How many passenger cars did the C&NW "cap" to run with the Gallery cars on the 400s? I found a pic of a baggage-combination car with one of these "caps", but can't find any info on other cars that were done in this manner.
Railroad Forums
C&NW Passenger Cars With Gallery "Caps"
- Discussion relating to The Chicago & North Western, the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific, the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad (Milwaukee Road), including mergers, acquisitions, and abandonments.
Moderator: Komachi
The baggage-RPO and diner are the only ones I know about. I want to say that the road raised the ceilings on 2 of each, but Jim Scribbins' "400 Story" will have the correct tally. There's a picture of the diner interior, and the original ceiling and roof were left intact. The raised part is simply a false cap as you stated.
It is unbelievable that a road known for extreme thrift - secondhand power with no dynamics comes to mind - would spend the money (perhaps $10k/each in today's dollars) to shop a car, add a fake roof, and cut it loose on money losing passenger service.
The new Acela: It's not Aveliable.
Tadman wrote:It is unbelievable that a road known for extreme thrift - secondhand power with no dynamics comes to mind - would spend the money (perhaps $10k/each in today's dollars) to shop a car, add a fake roof, and cut it loose on money losing passenger service.True, but that's still an order of magnitude cheaper than buying new gallery diners or baggage/RPOs. It fits with the image I have of CNW - cheap, but only to the point where they start to look unprofessional.