When you hear the word passenger train, big name trains like Great Northern’s Empire Builder and Northern Pacific’s North Coast Limited are what often come to mind. But what if you needed to reach a town served by a branch line?
Spokane, Portland & Seattle Baggage-Coach 272 or 273 with an extra coach as part of a mixed train. NRM collection.
On many branch lines, passenger service was profitable only because of mail and express shipments. However, sometimes the revenue from mail and express was not enough to offset the operating costs of a passenger train.
Freight traffic paid the bills, so some railroads ran a combined passenger & freight train often referred to as a “mixed” train. These mixed trains allowed one train to handle all services along the way which reduced costs. Mixed trains were not as fast as true passenger trains, as the crew had to switch freight cars at towns along the way.
Spokane, Portland & Seattle Baggage-Coach 272 or 273 in front of the Bend, Oregon depot. NRM collection.
The passenger car used on a mixed train was a car that could carry both passengers and baggage. Because this was a combination of services, these were often called combination cars or “combines”. Sometimes, the combine also served as a caboose for the train crew as well. If passenger ridership increased, additional passenger cars could be added.
Spokane, Portland & Seattle Baggage-Coach 272 during the Museum’s Halloween Train.
The Museum’s Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway Baggage-Coach 272 is just such a car. Originally built in 1915 as a day coach, it and coach 273 were rebuilt in 1955 into baggage-coach configurations for use on trains 102/103 between Wishram, Washington and Bend, Oregon. 272 was retired in 1971 following the start of Amtrak and acquired by the museum in 1972.
