I have an idea but can anyone tell me for sure what a “Baggage-“Shorts” Coach“ is?
It’s listed in both CBQ and GN consists of the 1920’s
Basically, a passenger coach with a short baggage compartment.
I thought a “baggage short” was a passenger train made up entirely of baggage or express cars.
Like a single locomotive with four baggage cars.
-Kevin
“Shorts” usually describes the blocking of a freight train, for those cars which are to be set out before the final terminal yard or division point is reached. They’d usually be closest to the locomotive for ease of dropping off.
So could the phrase describe a mixed train where the baggage car comes first, then the freight car “shorts” and then the coach?
Dave Nelson
When I worked for the CB&Q in the late 60’s, passenger ‘shorts’ were passengers traveling to smaller station, rather than large terminals. Usually the ‘head coach’ would have shorts passengers in it, so that only one stop was made at a platform .
Exactly. Although the Empire Builder goes from Chicago to Seattle, some people would be using it to go from say Fargo ND to Minneapolis MN and back. They were only going a short distance on the train, so would usually be in coaches separate from other travellers going the whole way. Also, the coaches for “shorts” might be older cars with regular coach seating, where a long-distance coach traveller may be in a newer car with reclining seats.