Business cars

Paul,

The only way I've seen business cars was the last car in the consist. By doing so the platform would not be exposed to excessive smoke. The only cars I've seen directly behind the locomotive were the Express Freight Cars, Railroad Mail Cars. Even today one can see business cars on the end of Amtrak consists. Paul, I regret that I do not have photos.

God Bless,

"Pappy"                                                                                                                                                                   

In the days of steam, business cars were generally always placed at the end of a passenger train, or passenger special, for a number of reasons.

1) Freight trains were not as long back in the days of steam, and there was no dynamic brake to cause slack run-ins. Engineers pretty much used 
stretch braking" with to main train air brakes.

2) Business cars were rarely ever put on a freight back in the days of steam, unless a test was being conducted of say, a new locomotive.

3) Business cars were often placed on special movements with its own locomotive and maybe a few support passenger cars for additional personnel.

Also, the term "mixed train" had only two purposes:

• in a timetable, it identified a regular train (a train that ran under the authority of the Employee Timetable) which carried freight and fare-paying passengers.
• When so designated in the timetable, members of the crew were paid at the mixed train rate of pay, which was higher than the through freight rate, but usually lower than the local freight rate.

The equipment was not the determining factor.  Sometimes mixed trains just had a caboose, and the occasional passengers were carried on the caboose, and this was usually specified by notice posted in stations, items in the Timetable Special Instructions, and often also in the Official Guide.

I have seen photos of business cars directly, as a one car train, behind inspection

engines, oddball steam engines with, sometimes, steps up the front pilot and a

clerestoried passenger enclosure over the front boiler and smokebox.  The smoke

stack often rise through the enclosure, but would vent to the back as usual, with a

moving train.  Some have seats out on the platform as well as enclosed.  I would

guess the dignitaries spent the day on or in the inspection engine, and nights on

a siding in the business car, only threatened with smoke when engine reversed.

There was a thread that mentioned steam dummies as inspection engines, but photos

I saw showed much larger, but 1880's era,  4-4-0's, etc.