-numbered car, which had Westinghouse motors and equipment. One car in this fleet was air conditioned.
These cars were replaced with more modern, air-conditioned M-4 units from 1997 to 1999. Some cars were transferred to the Norristown High Speed Line in the early 1990s. The cars had to be Bogie, because the Norristown line is standard gauge (4' 8½") while the Market-Frankford line is Pennsylvania trolley gauge (5' 2½").
Industrial historian Jonathan Feldman has concluded that Budd, along with other "old-line" suppliers of subway cars, "lacked advanced systems-integration know-how and the skills required to manage complex electrical systems and electronics. Each of these firms had built railroad and subway cars, but modern subway cars became increasingly complicated. Like aircraft and automobiles, they became platforms for electronics."
The stainless steel construction process for the BB-1 was patented in 1942. At the time, stainless steel was not considered practical and only one was built. It logged about 1,000 flying hours while touring the United States and Europe. In 1934, this plane was stripped of its fabric covering and lower wing, and mounted outside the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. The plane was memorialized in the children's book Spirited Philadelphia Adventure by Deirdre Cimino.
During World War II, Budd designed and built the RB-1 Conestoga transport airplane for the United States Navy using stainless steel in many places instead of aluminum. Only 25 were built but after the war, 14 found their way to the fledgling Flying Tiger Line.
Ironically, Budd tried to sell a similar concept to Ford first. In 1961, Budd combined a 1957 Ford Thunderbird body with a 1961 Ford Falcon chassis to produce a sporty convertible. Ford chose to develop its entry into this segment, the Ford Mustang, on its own Falcon chassis.
In 1965, Budd designed and manufactured a front disc brake system for some Chrysler, Imperial, and full-size Plymouth and Dodge automobiles from 1966 to 1968.
Amtrak's 492 Amfleet I and 150 Amfleet II cars were built by Budd in 1975–77 and 1981–83. The Metroliner-based Amfleet body was recycled for use in the SPV-2000, a modernized Diesel engine passenger car which was very problematic, as it had only four buyers: (Amtrak, ONCF, Metro-North and Connecticut Department of Transportation) and was prematurely retired within 15 years. The fallout from the SPV-2000 furthered the company's decline.
In 1978, as Budd began to phase out its railcar business to concentrate on the automotive industry, it was acquired by Thyssen AG, becoming its automotive division in Europe (Thyssen Automotive) and North America (Budd Thyssen). The CTA 2600 series cars were finished in 1987 and were the last railcars to be built by Budd/Transit America.
In the mid-1980s, Budd reorganized its rail operations under the name Transit America. Nonetheless, on April 3, 1987, Budd ended all railcar production at its Red Lion plant in Philadelphia and sold its rail designs to Bombardier Transportation. Many of its engineers joined the staff of Louis T. Klauder and Associates, a local railway vehicles and systems engineering consulting firm.
The Bellefonte Historical Railroad Society has two RDCs in its collection: #5718, built in 1953 for the New Haven Railroad, and #7001, built in 1961 for the Reading Railroad.
The Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad has three operating RDCs, with road numbers 9166, 9167 and 9168.
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