Passenger locomotives

[MasonJar]

A lot of us have not the space to run passenger trains at all or could do a very boring operation only. If the freight train has more than 25 cars and there is a yard where that train could be build you have a good chance to find a passenger train too. Poor man passenger trains are RDC and Doodlebug if they match the other aspects of the layout (Warning! RDC and especially Doodlebug demand awful curve radius)

Just out of curiosity, what is your idea of an interesting passenger operation? I to think its just a matter of interest. to some people, a commuter train is boring, its usually identical cars with obscure power. on the other hand, they do have visual interest. they're fast, lit up like a christmas tree, and people "connect" with them easier.

Still passenger trains can be done in a small space, without RDCs or Doodlebugs. If you have 4 feet of staging track, you can store a three-car push-pull set with its locomotive.

It also depends on the era and location.

Up through the 1950s, it was common for trains on branchlines in southern Ontario to consist of a mailcar and a single coach. Or a mixed train, with a few boxcars and a coach. As early as the 1930s, CNR was experimenting with self-propelled cars of all kinds, not just doodlebugs (and also abandoning money-losing routes). For the most part however, they seemed to follow the rule that any train can be a passenger train if you stick a coach on it. Even the "strictly passenger" trains weren't really - they were mail trains (where the revenue came from) with a coach.

And don't forget the era (up through the 1920s) of the "radial railway" - the forerunner of commuter roads.

Another part of the passenger ops that is not often modelled is the servicing aspect. Handling of head-end cars, cleaning and restocking coaches, sleepers, diners, lounges and others, including icing for air conditioning (if you're in the appropriate era). Turning the trains (ok, maybe not this one, as a balloon track or large wye is required to turn the whole train).

Lastly, o matter your era (although more modern works best) you can always do an excursion special. Even these have their origins in the specials run by railways in the summer (to the lake) or winter (to the ski destination).

Andrew