Supposedly from those who are certainly in the know PRR B60b baggage and mail cars and R50b express reefers traveled the country carrying mail and magazines. What other roads had long distance hauls that took the cars off line? What were the starting and end points. How were they rerouted back home.
I have passenger car consists for the CB&Q that shows several postal storage cars from various RRs in the mix. UP and SP were common, probably coming from Chicago to points west, Omaha or Grand Island NE for UP cars and Denver for SP cars. Of course, as you stated PRR cars showed up along with NYC, New Haven and even B&O. Sorry, no clue on the end points for those RRs. I’m sure there were others but that is all the info I have for now.
Rick
In the steam era a spotting feature to ID MP’s Scenic Limited was the PRR B-60 it carried. GN’s Fast Mail always had some Milw cars between Seattle and St Paul and Milw forwarded GN cars to Chicago. NYC ran solid mail and express trains that generally had a smattering of western off-line cars. Oddly I’ve got some commercially done VHS tapes showing solid mail and express trains on the PRR w/o off-line cars although there was a day train that shows up a lot on Horseshoe Curve that seemed to have 2 or 3 MP cars on a regular basis.
Hello “ndbprr,”
A lot has been published on this subject. Here are a few references to get you started, beginning with Paul Dolkos’s recent MR articles:
HEAD-END REFERENCES
For “Head-end equipment and operations,” by Paul J. Dolkos, in the August and September 2007 “Model Railroaders”
BOOKS
Cape, Randall E., and McKeen, Robert G., “The Ghost Trains of SP’s Overland Route, Train Nos. 21-22, Mail, 1947-1967,” 2007 (Southern Pacific Historical & Technical Society). In-depth study of a Southern Pacific mail and express train, including rosters and photos of equipment.
De Rouin, Ed, “Moving Mail and Express by Rail,” 2007 (Pixels Publishing). Illustrated history of railway mail and express including operations, with numerous photos and tables of train and car information.
Frailey, Fred W., “A Quarter Century of Santa Fe Consists,” 1974, 1985 (RPC Publications). A compilation from Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Ry. 1946 through 1971 consist books, with schedules and roster. Out of print, but available on CD-ROM from the Santa Fe Railway Historical & Modeling Society at atsfrr.net.
Mohowski, Robert E., “New York, Ontario & Western Railway: Milk Cans, Mixed Trains, and Motor Cars,” 1995 (Garrigues House Publishers). Covers the dairy industry in central New York State, with chapters on milk cars.
Roseman, V.S., “Railway Express,” An Overview, 1992 (Rocky Mountain Publishing, Inc.)
Sperandeo, Andy, “The Model Railroader’s Guide to Passenger Equipment & Operations,” 2006 (Kalmbach Books).
Stegmaier, Harry Jr., “Pennsylvania Railroad Passenger Train Consists and Cars – 1952 – Vol. I East-West Trains,” 2003 (TLC Publishing Inc.). This publisher offers a number of books covering passenger train operations on various railroads. Check the web site at www.tlcrailroadbooks.com.
PERIODICALS AND ARTICLES
“Official Register of Passenger Train Equipment,” published annually from 1943 into the 1970s by T
Thank you Andy. Looks like another area I need to spend considerable time learning.