The Rebel, The GM&O's Premier Passenger Train To The Deep South

The Gulf, Mobile & Ohio Railroad, famously known as The Rebel Route, gained its celebrated slogan from the small fleet of passenger trains known as Rebels, with the most famous of these trains called simply the Rebel. The GM&O is not well remembered for its passenger services, which is likely due to the fact that it bailed out of the Deep South passenger market in the 1950s due to stiff competition from the Illinois Central and Louisville & Nashville. However, its small fleet of Rebels made enough of an impression that they are still remembered by many in the railroading ranks and those who were lucky enough to ride on them.

Similar to the Chessie System in the east, the Gulf Mobile and Ohio of the Midwest and South was a short-lived railroad whose legend continues to live on today. The GM&O wasn’t created until the early days of diesel power and it was gone by the early 1970s. However, during its roughly 40 years of operation it was a fierce competitor and although always surrounded by giants it held its own in many of the markets it served, which is not surprising as the railroad is also known as The Rebel Route.

The Gulf Mobile and Ohio was actually created to take control of the Gulf, Mobile & Northern and Mobile & Ohio railroads. The GM&N dates back to the mid-1910s when the New Orleans, Mobile & Chicago was reorganized, a railroad which connected Mobile, Alabama with Middleton, Tennessee. The M&O on the other hand was constructed in the late 19th century to connect the Gulf Coast with points north, in this case being St. Louis, Illinois and the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers at Cairo, Illinois.

What became the classic Rebel passenger train actually has its beginnings dating back to GM&O predecessor, Gulf, Mobile & Northern which has the distinction of inaugurating the first Southern streamliner, the Rebel in 1935. While this train may not be as well known as the Super Chiefs or Empire Builders it brought about two drastic upgrades to passenger rail operations. First, the original Rebel was a three-car streamlined “trainset,” similar to that of the Burlington’s famous Zephyr 9900. However, along with including more boxy streamlining than the Zephyr, the Rebel also had the ability to interchange or add cars (unlike the Zephyr and many other articulated, streamlined trainsets debuting around the country during that time which were rigid, semi-permanently coupled trains). The Rebel also featured on board hostesses, perhaps the very first train to introduce such services.

The original three-car Rebel streamliner was built by American Car & Foundry with the power car provided by the American Locomotive Company (Alco). While the train’s initial route served Jackson, Tennessee and New Orleans, in 1942 it was stretched to St. Louis after the merger between the M&O and GM&N, and the trainsets were pulled off line in favor of true, streamlined passenger equipment.

This new train featured a beautiful livery of red and silver with power provided by GE-Alco in the way of a DL-series, slant-nosed diesel locomotive. When the GM&O merged with the Alton Railroad it ordered new, lightweight equipment and furthered its reach to both Chicago and St. Louis.

While the Rebel was the railroad’s most famous passenger train it did provide other services including the Gulf Coast Rebel (St. Louis – Mobile, Alabama), the Abraham Lincoln (Chicago – St. Louis), Alton Limited (Chicago – Mobile), and Ann Rutledge (Chicago – St. Louis). Of note, it should be mentioned that the latter three trains were Alton Railroad services continued on after the merger.

In any event, the GM&O simply could not effectively compete with the more luxurious and faster running times of trains like the Panama Limited and City of New Orleans offered by rival Illinois Central. So, as it were, the GM&O decided to focus more on freight services and less on passenger operations and pulled all of its trains operating south of St. Louis in 1958 (which included all of the Rebel services).

For more reading on streamliners like the Rebel you might want to also consider the book Streamliners: History of a Railroad Icon from renowned author Mike Schafer who covers in detail most of the well-known and remembered “classic” passenger trains to operate in the country. If you have any interest in such you should very much enjoy Mr. Schafer’s book.

Also, for a superb general history of passenger trains consider the book American Passenger Train from Mike Schafer. Using plenty of colored photographs complemented with lots of good information, if you are interested in passenger trains or would like to learn more about them this book will get you started.