John,
Many of the fan trips of the '60s and '70's that I've been on used baggage cars for the patrons to use for photography or audio recording. Sometimes the railroad would provide cars out of revenue service and a quick retrofit of 2 x 8s across the open doorways were all that was needed to accommodate safety regs back then.
On the GTW 4070 Cuyahoga Valley Line we used a baggage car for a snack bar and souvenir car. Of course during the evening hours this car would be lighted. If you are specifically modeling a fan trip you should have the baggage doors open and boards put across the opening, lots of people inside and the lights on. Preiser makes a set of figures with cameras that you could have hanging out over the boards to represent the "fans."
Now for the real railroad operations there was usually a "working" baggage car where the passenger's baggage would be kept during a run along with railroad mail and certain priority express shipments. Sometimes this car would have the lights kept on for the convenience of the station crews that would "work" the car. The majority of "head end" cars were for mail storage (bulk shipments) or for newspaper and periodical shipments and other express and parcel post. These cars would be dark. Of course any working RPO car would be well lit.
Ed
Our club is housed in an ex New Haven HW baggage car from 1905. It did have a string of lamps in it 40 years ago when the club acquired it. I am not sure if the car was built with lights. They may have been added later.
Pete
I pray every day I break even, Cause I can really use the money!
I started with nothing and still have most of it left!
Back in the '70s, when CN was running the 6060 on regularly-scheduled passenger trains (replacing RDCs on Wednesdays and Saturdays during the summer months between Toronto and Niagara Falls), a baggage car was included for sound recording and photography.
This photo is of an excursion run, for the NRHS, I believe, but also includes a similar open baggage car:
...and this is a shot which I took on one of the regularly-scheduled trips:
Wayne
My guess would be a baggage car in a modern excursion train carrying tools probably wouldn't have the lights on. In a train "back in the day" I would assume the lights were on at night regardless of whether anywone was in there or not. I believe back in the heavyweight days, it wasn't unusual for there to be a baggage car attendant, with a desk, chair and lamp in one corner of the car. Just keeping an eye on things and seeing nothing got stolen and such. I'm sure that would be particularly true if the car was carrying express parcels along with regular baggage. (Sometimes the desk would be a workspace for the conductor.)
FWIW the "Friends of 261" passenger car line-up includes a baggage car that's usually spotted in the middle of the train for selling snacks and souveniers. There are bars welded across the door openings from about waist height and down, so the sidedoors can be left open for people to take pics and get a face full of bugs if they wish.
.
I would venture to guess the lights would only be on (for any baggage car) when the car is inhabited. The rest of the time would be lights off. Note that due to the minimum number of windows, most likely the lights would be used both day and night except when doors are open for loading and unloading.
my thoughts, your choices
Fred W
The UP uses baggage cars on their excursions. One is used as a dance car and the other car is used as a tool car.
Why would you have a baggage car on an excursion train?
I am modeling the UP excursion passenger set (modern). And I am currently working on interior lighting for the cars. Should I or should I not light the baggage cars?
-J