@ EJ Berry : "Santa Fe" had also a "Overland Limited" train...

In 1938, NYC 25/26 did not go into Cleveland Union Terminal so there was no change to electric power in Cleveland. Thus the J3a Hudson out of Harmon was in a position to run through from Harmon to Chicago.

Note the RPO and diners are lettered NYC while the sleepers are lettered Pullman, reflectinh their owners.

Phil Mulligan

ATSF 7/8 were the Overland Limited but it ran only 1901-1915 beween Chicago and Los Angeles under that name. 7/8 were later the Fast Mail train on ATSF.

Both ATSF and UP/SP had ancestors using the Overland name but it appears ATSF let UP/SP have it. SP 27/28 used the San Francisco Overland name into the 1960's.

Phil Mulligan

I wonder how luxurios (in terms of price of the ticket) where the nice U.S.A. trains compared to "Orient Express".
"Great Northen" had some luxury features, but theyr trains wheren't extra-fare. Reason: I've read that James J. Hill (nicknamed Empire Builder) insisted on having good rotues and from the begining the road of rail to be good, so less cost when operating trains.

On this card: https://www.cardcow.com/581324/chicago- ... t-station/ we can see a lamp in the kind of dish form put under the roof of the open platform of the observation car. I wonder if such "dish" ever existed or was just an artist drawing.

It's a reflector for the electric light in the middle over the rear platform.

There's no date I can find but the Chicago Postcard Museum places "undivided back" postcards before 1907. Electric lights appear to be a feature of the train.

Phil Mulligan

But there any Diesel-Electric locomotives that dind't had driving cabs on both ends (most American locomotives where are this way - Central Lines of New Jersey had locmotives at both ends - nicknamed the Janus - any left?) that had a "corridor" between the unit and the passanger cars or post/bagge car so you could get in our out of the locomotive while the trains was moving, like you did between passanger cars?

CNJ's Baldwin DRX 6-4-2000 double-ended diesels were unique in North America. There were no other double cab diesels. There were six of them and they were all retired in the mid-1950's after maybe ten years of service. None have survived.

Single-ended cab units had a diaphragm and buffer plate at the rear "blind" end with a door so someone could walk between units, or to/from the train. After EMC's E4's of 1938 most cab units had nose doors which allowed passage to another unit or to the train although some amount of agility was needed. Some cab units had a "hostler's" control at the blind end so they could be moved slowly from the front of the movement in terminal areas.

If there were a Railway Post Office car (RPO) in the consist, the RPO doors would be locked and entry limited to authorized US Post Office employees (or train crew in an emergency)

On the double cab issue, some road switcers had dual controls in their single cab so the engineer could be on the proper side in either direction.

Phil Mulligan

Why the 'Janus' locomotives where is service just 10 years? And why other railroads didn't used double cab locomotives?
I wonder if passangers where ever allowed onto locomotives while the train was on the move.
Did any steam locomotives had doors on the tender?

Locomotive cab rides (even for non-T&E employees) have always been pretty much something done on the "down low" by an individual crew, not sanctioned by the company.

As far as I know, no North American steam locomotives had tender passageways, like some LNER passenger locomotives in the UK had. They just stopped for the crew changes.

The Baldwins had such a short life probably because they were among the least efficient diesels ever built. They were retired shortly after CNJ retired the last of its camelback 4-6-0's.

The dual-control road switcher filled the need for a dual-cab locomotive.

Phil Mulligan

Smoking was or wasn't permited on "Pullman" cars?

Smoking was allowed. Private rooms had ash trays. In open sections and Parlor Cars, passengers were directed to the washrooms to smoke. Pullman lounge cars had large ashtrays.

Phil Mulligan

So if you where a non-smoker during smoking era and you dind't travelled into a open section car and the car had air condition, the smell did get in you room anyway...

I'm curios if the employees did smoked on the luggage car or that car was safe from smoking?
Why all companies rented sleeping cars from "Pullman" an none of the tryed to use they own owned sleeping cars.
Untill when "Harvey" operated dining cars?