Re: E&P combine progress

I too look forward to seeing the completed combine.

What are the dimensions? The original E&P coaches are described as having a 35 foot long body over sills or 41 feet over platforms, with a 7 foot width. Seating was 2-and-1 with a 36 inch double and 19 inch single seat and a narrow 17 inch aisle. That's roughly equivalent of modern airline economy class seating, except people were smaller on average in the 1870's. Weight was about 8 and a half to 9 net tons empty. The interiors of the E&P coaches were described as being exceptionally ornate, even gaudy. I don't know the specifications of the earliest E&P combines, but they must have been similar.

This kind of lightweight equipment represents the sort that locomotives such as "Eureka" were designed to haul. 5-8 car passenger trains at 20-30 miles per hour were not beyond their capabilities in appropriate conditions. I've seen a statement indicating that one of the E&P 12x16 4-4-0's (as such, as likely as not the "Eureka" itself) hauled a coach along the length of the railroad upgrade in a bit more than two and a half hours, or about 35 MPH average. Given the nature of the line, this had to have included burst speeds in the easier sections of 40 to 45 MPH at least. Too bad there aren't any suitable lines to see a repeat of that performance.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/30/2013 01:01AM by James.