Streamliners are streamlined trains. Streamliners could also be:

Hal Roach's Streamliners were a series of featurette comedy films created by Hal Roach that were longer than a short subject and less than a feature film not exceeding 50 minutes in length. Twenty of the twenty-nine features that Roach produced for United Artists were in the streamliner format. They usually consisted of five 10-minute reels.

History

Roach's studio initially produced comedy short subjects but by 1935 sensed that short subjects were on the way out. As the double feature format for cinemas was then popular, when Roach began producing films for United Artists he came up with the idea of a short length film he called streamliners after the public's infatuation with the then modern and fast streamliner trains. The short length gave more room for part of a double feature program.

The price of a streamliner was set at $110,000; with four streamliners being able to produced for the cost of one feature film, yet profits would bring an estimated 50 to 75% more than a single feature.

The Streamliners were a fleet of three streamlined electric multiple units built by the St. Louis Car Company for the Illinois Terminal Railroad in 1948–1949. They operated primarily between St. Louis, Missouri and Peoria, Illinois in the late 1940s and early to mid-1950s. They were the last interurban streetcars manufactured in the United States.

Design

The St. Louis Car Company constructed all three sets. Each equipment set comprised three cars. The cars were constructed of fluted aluminum, painted in royal blue. Each car was independently powered by four 140 horsepower (100 kW) traction motors. Top speed was 80 miles per hour (130 km/h).

Service

The streamliners represented a last attempt by the Illinois Terminal to regain lost passenger traffic and were the first new passenger cars the railroad had ordered since 1918. The Illinois Terminal began teasing the new streamliners in 1947, but did not announce the order until May 1948. Its original plan was to place all three in service between St. Louis and Peoria. The first new train in service was the City of Decatur, which began operating between St. Louis, Missouri and Decatur, Illinois (not Peoria) on November 7, 1948. It was the first through service offered by the Illinois Terminal between those two cities.