In case you wanted a modern prototype for putting the baggage car at the back of the train...
Mitch
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Nice Mitch!
But you still can't beat an observation car...
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Mitch - A very neat train - attractive equipment throughout.
Makes me want to head to Albany-Rensselaer on Friday to photograph the Lake Shore Limited....maybe I will. Thanks for posting that.
A couple pix from Philly last month with baggage on the end....I think the first is southbound Silver Meteor. The second I'm not sure of - northbound train is all I can say for sure. Perhaps running late.
David
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Just goes to show you, there's a prototype for everything.
Does 48 west of Albany have 2 baggage cars? One for NYP, one for BOS?
Both "Silver" NYC to Florida trains have the baggage car in the rear. And the Auto Train can have up to 30 in the rear.
It doesn't add class, but I guess it is a fairly harmless economy move with a definite payoff, as station switching is a major expense to charge against a passenger train.
I have read that having the CAF baggage at the end helps the train ride smoother. Truth or myth?
On the EMPIRE BUILDER in 1976, there was a sealled baggage of mail from the Twin Cities to Chicago. I was on the last roomette on the end sleeper. Grrat virws out the rear until that baggage was placed on the train.
Truth.
The truck under the rear end of the last car, whether it's a Pullman sleeper, observation car, Baggage, whatever, has a slight propensity to hunt under certain conditions. I'm not talking about wild hunting, just something a bit more noticeable than the cars with the same kind of trucks farther forward in the train and coupled on both ends. When a car is coupled on both ends, in most cases the car tracks straight.
If you want to talk about a dramatic difference, then one of those Amtrak de-motored, de-engined, "cabbage" baggage/control cars would definitely fill that bill. And, in that case, it would apply in "push" mode, as well as in "pull". The draft force at the rear drawbar really encourages the locomotive to track straight and true. Absent the draft force, the eunoch F40PH bounces and wanders its way along.
For the best possible ride, sit at the longitudinal center of a passenger car.
