During the transition era from heavyweight to streamline passenger cars, did RR's run the two types on the same train? I run N scale, and just picked up a pair of each in Milwaukee Road. They are about the same size, painted similarly and look fine together, but I don't know if they were ever actually run this way in reality? Thanks in advance for any info. Lowell.
The Milwaukee ran all sorts of consists, especially in the mid-40's when streamliners were just coming along, except for the actual Hiawatha consists with committed passenger cars to match. Occasionally, you'd see older heavyweight equipment in trains though, usually some coaches and baggage cars. Milwaukee actually had a car, the 500, that they semi-streamlined right before the newer equipment arrived on the property.
Absolutely. Sometimes they were connecting trains which weren't streamlined, but carried through cars from streamliners. Others were (like the Hiawatha for a time just after it was introduced in '35) streamliners that were more popular than their roads anticipated, and expanded with older equipment until new cars could be built. Later, as streamliners became less popular and some became shorter and/or were discontinued, streamlined cars simply began replacing older equipment.
As already noted above,yes. It was VERY common. Even the dedicated post-WWII era trains saw occasional intruders. An example being times such as Thanksgiving and Christmas, with those passenger loadings, could make it necessary.
