I noticed a reference to mixed trains in the Model Railroader magazine.
How late in the picture did mixed trains run, before passenger services came under Amtrak?
Still a few “kind of” mixed trains in my home State (Queensland) Downunder, a few freight cars attached to long distance passenger trains on minor routes.
Appreciate any comments on mixed trains in the US scene.
Cheers
Kozzie
Brisbane, QLD
Australia
Mixed trains lasted right up to Amtrak on many railroads, such as the Oregon Trunk.
The Alaska Railroad ran mixed trains through 1984 between Anchorage and Fairbanks. I rode them up until that year.
BN had mixed train service to Bend,Oregon that lasted until Amtrak.I don’t know what the western terminal was though.
BN’s Mix Train was mainly for remote areas
There was a mixed daily on the OT (SPS - now BNSF) between Wishram and Bend and one on the UP between The Dalles and Bend. Same track south of the Columbia River. OT owned it all except between South Jct and Culver - it is still UP. I don’t remember the actual station name for where the OT and UP rejoined near Culver.
I remember several mixed runs in Oregon on the UP - the OT (The Dalles-Bend) the OrE (Oregon Eastern between Ontario-Burns), Idaho Northern between Nampa and McCall in Idaho, several in Nebraska and Wyoming in the late 1960’s. I used to have the UP timetables with their schedules, for the entire UP system of those years, but it is not to be found anymore.
Isn’t an Amtrak with some “Material Handling Cars” or Roadrailers on the rear really a mixed train, today? Last regular mixed I rode was the MP’s Wichita - Herendon connection for the Colorado Eagle, which was a mixed with a Wichita - Denver sleeper and a local coach . But once on a train of regular M-1 commuter cars on the Harlem Division when Conrail was still operating the commuter service under contract with New York State, going to work from Grand Central to North White Plains, we broke down around Scarsdale or Hartsdale. The mu train would not power. The engineer tried running from a cab in the third car with the conductor standing at the front of the train. Nothing. Today they would wait for a train to come up on the adjacent track and transfer passengers across. Not then. The regular pedler freight was behind us, and its road switcher (forget whether it was an Alco or a GP-7) pushed us to North White Plains with the freightcars and blue caboose trailing behind. They had to use an adapter coupler, either carried on the mu train or on the road switcher. This was around 1974, if I remember correctly. Dave
The “Piedmont”, which was Southern’s Washington-Atlanta day train after May 1, 1971, operated as what could be described as a mainline mixed train. About 20 to 30 TTX flatcars were attached at the rear of the train.
Southern 7-8 (Washington-Lynchburg) and Georgia 1-2 (Atlanta-Augusta) were mainline mixeds of a slightly different kind. They consisted of one or two coaches right behind the motive power on a through freight.
Georgia Railroad, now part of CSX, had a mixed train that ran from Atlanta to Augusta GA. They were able to get out of paying state income taxes as a result. I rode it in May 1980. They would put a coach on the end of a freight local. It lasted until 1982 I think.
George
As mentioned elsewhere, the favorable tax situation for Georgia Railroad was written into its state charter and wasn’t contingent on providing passenger service. The mixed trains on the branches and main line were operated to avoid unfavorable press which might have provoked the Georgia state legislature into changing the tax provisions in the charter. The railroad felt it was cheaper to run the trains then to run the risk of a larger tax liabiliity.
I’ll say! When The Pennsylvanian still operated between Pittsburgh and Chicago, it typically had two or three token coaches and an assortment of 20-30 material handling cars and Roadrailers. While on Raton Pass in 2002, I saw the westbound Southwest Chief struggling upgrade behind four P42s – 10 Superliners, about a dozen material handling cars and at least two dozen Roadrailers. I’m surprised it didn’t need a helper!
On a more traditional note, I seem to recall the Arkansas and Missouri operating a mixed train in the 1990s. Is that operation still going?
Scott Lothes
Cleveland, Ohio
In Manitoba, Canada, ViaRail still runs mixed trains into the more remote destinations on the way up to Churchill.
It’s a small train, but the communities are only available by Rail, so it only makes sense to have a few box cars and a few coaches. I believe for most of the route the train will go by the communities every three days or so.
Thanks everyone for your input - it’s really appreciated!
I really enjoy running mixed trains on my layout. Adds more variety to the scene.
Any one else run mixed trains on their layouts?
Kozzie
Brisbane, QLD
Australia
I think that to qualify for Mixed Train status, the train needed to do local work along the way, not be a hauler with coaches. AMTK with the MHC’s and RoadRailers would not qualify because, despite the car types invloved, they were doing the same as mail and express trains did - just not using M&E (aka Baggage) equipment.
This is one of the principal reasons that UP is so bent over the NRPC. The charter for the government corporation specificly forbids this klind of activity by AMTK. The UP looks at it as NRPC is trying to eat UP’s lunch. Uncle Pete simply yanked that lunch away by cancelling all AMTK trains on the UP. This was before the SP merger.
As of the mid 90s the Mount Hood Railway,in Oregon,ran a mixed train. They run excursions out of Hood River and the weekday trips commonly run with frewight cars ahead of the passenger cars,if the lumber mill has work to do.When I rode this train,we hauled 5 loads to the mill on the way down,and picked up 3 empties on the return trip.[:)]
I once rode on the Hood River. I do remember that they also delivered some freight. This was in 1993, I believe.
The Lake Country Limited was a mixed train in the more traditional sense, working with WC. Because of the most common type of item carried in the freight cars, it was nicknamed the “Kitty Train”…ran 2000-2001.
ONR runs a mixed train from Cochrane to Moosonee (both in Ontario)
The VIA nameless train between The Pas and Pukatawagan (Manitoba)…connects with the Hudson Bay. It’s just one or two “Standard” cars (that’s what they were called, those dark blue with yellow stripes) on the back of a freight train.
~Ra’akone
That sounds like it would be a fun trip to do!