Does anyone have examples have Pullman sleeper service on mixed passenger/freight trains? I am aware of one example: on the Southern Pacific between Los Angeles and Owenyo, California for about 20 years ending in the early 1930s.
The service was three round trips weekly (tri-weekly), leaving Los Angeles at 7:30 p.m. and arriving in Owenyo at 7:40 a.m. the following day. Returning trains left Owenyo in the afternoon and arrived in Los Angeles at 7:05 a.m. the next day. The Pullman traveled on the Owl (overnight service between Los Angeles and Oakland) with the Pullman exchanged at Mojave between the mainline passenger train and the Owenyo branchline mixed train. Eating establishments at Owenyo and Mojave served the passengers.
There are a couple of great photos of mixed trains in Fred Frailey’s “Twilight of the Great Trains”. One of the trains has a sleeper.
On page 164 there is a photo of C&O train #303 leaving the main line at Covington, VA in 1964. The consist stands: High hood Geep (Steam boiler no doubt.), heavyweight combine, lightweight sleeper (through from somewhere), caboose, hopper car full of coal. So, there’s another mixed with a sleeper.
On page 32 there is a photo of Union Pacific train #93 going through Oshkosh, NE in 1968. This was then a rail line with dirt ballast and a 49 MPH speed limit. Never mind that. The UP had two yellow E units up front puling a head end car, coach (both LW), and a bunch O’ boxcars following. No mention of a caboose, and you can’t tell from the photo. Probably had a 'boose.
During the 1950s the Atlantic Coast Line ran a mixed train from Fort Myers to Naples Florida, that included a pullman. The pullman service was probably operated only in the winter tourist season.
I’d think the most likely situation for a Pullman to be on a mixed train would be one where the Pullman started on a branchline and ended up at a junction where it would be picked up by a mainline passenger train going to a large city.
Southern Pacific offered twice a week seasonal Pullman service on select Ojai mixed trains until the resort located in Ojai Ca, was consumed by fire in 1932, Pullmans were interchanged at Oxnard, Ca on the Coast Route. For the comfort and safety of the passengers, no switching was performed enroute, the assigned runs forwarded empty reefers to packers located in the Ojai area.
In addition to the ACL sleeper to Ft Myers I remember reading that ACL ran a 12-1 sleeper on their mixed train to Clewiston FL (presumably to serve businessmen going to US Sugar’s HQ and tourists going fishing on Lake Okeechobee) into the early 1950s. IIRC it ran year round until that sleeper line was closed. Sorry but I can’t remember if the book was on ACL passenger service or Pullman sleeper service.
I remember reading that the Denver & Salt Lake RR had a mixed train with a Pullman. It was their night train between Denver and Craig CO. As I write this, I am looking in my copy of the book “The Moffat Road” (by Edward T. Bollinger and Frederick Bauer). In the book it says that the nick name for the train was the “Hog and Human” and that it used the country`s only combination Pullman-coach cars. There is a drawing with floor plan of one of these cars (there were only 2) in the back of the book. Thanks!