The Overland Limited 1915 Consists

[BaltACD]

rcdrye

The typical consist on SP seems to have been RPO, Bag/Buffet, Diner, two 10-2-1 sleepers and the 4-2 obs.  This might seem a bit small, but a medium Pacific could handle it nicely.  Even that small consist would require a helper in the Sierra Nevada.

If that was a typical consist - over the length of the run from Chicago to San Francisco - with all the various crew changes in route - the number of employees required to operate the train would have exceeded the number of paying passengers. 

[rcdrye]

A little further digging in "The Trains We Rode" (Beebe/Clegg) and "Some Classic Trans (Dubin) shows up the following:

Non-Pullmans (Baggage, diner) had Harriman (arch) roofs.  By 1913 cars were steel.  In 1905 they would all be wood.

At least on the SP, the "Overland" carried a baggage-RPO. Photos from the period on UP And C&NW don't show one.  From a mail handling point of view this makes sense, as UP and C&NW had several mail-handling trains.  SP had others, too, but they tended to handle bulk mail.  Baggage-Club would be used for passenger baggage and company items, baggage section on RPO was probably assigned to express operator.  Ownership of express operations changed in the 1900-1915 era, so it was done under different names at various times.

The baggage-club car had no dormitory space, but did have a lighting dynamo, which probably ran off the steam line.  The baggage-club had a barber shop.  Baggage-Club cars and Diners were owned by the participating railroads, but built to the same design. Baggage-Club illustrated in "Some Classic Trains" (with floor plan) belonged to C&NW.

Sleepers in 1913 were 10 section, two Compartment, 1 Drawing Room.  Observation Sleeper was 4 Cpt, 2 DR lounge.

The typical consist on SP seems to have been RPO, Bag/Buffet, Diner, two 10-2-1 sleepers and the 4-2 obs.  This might seem a bit small, but a medium Pacific could handle it nicely.  Even that small consist would require a helper in the Sierra Nevada.

[Deggesty]

I have no definite proof, but I do not think that there was such a thing as a baggage-dormitory car in 1915. All checked baggage would have been in the baggage car.

When baggage-dormitory cars were built, they were used to carry passengers' checked baggage along with providing dormitory space for the on-board service crew (waiter, ccoks, dining car steward, lounge car attendants, etc.) 

In many instances, when dormitory space was not provided for the dining car crew, such employees slept on tables (the tables were not fixed in place but could be moved so as to provide an area large enough for sleeping) in the diner.

[Lindsay_K]

Thank you again, rcdrye. So the order (less the coffee car and the coach cars) would have been the same? Where would passenger baggage been located? I thought that the baggage-dorm car would have housed the crew's baggage and belongings and the passengers would have had a separate car for theirs???

[rcdrye]

No coaches or coffee shop in 1915.  The Overland was extra fare all Pullman.

[Lindsay_K]

I have read previous forum discussions that mention consists for the Overland Limited, but all I could find was this listing from around 1946 (I think) - 

 

1. Mail-Baggage

2. Baggage-Dormitory

3. Coach

4. Coach

5. Coffee Shop

6. Sleeper 12-1

7. Sleeper 12-1

8. Sleeper 10-1-2

9. Diner

10. Lounge

11. Sleeper 8-1-2

12. Sleeper 6-3

13. Sleeper 6-3

 

Can anyone tell me if this would be accurate for the 1915 Overland Limited?

 

Thank you!