Arrow and added baggage cars

[NW Mailing List]

Walter

The Arrow as originally planned in 1945-46 was a seven car train. That was why the order with Pullman-Standard included, two P-1 locker or crew cars, two P2 partitioned coaches, 10, P3 58-seat coaches, four D-1 diners (two for the Pocahontas) and two P-4 observation lounge cars.

The seven-car trains were to be set up as follows:

One P1 Coach or Locker Car with space for dining car crew and coach seats
One P2 Coach, partitioned coach for race separation to meet Virginia law
Three P3 Coaches
One D1 diner
One P4 Observation Lounge

Unfortunately, the railroad fairly quickly learned, with the Arrow having run since April 1946, that three coaches were frequently too much, so it was cut back to one or two P3 coaches, depending on load and days of the week.

Traffic never picked up except for holiday travel and other rare occasions.
By the early 1950s, the P1s were converted to full coaches with a smoking section.

The train did not handle checked baggage, but about early 1957, a combine was added to the consist, I assume to handle some checked baggage.

Along about the same time, it was not unusual to see a mail-storage car in the consist, that had been late arriving for another train.

The N&W began a big effort to eliminate as much passenger service as possible. With attempted adjustments of the schedule with the timetable change at the end of April 1957 the RPO was placed in the Arrow west of Bluefield. I believe it might have been with schedule changes on the Cavalier, I’ve got a whole file on it, just not in hand at the moment.

By early 1959, the round-end observation-lounge cars were parked and by May sold off.

A few years later, the Arrow was then combined with the Cavalier, further slowing the schedule, and it was finally allowed to die in May 1969 as part of the upgrade of the Pocahontas.

Best
Ken Miller

> On Jan 4, 2025, at 7:08 AM, NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:
> 
> Does anyone know when the Arrow started adding baggage and/or post office cars to the consists of the original 5 car trains?  Walter Davis in Youngsville, NC
> -- 
> Walter Davis
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