Passenger locomotives

[Green_Elite_Cab]

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

I didn't even think of some of these "older" forms of passenger trains, but you're absolutely right. there are plenty fo passenger trains for most situations.

As far as the servicing layout goes, i've seen a few that incorporate this operation, but it is literally the entire layout (along with the terminal associated with it). The trains depart immediately to staging. Definitely an interesting operation.

as far as little modeled goes, i think rapid transit is the hardest sort of layout to find. You could actually model this in a reasonable amount of space, sometimes stations are within eyesight of each other. In the past Walthers offered BART cars and the DC Metro, but these are long discontinued. More recently, P1K has made available New York City Subways, and there are a few niche companies that make subway and Rapid transit models (Island Model Works, IHP).