In 1944, while World War II was still in progress, the Chesapeake & Ohio's Michigan affiliate Pere Marquette placed an order with Pullman-Standard for 14 cars to equip two trainsets of a new regional streamliner. The equipment was delivered in 1946 and the new Pere Marquettes had the distinction of being the first all-new postwar streamliners to enter service on August 10 of that year. They also held the distinction of being the first Diesel-powered streamliners on the C. & O. system and the first trains equipped with the ergonomically designed Heywood-Wakefield "Sleepy Hollow" coach seats, giving coach passengers superior comfort. The trainsets consisted of a baggage car, mail car, two coach-lounges, two coach-observations (one at each end, to facilitate turning) and a dining car staffed by waitresses instead of the usual male stewards. The consist was led by a new EMD E7 2,000 horsepower Diesel locomotive. The new equipment was used on the run between Grand Rapids and Detroit, with quick turnarounds at each end to allow two trainsets to cover three round trips per day.

On June 6, 1947 the Pere Marquette Railway was formally merged into the Chesapeake & Ohio system. After the merger, C. & O. would in 1948 assign new equipment from the abortive Chessie streamliner to upgrade the service from Grand Rapids to Chicago. The two services, Chicago-Grand Rapids and Grand Rapids-Detroit, would both share the Pere Marquette name although they would continue to operate with two separate sets of equipment. Eventually, once more new equipment had arrived, the 1946 trainsets would be sold to the Chicago & Eastern Illinois and replaced with C. & O.'s 1610-series coaches. [Thanks to Fritz Milhaupt of the Pere Marquette Historical Society for this valuable supplemental information and for the promotional images which appear above.]