Baggage Car Configuration

[ole]

I finally got myself a Bachmann baggage car. I am going to letter it for my fictious branch of the C&S and have been looking for some prototype photos with little luck. So here goes: !) Would a baggage car normally have a heating stove in it? To me, the answer would be no as no one would normally ride the car to keep it stoked; I am thinking of eliminating the smoke stack. 2) Would a baggage car typically have regular doors on the end with the steps and railings? I think that all of the car end detail is just a carryover from the passenger/combine series and should/could be removed. Thanks for any help. Lee in Tucson

[ksivils]

Actually, a baggage car would, and almost always did have doors on each end.

The only "baggage type" cars that did not have end doors were Railway Post Office (RPO) cars that had working post offices.

Stoves would have been common.  If a baggage handler or crew member road in the baggage car, which was not too uncommon - it had to be kept warm.

Also, baggage cars handled less-than-carload-lot freight often and this could range from milk containers to who knows what - some of which had to be kept warm.

I would look at photos of actual narrow gauge baggage cars to see if the stove pipe was on or not.  Grandt's book on C&S Narrow Gauge rolling stock has photos of almost the entire C&S narrow gauge passenger car fleet.  I am sure this would be a very helpful resource.  It has the freight cars as well.

Hope this helps.

[Kevin Strong]

It's also possible that the cars could have had steam heat instead of a coal stove. That would have been a bit more automatic than having to make sure someone was riding in the car to keep the stove going. It did, however, require that the locomotives be equipped to provide the steam for the heat. The two baggage cars on the EBT were equipped with steam heat, as was the business car, but I don't believe the locos had steam lines. (Deane, correct me on this one.)

Later,

K

[OGReditor]

Did you get a baggage car or a combine?  I wasn't aware that Bachmann offered a baggage car in On30, but they do offer a combine (car for baggage at one end and passengers at the other).  A combine would certainly have heat.

[ole]

I bought a baggage car; it has only one sliding door per side. As far as I know, Bachmann only offers the baggage car separately as it is not a part of the passenger car train sets that I have ever seen. I already have a passenger, observation and combine car.

[Woody Elmore]

Most of the Colorado naarrow gauge baggage cars had only one door per side. If you had more than that, there'd be no room to store anything.

[BIG BEAR]

      Hey all,
    Bachmann does offer a few 2 door baggage cars, I have this one:
  http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/catalog/?function=detail&id=394

        Please note the 2 (one on each SIDE) sliding doors, PLUS the 2 end doors, fore & aft doors, or front & back doors. this does also have a stove pipe.
       These cars are sold seperate from the sets. I might also note the only way to get an observation car is to buy a set or look for someone breaking up a set for sale on Ebay
       Lee,
   I do believe these to be close to proto-typical.

                enjoy,
                    Barry

[Charlie Mutschler]

The Bachmann model probably comes closest to C&S 3 and 4, both of which were two door (one per side in the center of the car).  However, the photos in the narrow Gauge Pictorial (Vol show both with the end platforms removed, and roofs shortened accordingly.  Both had a stove (evidence by smoke jack) on one side of the central door on one side. 

C&S baggage cars 1 and 2 were four door baggage cars, but both also had no end platforms. 

Happy modifications.  Or run and enjoy as it is. 

Charlie Mutschler
-30-

[OGReditor]

Thanks for the heads-up on the baggage cars.  Don't know how I missed seeing/knowing about them earlier. 

[ole]

After extensive review, it appears to me that if a baggage car had a stove then it was located towards the center of the car. And I was wrong as many of these cars did have have a heater. So I will be relocating the smoke stack to alongside the door opening, opposite the travel of the freight door. I am going to leave the rest of the car as stock; this is going to be tough for me as I like modifying these cars.
And as far as end-of-the-train cars are concerned, Bachmann's 'round roof' (no cupola) caboose also is not in any sets that I have seen; this caboose does not have any end ladders nor roof walk/running boards. I couldn't find one at a decent price so I made my own --- but modified my own way. Lee In Tucson

[gmhtrains]

Back in early March there were several postings regarding baggage and head-end cars. I am about to start converting a Bachmann combine to an RPO, and wonder if anyone else has already done this? I will leave the end with the large baggage doors as is, as well as the adjacent three windows. I will blank out the fourth window from the side door, and create small doors where the fifth windows (one each side) now exist. The sixth window space on the left side is already blanked for the toilet, and I will blank out the sixth window on the right side. The mail-bag catcher across the small door is the signature hardware. RPOs were high-security cars and certainly didn't have end doors with windows. However, rather than eliminating end doors entirely, I'll use sheet styrene to create solid steel end doors.

The March postings discussed the Bachmann two-door baggage car as a separate sale item not found in any set, and the rear platform observation car as an item available only in sets. I will have a surplus observation car (C&S green) available for trade (for any baggage car or combine) at the May 31 On30 Barn Meet in Penryn, Calif.