Something that I've been wanting to see in TS for a while now has been more vintage passenger cars. Sure there's a plethora of reskins for G-Trax's lightweight passenger cars on RWA, as well as some stainless steel stuff that comes with the EMD FP7 and Amtrak E8 but a lot of those cars were made in the late 40's to early 50's, and I'd like to see some more mid 20's to early 40's type equipment added. I know that there's already a good handful of variants of the heavyweight baggage and chair cars already in the game that come with the VNHRR route, but why not add some more variety to it? So, here's a list of the different types of heavyweights that I would like to see added in addition to the pre-existing baggage and chair cars: Railroad Post Office car As the name of this car suggests, these were used to sort out, and deliver mail while on the go. Workers would often be seen snagging mail bags from lineside towers or throwing them off as the train sped along. They were common place on most long distance passenger trains and for obvious reasons could often be found on the tail end of a mail and express train. Sleeper car Sleeper cars were a main fixture for any long distance passenger train. While at first they saw use on the most prestigious trains that railroads had to offer, they would later be relegated to lower end/second class passenger trains as new streamlined, lightweight passenger cars were rolled out throughout the 1940's and 50's. Diner car What could be better than dinner on the rails? Diner cars were mostly used on long distance passenger trains throughout the 20's and 40's, much like the sleeper cars. Passengers would be served only the best 5 star meals the railroads had to offer. However as time went on, they too were replaced with lightweight streamliners. Combine car These cars were a bit of an oddball. They were combinations of two different types of passenger cars. Most often it would be a combination of a baggage and a chair car. These cars were never used on high end passenger services, but rather on low end, unnamed trains. Adding to their strange nature, as time went on, and passenger ridership decreased nationwide, combine cars were more frequently seen on high end services. Trains would often have more baggage cars or combine cars than actual chair cars, diner cars, or sleeper cars. In addition, these cars would also be frequently seen on mail and express trains. Parlor Observation car Arguably the most recognizable type of heavyweight car, parlor observation cars were commonly seen on the tail end of most high end passenger trains throughout the 20's and 40's. These cars were intended to be a space for passengers to simply relax. The largest draw for these cars was the open air observation on the back of the car. They were incredibly popular with passengers during this era, some were even utilized by past US presidents. FDR used his own custom built car, as part of his Whistle Stop campaign tour during the 1930's and 40's. Later, Dwight D. Eisenhower would use a similar strategy for his campaign trail. The observation cars would become very popular on mainline steam excursions during the 60's and 70's. Trips run as part of the Southern's steam excursion program would often see large amounts of people crowded onto the rear platform to enjoy the view. So what do you guys think? Would you also want to see these added into TS? I feel like it would be great for anybody trying to create old steam era scenarios. If there are any different variants that I missed and you feel like should be included, then feel free to list them in the replies!
I agree, these cars would be nice to have especially the rpo. The rpo would be nice to for some mail trains.
Indeed. Heck, some railroads didn't even use open air cars, they straight up attached gondola cars to the rear end and let people ride in them! That's what GTW and the CB&Q did on their excursion trains.
Also, the C&O did it with the original New River Trains back in the 60's. Here's a link to a page highlighting the VERY first run, and boy is it evident they were in a gondola. Here it is: https://wvrails.net/?p=1324
Keeping on the topic of both heavyweights and open air cars, here's a former Southern Railway Steam Program open air car. Here's the Southern Railway open air heavyweight, 1056 Lookout Mountain on the back of the 1978 Independence Limited in Hagerstown, Maryland. Edit: As of typing out this edit, I've just found out that 1056 Lookout Mountain is also the Rio Grande Scenic car pictured above. Norfolk Southern actually allowed the usage of those open airs until that accident in the Great Dismal Swamp with 611 back in the 80's. After that, NS banned all open air cars and slapped a 40 MPH limit on all steam movements.
With all due respect to the owner; "Pullman Cars" is a little vague. Granted, we do need heavyweights for Train Simulator. When it came to Pullmans, both Heavyweight and Lightweight, they all varied in differing ways. Specific Heavyweight cars were built to cater to the economy traveler and the bureaucratic businessman and the people in between it all. Pullman owned pool cars as well as railroad owned cars that were one owned by Pullman. If you want the focus to be primarily Pullman style Heavyweights, especially sleeper cars, then you should deter from throwing in things like Coaches, RPOs and Baggage Cars. Usually, those varied by railroad and design. There are little instances were one design looked like another, especially considering what little there is in-game to depict 1920s/1930s era railroading. For a post like this, you have to be specific. Heres a good take on a small "Pullman" list of heavyweights to add. 3-Comp 2-Drawing Room Lounge-Observation; Plan 3959 12-Section 1-Drawing Room; Plan 3410A 14-Section Tourist; Plan 3958A 6-Double Bedroom Buffet-Lounge; Plan 4015A (Rebuilt from Baggage-Club Plan 2951) Baggage-Club Lounge; Plan 2951 6-Comp 3-Drawing Room; Plan 3523C 8-Section 1-Drawing Room 2-Comp; Plan 3979A
And for the record, the "Diner" car you have listed is not a diner but another Pullman sleeper. "Villa Real" a 10-3 (10-Section 3-Compartment) Sleeper rebuilt from 12-1-1 (12-section 1-Drawing Room 1-Compartment sleeper) "Lenover." It was originally built 1910, floor plan 2411.
