NYC Rider Coach

[Sokramiketes]

Here’s a fun conversion for the new MTL single window coach. I needed one to carry the markers on a Flexi-Van train.

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[peteski]

Looks good Mike!  How did you make the rivets on the window blanking strip?

[eja]

Looks like a ffun project , but what exactly is a rider coach ?  How is it used ?

[Sokramiketes]

The panels were welded in place so I just ran an xacto where the weld seams would be. Just enough to to catch the light. The oil filler for the stove is a rectangular hole and a NBW casting.  Hear as I could tell the filler cap had the same shape with filler neck.

[brokemoto]

Good job on that rider coach.  Protobashes are always good bashing projects. Did you re-paint and re-letter or just keep the original lettering/paint, where applicable?  If the latter, how did you get the paint to match on the blanking strip?

Looks like a ffun project , but what exactly is a rider coach ?  How is it used ?

The railroads used rider cars for the crews of mail trains, mail and express trains,  milk trains, and other such special trains.  It was a car in which the crew of the train rode when not having actually to perform work.  If any of these trains actually carried revenue passengers, they rode in those cars, as well.  Some of the mail trains did carry a separate coach for revenue passengers and separate coach for the crew. 

There were some mail/express trains that allegedly did not accept revenue passengers, but, if the train stopped there and you were willing to pay, the agent would sell you a ticket. You rode in the rider coach.  Baltimore and Ohio trains 29, 30 and 31 were like this.  There were times when officially, those trains did accept revenue passengers, but, there were times when the official word was that they did not.  Despite that, I am aware of more than one report that if one of those trains were scheduled to stop at a given station (the elective stops varied on those trains, there were some mandatory, though) on a given day and you were willing to pay, the station agent would sell you a ticket and the crew would allow you to board.  Usually, on the B&O, the rider coach was simply an older heavyweight.

Many roads simply attached an older heavyweight or wood coach/combine to the train for use as a "rider car".  In fact, the Rivarossi HW combine is based on a combine that ATSF used as a rider car on some of its mail trains.  NYCS was one of the roads that actually modified cars for this use; not all roads did.  NYCS used them on Flexi-Van trains, in addition to mail/express trains.  Many of the corrugated side combines that NYCS bought in the late 1940s also wound up serving as rider cars, thus, did not get sold to Mexico or Canada.

Milk trains that had rider cars often used a combine, as they would accept mail and express as well as revenue passengers on most of those trains.  NYCS and Boston and Maine used the combines on their milk trains.  Usually, the baggage end faced to the back of the train, but, not always.

[bbussey]

Sweet.

[skytop35]

Rider coaches were typically older cars from the coach yard. However just about anything could be pressed into service in a pinch. Jim Singer always gives a wonderful clinic at RPM meets highlighting unusual consists. He had documents showing a CZ dome observation being used as a rider coach. Most likely only happened once but talk about riding in style !

[randgust]

Two of those ATSF 'rider coach combines' are preserved at the Texas State Railroad and in regular excursion service; baggage area has been redone into concession and ADA restroom area but the original short coach interior area is like a time machine as the cars never had AC upgrades.   They lasted so long because of the Fast Mail trains up until about '69.   They were originally built by Pullman as 'library buffet' cars, too.   

Those were the "6300" series on ATSF and the Rivarossi heavyweight 'combine' is pretty much it.

Bruce is the expert on the Fast Mail as he's modelled it pretty much car for car.   Here you go:

They were on employee timetables as scheduled trains but not public timetables, and all I've read said you could buy a ticket on it, but it was 'hard class' as the Chinese say.

[eja]

Brokomoto,

Thanks for the rider coach description .. .  I've been a rail fan for a long time and this is the first time I have heard of that type of car and usage.  Makes perfect sense when you think about it.

[wm3798]

So a string of baggage and express cars with a combine tacked on the end?  That's pretty cool.  Lots of good information here.

[glakedylan]

super work!
those sides look like they were manufactured that way
great work on the seams!


sincerely
Gary

[thomasjmdavis]

Those were the "6300" series on ATSF and the Rivarossi heavyweight 'combine' is pretty much it.

They were on employee timetables as scheduled trains but not public timetables, and all I've read said you could buy a ticket on it, but it was 'hard class' as the Chinese say.

Agree with everything you said, except the numbers- "6300" series is unfamiliar to me.  The ATSF numbers were 2602 to 2608.  They also converted some 1913 vintage coaches, which looked similar, but 2 windows rather than 3, that were numbered 2609-2611.  (per Ellington/Shine Head End Cars).