60-ft Arched Roof and Harriman Baggage Express cars
These cars were seen on railroads across North America. Harriman cars were developed during the time of Edward Henry Harriman, who controlled the Chicago & Alton Railroad, the Union Pacific, the Southern Pacific, the Illinois Central, the Central of Georgia, the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, Wells Fargo Express Company, and directed the development of the "Common Standard Specifications" among the Associated Lines. This set of specifications allowed parts to be shared across all Harriman-controlled railroads, allowing economical bid prices due to the sheer size of standardized orders, standardized part inventories and methods for car repair.
These cars were designed with the a distinctive arched roof and diamond underframe crossbearers. The Arched Roof construction handled rainy weather better than clerestoy design - once lighting and ventilation problems were solved. Non-Harriman Arched Roof cars, while similar, had fished-belly underframes developed by Pullman Mfg. Co. and copied by others. Some of these 60-ft cars remained in use until the advent of Amtrak while others became maintenance-of-way cars.
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| Item # | Delaware Lackawanna & Western 60-ft Arch Roof Baggage Express Car | Price | |
| 163 | No. 32036, Phoebe Snow paint scheme |
$46.59 |
Built in 1925 by Press Steel Car Company as Nos. 2035 to 2064. Repainted in Phoebe Snow scheme in early 1950. Carried sealed mail, luggage, LCL express packages, newspaper and milk in canisters. The Lackawanna had interline mail routes with the Seaboard Airline, Southern Railway, Pennsylvania Railroad, and Reading Company between New York and New Orleans. These cars also operated between Chicago and New York via Nickel Plate Road. They lasted through the Eric Lackawanna merged era in the 1960s. *RR had very similar car, not exact prototype.
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| Item # | Canadian National “wet noodle” Baggage-Express car | Price | |
| 164 | No. 8790 |
$46.59 | Sold Out |
No. 8790. Built by National Steel Car of Hamilton, Ontario in 1940 as class BE and numbered 8775-8799. Repainted in black & white with the “wet noodle” insignia. Introduced as the name changed from CN Railway to just Canadian National in 1961. The logo was created by Allan Fleming on a back of a napkin as legend has it. The CN insignia is one of the most recognized, enduring, corporate symbols. These cars carried mail, luggage, & LCL express packages, and stayed in service until they were scrapped in 1970s. *Railroad had very similar car, not the exact prototype.
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| Item # | Southern Railway Arched Roof Baggage-Express |
Price | |
| 166 | No. 8790, Pullman Green |
$46.49 |
Southern Railway’s all steel and baggage car carried sealed mail, LCL express packages and passengers’ luggage. They measured 64’-5-3/4” over the buffers and had an end sill length of 61’-0”. they weighed in at 107,600 lbs. Originally built with a clerestory roof. Rebuilt sometime in the late 1940s with an arched roof. It was sub-lettered G.S. & F. for George Southern & Florida, a subsidiary of Southern Railway. Southern Railway consisted of the following companies (as of 1964): Southern Railway, Central of Georgia; Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas Pacific Railway; Alabama, Great Southern Railroad; New Orleans & Northeastern Railroad; Georgia, Southern & Florida Railway; Caroline and Northwestern Railway; Georgia & Florida Railway. Car No. 6450 still exists at the South Carolina Railroad Museum but with a white color roof. *RR had very similar car, not exact prototype.
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| Item # | Union Pacific 60-ft Harriman Baggage Express car |
Price | In Stock |
| 174 | No. 1835, Utility Vents, Dark Olive paint scheme | $46.59 | |
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175TS |
Nos. 1837, 1844, Utility Vents, Dark Olive, two-car set |
$85.99 |
The Union Pacific Railroad ordered Harriman common standard 60-ft baggage express cars (CS214). Length over buffers: 63'-7". Oregon Short Line (UP subsidiary) Nos. 1837, 1844 (former OSL 454, 461) retired March 1956 and march 1961, respectively. No. 1701 (former 1152) was a 1909 Pullman with 4-wheel truck, retired in March 1956. The model reflects car with the original Utility vents and with the 1939 san serif lettering scheme which lasted until the 50's.
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| Iem # | Southern Pacific Maintenance-of-Way Harriman baggage car |
Price | Sold Out |
| 182 | No MW 4760, aluminum color |
$36.59 |
Southern Pacific Maintenance-of-Way Harriman baggage car, aluminum color, no. MW 4760. During the late 1950's and early 1960's, Espee converted a number of their heavyweight passenger cars for maintenance of way services, made possible by the reduction in passenger service and newer lightweight equipment being introduced on passenger trains. MW 4760 is one such car that was downgraded from revenue service. It belonged to SP Common Standard 214, class 60-B car. The actual number the car had when it was in revenue service is lost to history. See Detail.
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| Item # | Western Pacific 60-ft Harriman Baggage Express car |
Price | Sold Out |
| 184 | No. 128, Utility Vents, Dark Olive paint scheme |
$46.59 |
Western Pacific's seldom photographed arched roof baggage cars were Harriman-like in a lot of respects. Constructed in 1923 by the Press Steel Company, and numbered 121 to 140, they carried the all important L.C.L. express package business, company mail and baggage. They were equipped with Utility roof vents. Heavyweight baggage-express cars were used on trains such as the Royal Gorge from St. Louis to Oakland (a joint MP-Rio Grande-WP train) or the Exposition Flyer - inaugurated on 10, June 1939 to the Golden Gate International Exposition from Chicago Union Station (a joint CB&Q-Rio Grande-WP train). * Railroad had very similar cars, but not exact prototype.
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| Item # | Burlington Northern Maintenance-of-Way baggage car |
Price | Status |
| 189 | BN 976140, Red Oxide paint scheme |
$36.59 | Sold Out |
Burlington Northern Railroad inherited GN MoW baggage cars such as this one. This car was renumbered in 1976 as BN 976140 (nee X78341966 in 1966). Prior to being in MoW service, it was No. 378. Originally built by Barney and Smith in 1909 as #1679. Converted to steel-sheathed car in 1926. It was sold to Luria Brothers in 1981 for scrap having served GN-BN for 72 years! While our model here is a good representation of BN 976140, it is not the exact prototype.
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| Item # | Great Northern Maintenance-of-Way baggage car | Price | Sold Out |
| 190 | X7816, Red Oxide paint scheme |
$36.59 |
This Great Northern Maintenance-of-Way baggage car was renumbered from 365 to X7816 in Feb. 1961. It was originally a Barney & Smith product from 1909. Rebuilt to steel sheathing in Sept. 1927. It later served under Burlington Northern with the same number, X7816. Retired in Dec. 1973. While our model here is a good representation of GN-BN MoW car, it is not the exact prototype.
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| Item # | Maintenance-of-Way Baggage Car | Price | |
| 191 | “Safety Orange” paint scheme | $36.59 |
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| Item # | Maintenance-of-Way Baggage Car | Price | |
| 192 | “Maintenance-of-Way Green” paint scheme | $36.59 |
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| Iem # | Southern Pacific rebuilt Harriman Baggage-Express car |
Price | Sold Out |
| 194 | No. 6112, Two-Tone Gray |
$39.95 |
Originally, this car was a 1911 railway post office car, No. CP 4106, class 60-P-4. Espee rebuilt this to a baggage car in Dec. 1941, retaining the original 6-wheel trucks. It was reclassified as 60-B. A photo of this car appears in SP Passenger Cars Volume 3: Head End Equipment on page 371. The 1958 photo shows it in the two-tone gray paint. It stayed in two tone gray until retirement. The “star” above the car number signifies improved facilities for baggage crew.
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| Item # | Northwestern Pacific 60-ft Harriman Baggage Express car |
Price | Sold out |
| 195 | Car No. 678, Globe Vents, Dark Olive paint scheme | $39.95 |
At one time, the NWP was jointly owned by Santa Fe and Southern Pacific railroads. SP bought Santa Fe’s portion on January 17, 1929. With ferry connections at Sausalito and Tiburon, NWP trains ran just north of the Golden Gate through the beautiful redwoods up to the far reaches of Eureka, California. NWP freight-only ferry connection ended with Santa Fe’s abandonment of their carfloat operations in the 1980’s. No. 3 & 4, “The Redwood”, passenger trains were pulled by SP steam generator equipped SD-7’s or SD-9’s with their large ash can lights. This train connected with the California Western Railroad's fabled “Sunk Trains.” This baggage-express car was ordered as part of a batch by parent SP from Pullman in 1915 and built to Common Standard Specifications 214, NWP class 60_B. They weighted about 93,800 lbs. No. 678 was retired in Feb. 1960.
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| Item # | Illinois Central 60-ft Arched Roof Baggage Express car |
Price | In Stock |
| 196 | No. 583, Dark Olive paint scheme |
$39.95 | |
| 197TS | Nos. 579 & 582, Dark Olive, Two-Car Set |
$79.90 |
Illinois Central ordered from Pullman Company (Lot 4523) in May 1918 these arched roof cars which were mainly used in mail storage business. This explains the 6-wheel truck to carry the heavier weight of mail. These cars have an average unloaded weight of 117,380 lbs and with a coupled length of nominally 64-ft. These cars are painted in traditional dark olive paint scheme.
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| Item # | Ferrocarril Del Pacifico Harriman baggage + coach |
Price | Sold Out |
| 198TS | No. 1100 Baggage, and No. 1369 Harriman Coach |
$79.90 |
The Southern Pacific Railroad leased a number of Harriman baggage-express cars and coaches to SP de Mexico. In 1951, SP sold a number of rolling stock to the Mexican government under the new railroad ownership of Ferrocarril Del Pacifico. The FCP No. 1369 was formerly SP 1369 Harriman coach. The exact SP origins of the 60-ft FCP baggage-express car is not known. FCP operated from Benjamín Hill, Sonora to Guadalajara, Jalisco via Mazatlán, Sinaloa. FCP was absorbed by National de Mexico in 1984 when the Mexican government nationalized the railroads.
