About what decade were the last 36 foot passenger cars in regular use, not counting tourist trains, and what steam locomotives would have pulled them?
Jarrell
History channel showed what appeared to be that length on thier Alcan highway show. Probably late 30's.
EBT had a few shorties probably lasted into the 50's before converting to tourist service.
Ma and Pa had alot of different wooden coaches until about the 40's (WAG here) some of those coaches are in use or being stored at Strasburg.
There wasnt too much concern for what steam engine pulled them but certainly 4-4-0's and things of that nature.
36 ft passenger cars were really only used by one or two railroads, the Sierra RR is the prototype for the MDC shorty cars. They were only used by that one railroad. Most other roads used 50-70 foot coaches. The standard PRR short commuter coach was 54 ft (between the bulkheads) and the standard long distance coach was 70 ft (between the bulkheads) thus the P54/MP54 and the P70.
So the answer to you question is either never, since they weren't commonly used in "regular use" on railroads or the 1950's or 60's when the Sierra stopped carrying passengers.
Dave H.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
Falls Valley RR wrote:History channel showed what appeared to be that length on thier Alcan highway show. Probably late 30's.EBT had a few shorties probably lasted into the 50's before converting to tourist service.Ma and Pa had alot of different wooden coaches until about the 40's (WAG here) some of those coaches are in use or being stored at Strasburg.There wasnt too much concern for what steam engine pulled them but certainly 4-4-0's and things of that nature.
Ma&Pa open platform coaches were used until the 50's. I believe those were all of the 50' body 56' over the open platform length (I don't believe they ever had 36' passenger cars). The last 4-4-0 was scrapped in 1952, but was standby for and used on occasion for the passenger train into 1951. They also used their 4-6-0's for passenger service as well. They had two gas electrics used with a mail baggage car that were the normal passenger trains of the late 40's and 50's. Steam was used into the 50's and on occasion a diesel switcher (NW2) pulled the train on Saturdays - a coach and a mail baggage. The mail contract was terminated effective September 1, 1954 and the last passenger train ran on August 31, 1954, .
The Ma & Pa by George Hilton is an excellent book on the subject. Though the only measurements given are for coach 11 and 12 as above, the others that appear in pictures seem to be the same length. Coach 20 wound up at Strasburg.
Enjoy
Paul
Thank you for the update... I was shooting in the dark. I do have that Ma and Pa book and intend to refresh read up some more.
First of all, thanks for the responses. More to stuff into the ol' knowledge banks (if I can remember it!) I, for sure, didn't know that 60-80 foot cars were used in the 1800's, especially the 80 footers.
JaRRell
toot toot wrote:50 foot passenger cars began to come into use as early as the 1860s, with 60 and 70 foot cars in the 1880, 80 footers appeared in the 1890s. the 36' coaches we are all familiar with were built for use on a mining branch (specifically the Angels Camp Branch of the Sierra RR) with tight curves. Short cars on curvy branches lasted to the end of passenger service on those lines.
Sure they had 80 ft passenger cars (MDC made models of them) and there were also 50 ft boxcars and 60 ft flat cars in the late 1800's. They weren't common, but they were out there (LaBelle Woodworking makes models of them).
jacon12 wrote: About what decade were the last 36 foot passenger cars in regular use, not counting tourist trains, and what steam locomotives would have pulled them?Jarrell
j:
This may not be as easy as saying "Overton". The Mantua arch-roof cars are about that length, I think (maybe forty feet) and look pretty suitable for the 1860s. Older equipment could survive for a long time in lesser service, too. The Bevier & Southern had some miners' cars, being used as sheds in 1958, that looked not unlike the Mantua 1860s cars. I don't know if these were converted boxcars, homebuilt things, or very old passenger cars, and I don't know when they were last used on rails.
I don't think it would strain credibility far if you had a few battered 1870 passenger cars still hauling lumberjacks to the logging camps in 1930.