Prototype modeling - how far can you take it?

[nkp_174]

The Grandt Line passenger car windows I have can be mounted open, closed, or moveable.

All of my windows are built as frames with groves so that they can move up and down. I don't like the idea of them being fixed. I haven't added any windows to my clerestories as I'd like to make them openable (either swiveling or drop in)...but it wasn't abnormal that they didn't open all the way to the outdoors.

Ventilation was a major problem from the birth of rail travel. The big problem with open windows was that dust and soot would get in and get the passengers dirty. Anyone whom has experience with mainline steam knows what I mean. A bullnose clerestory roof would have a vent intake at each platform...the location was selected so as to minimize the amount to soot and dust that would enter the car. Interior walls within the coaches would rarely (if ever) extend through the clerestory...commonly a grate or turnings would fill that area so as not to restrict the airflow. There was a large assortment of various attempts to ventilate cars without opening the windows.

I tend to think that open windows were not as common as we may think. I'd bet that they were common when the train was stationary, but that few would want them open while they were moving. A major problem with studying this is that late 19th century photography wasn't exactly good at capturing movement...and the photos were usually staged. Further, photos were commonly of excursions...when people, especially railfans, were more likely to want to get dirty since it was an "experience" instead of a "journey". I haven't thought to check through the photos I have for such practices...but I probably have more photos of 1920s passenger trains than 90% of the railfan community...so I'll keep an eye out for it.

As a final note, the ventilation problem was finally solved with AC...and then the clerestory roof design died as Cor-10 (Pullman, AC&F) and Stainless (Budd) construction took over.