rider cars were used on the rear of trains that were primarily mail and express. They were often equipped with a stove for heat so that it would not be necessary to hook up all the steam lines. Erie train 8 had one. The passenger carrying cars were in the middle. DL&W train 44 which like Erie 8 at one time was a milk train also carried a stove-car rider on the rear. Art Tross At 01:21 PM 8/29/06 -0400, you wrote: >All this talk of dormitory cars brings up a question I've had. The answer is probably simple enough.... > >The Erie had dedicated "rider" cars - I know at least one or two Stillwells had a two-digit number with an "R" prefix. In EL days, two former RPO cars also became rider cars, R29 and R30. Were there any other cars? > >Did the DL&W have such cars, or was this an Erie thing? > >The riders were crew members returning to their base location? Why not just ride in a caboose or in the motive power? (I've seen lots of video of EL trains with many crew members riding trailing units, perhaps they switched to this?) > >Were the RPOs reconfigured with seating for the riders? > >Does anyone know which of the two RPO rider cars is sitting, off trucks and with a burned interior, by the railroad museum in Elkhard, IN? > > - Paul > > > The Erie Lackawanna Mailing List > Sponsored by the ELH&TS > http://www.elhts.org > > > The Erie Lackawanna Mailing List Sponsored by the ELH&TS http://www.elhts.org ------------------------------
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