Equipment: Passenger Cars

Both Poor's and Moody's investment guides to railroads from 1916 list seven passenger cars for the CR&NW, six "first class" cars and one "dining car". The "first class" cars are actually just day coaches, divided into two combines and four coaches. Of the combines, one had a railroad roof, and one a turtleback roof. Of the coaches, one had a turtleback roof and three had railroad roofs. Here are the three railroad-roof coaches and the railroad-roof combine, in an enlargement from a panoramic photo of the first train of ore to leave Kennicott:

Here is a closer view of two railroad-roof coaches behind a 2-8-0. The one closest to the camera is numbered 100. The one behind the loco is numbered 102.

This photo shows both the turtleback-roof combine and the turtleback-roof coach. I haven't been able to discover numbers on these.

What is usually called the "dining car" is probably best described as a diner-lounge-observation, used in conjunction with excursion trains to the "Million Dollar" bridge. Both the US government reports of 1913 and 1915 note that the railroad operated these trains, and the 1938 ICC abandonment petition noted that the railroad had continued to run them into the late period. They would have been day excursions over the 49 miles to the bridge and back, operated in conjunction with steamships that were providing what we would now call cruises, and the "dining car" would probably have provided some type of premium meal service, perhaps with passengers in the coaches rotating through different seatings. This type of amenity continues on Alaskan railroads to the present.

Here is a general view of the "dining car" about to leave Cordova on a cruise train:

Considering the crowd, this was probably a special event, quite possibly President Harding's visit to Cordova during his 1923 Alaska tour, which ended in his sudden illness and untimely death. The lady seated fourth from the left in the view below of the observation platrorm may be Mrs Harding:

This is a later-period cruise train, since the "dining car" is evident as the last car in the train:


While the "dining car" was apparently used almost exclusively in cruise service, I believe it's the last car on the train shown below, since all five of the cars are railroad-roofed. Considering the bunting, it was some type of special train run in the 1920s.

The regular passenger service on the CR&NW was via mixed trains. The government reports from the 1910s say they were three round trips per week. The ICC abandonment petition indicates that by 1938, they had decreased to two round trips per week. In earlier years, additional cars were added to the rear of the mixed when needed to accommodate the passenger load:

By the end of operation, this had been reduced to a single car.