Question on Branch Line Passenger Operations (early 1900s)

Model Railroader Prototype information for the modeler
1

Assume a railroad mainline runs from “A” through “B” to “C”. At B, a small branchline diverges and runs several miles to a mining town at D.

A
|
B ---- D
|
C

How would passengers typically be routed to D? Would their car(s) be shunted onto a separate branch line train? Would they disembark and board new cars that remain captive on the branch? Or (unlikely I think) would the entire train traverse the branch line, turn at D, return to B and then continue on its way on the mainline? There are probably examples of each, but which would be the most common?

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I’m reminded of a ‘modern-day’ version of this. On the Pennsy and later in Penn Central years the ‘dinky’ ran from Princeton Junction on the NY-DC main line and it went to the small station at Princeton University.

GG1 4858 at Princeton Jct with the Princeton Shuttle by Charles Warren, on Flickr

I never got to ride it, for most of its history MP54 cars were used. It would make for a neat model RR operation.

Good Luck, Ed

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3

From what I ‘ve read regarding the early 1900s, the branch, B-D, would have its own “captive” passenger cars, possibly of older stock, and often running in a mixed train.
Cheers, the Bear. :slightly_smiling_face:

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4

Ed, whatever happened to the Dinky? I remember about twelve(?) years ago we had a big discussion about plans to discontinue it, but I don’t remember hearing anything about the final outcome. (I doubt our discussion had any influence on the final decision.)

5

To add to given answers —

At certain times of the day a train could run A to B to D. Such trains would be passengers who work at the mine, or freight trains.

Here in the U.K. (in rural Northumberland) D became far more important town than C. Therefore the route had more trains running. Trains between B & C only ran twice a day.

David

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6

From what I gather NJ Transit is still running it. Seems like Princeton University keeps moving the station farther away from campus, I’m sure for the interest of customer satisfaction!

Cheers, Ed

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7

The method of operation that a carrier would adopt would probably depend on economic and operational criteria, such as:

  • How long is the branch, and how many intermediate stations does it contain?
  • How big is the branch terminus?
  • What kind of facilities does it have?
  • Does the branch generate a lot of travel for one terminal or the other?

Depending on the answers to these questions, railroads had a lot of options. If the branch was small and lightly traveled, it might just get a mixed train, scheduled to connect more-or-less punctually at the junction with service between the two main terminals.

If it was larger, that train might be a scheduled passenger train, operating the length of the branch, and connecting with an express. If it were larger still, and needed more service, the express might drop a “section” (possibly including a Pullman sleeper) that would either operate up the branch as a separate train or connect to the branch line service. If the branch rates a truly important service, it would be a destination in its own right, served by a dedicated train from one (or both) terminal points. Sections might also include mail and express, which could necessitate some interesting switching at the junction.

The operational variety and potential are significant, as is the potential equipment variety.

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