The 4-4-0 American became the standard of US railroads in the 1800s pulling 8-foot wide coaches, or 8-foot wide freight cars. Then a man named Pullman changed everything. He built a super-passenger car. 10-feet wide and taller than other passenger cars, it was the ultimate passenger car but no railroad could use it. They were built to 8-foot clearances. Then fate stepped in. President Lincoln was assassinated and the government asked to borrow Pullman's ultimate passenger car to transport the President's body from New York to Illinois.
Pullman said yes, and the railroads then had to raise bridges and fix clearances so the funeral train could pass. The Pullman owned-and-operated car then went into regular service between Chicago and the east coast, soon joined by more Pullman cars.
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