10-10-2011, 09:31 AM
It's worth pointing out that there are many different kinds of passenger trains, especially in the pre-Amtrak era. Beyond name trains, there are the secondary trains on the same routes, local coach trains, and mail and express trains. This is what makes the former NYC and PRR interesting, for instance. And intermodals are actually the direct descendants of the mail and express trains. Or look at the typical fruit blocks that were hauled by turbines on the UP -- express reefers were mixed in with ordinary reefers, and such operations seem to have been hybrid passenger-freight in many cases, since strawberries and similar produce spoil quickly and need to be moved on fast schedules. I'm still working out the full operating scheme for my layout, but I'm pretty well along in instituting a mail and express run, and in fact I have a passenger terminal that already has a switch job that moves express reefers, baggage, and box-express cars around.
If you're looking for inspiration, I can't say enough about DVDs with archival 8mm and 16mm railfan footage from the 40s, 50s, and 60s (even earlier if you can find it -- Gerald Best was making railfan films in the 20s). An all-color railfan book is now in the $60-70-80 range, while DVDs can be found on sale for $10, and even at full price are in the $20-30 range.
Films will show things like passenger cars being deadheaded in freights for any of a dozen reasons, for instance.
If you're looking for inspiration, I can't say enough about DVDs with archival 8mm and 16mm railfan footage from the 40s, 50s, and 60s (even earlier if you can find it -- Gerald Best was making railfan films in the 20s). An all-color railfan book is now in the $60-70-80 range, while DVDs can be found on sale for $10, and even at full price are in the $20-30 range.
Films will show things like passenger cars being deadheaded in freights for any of a dozen reasons, for instance.