Length of heavyweight baggage and passenger cars

You are in the ballpark.  Heavyweight passenger cars ranged from 40' to about 81' over the buffers - confusing, sometimes, because dimensions are often given of the interiors.

Harriman cars included a 40' RPO, 60' coaches, 72' diners - you get the idea.  Usually "all baggage" cars were shorter than coaches or Pullmans.

I assume you are only asking about steel cars - you picture steel sided models.

Great info.  Thanks, John.

@bob2 posted:

You are in the ballpark.  Heavyweight passenger cars ranged from 40' to about 81' over the buffers - confusing, sometimes, because dimensions are often given of the interiors.

Harriman cars included a 40' RPO, 60' coaches, 72' diners - you get the idea.  Usually "all baggage" cars were shorter than coaches or Pullmans.

I assume you are only asking about steel cars - you picture steel sided models.

Bob,  Among many things I don't understand is where the 18 inches MTH/Atlas refer to is measured.  And why are scale cars listed as Madison cars?  I thought scale cars were heavyweights and Madison were toys. John

@bob2 posted:

You are in the ballpark.  Heavyweight passenger cars ranged from 40' to about 81' over the buffers - confusing, sometimes, because dimensions are often given of the interiors.

Harriman cars included a 40' RPO, 60' coaches, 72' diners - you get the idea.  Usually "all baggage" cars were shorter than coaches or Pullmans.

Yes, scale passenger cars ranged over quite a wide array of lengths and were not the specifics that seem to have grown into some metric by modelers.

And I know nothing about how long Madison cars are.  All I can tell you is that Lionel called the early Bakelite cars "Madison" and the name became generic for "heavyweight" style cars.  If you are not doing 0-27, best to skip the "Madison" label and use the names given to the prototype - e.g., Pullman, Harriman, etc.

18" cars are 72 scale feet long - plenty long enough for commuter lines.  20" is about as long as you want to go for heavyweights.  SP Daylight "lightweight" cars started at 77', which is 19 1/4" in O scale.  Does any of that help?

Does the term Madison Car have anything to do with Madison Hardware ?

Did any real RR use the term Madison Car ?

Thanks in advance!!!

@CBQ_Bill posted:

Does the term Madison Car have anything to do with Madison Hardware ?

I believe so, yes.

Did any real RR use the term Madison Car ?

No.

Thanks in advance!!!

"They're good dogs" as they say on reddit, twitter, maybe some other website.

12" cars - just don't look right.

15" cars - better. Work on O27, look a bit silly on them. Ideal for smaller layouts.

18" cars - now we talking. Need O72 to look good.

21" cars - on an O72 curve, can see the center rail. That ruins it for me.

MTH 18" passenger cars just do it for me, long enough to get the idea, but not so long I wish I was in HO or N. Its a trade off. Then they are plastic instead of painted aluminum that can chip. It least if it gets a ding, you usually cannot see it at a distance.

I just wish we never had two, (three with LC+?, or would that be four with BlueRail?), control systems.

Interesting read.

In the 1:1 side of things passenger and head end equipment was varied widely.

I admire how the 3 rail selection of compression works pretty well and sometimes not so much. I think the Madison heavyweight cars are terrific. I have a few sets and enjoy them a lot.

My scale addiction is another story. Finding space for my consists has become a huge problem no pun intended. 7 complete passenger trains in full scale 1/48 in thier boxes is a lesson in available real estate ugh. The UP Wasatch Model Company boxes take the crown for HUGENESS. Hahah 13 of those is a Duesy. Good grief.

Since this is the scale thread I'll add I sure do love Scott's work on these trains of late. They are so spectacular an absolute blessing thanks Scott if you read this.