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LIRR Baggage Cars & Baggage Handling |
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Express/baggage
houses were at the far east end of the eastbound station platforms and
at the far west end of the westbound station platforms so these cars,
which were ALWAYS the head-end car on both eastbound and westbound
trains back in the day when baggage and express were carried
(pre-mid-1960s), could be spotted at their respective platforms and be
unloaded. If it was single track through the station facilities,
there would be an express house at BOTH the far west end and the far
east end of the low-level station platform to accommodate these cars. In later years when the
baggage cars only carried newspapers, they were always on the head
end EASTBOUND when they were in service. You would see them on the
rear end of a westbound train ONLY when they were deadheading back west.
Newspaper bundles were tossed
or thrown as were the rolled individual
papers. |
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Baggage Handling at
Patchogue 1917 Belcher-Hyde Map inset Patchogue station area between Railroad Ave and Ocean Ave
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 Patchogue Station view NW 1905 The larger structure west of the station stored items headed west via train and ALSO contained an REA office as well as a truck dock at the rear and sides to load and unload REA trucks. |
Express consisted of
shipped parcels. Equate “express” with “UPS” of today and
it makes it more understandable. The
train delivered parcels to the town/city and were, in turn, delivered to
private and commercial addresses via green REA trucks. |
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REMITTANCES: This procedure was explained by George G. Ayling, Agent/operator at CI (Central Islip, NY) who, back in 1909, started his LIRR career as an express messenger at Brentwood, NY.
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 Express Wax Sealers |
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 PD and Baggage House 1947 Items stored headed east via train. Photo: F. Weber, Archive: Dave Keller |
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 "Going Fishing " c.1930s Montauk to Penn Station Photo: Rudolph-Hoffman |
It's the end of a long and profitable day of fishing, as anglers bring their catches to the Railway Express Agency car laid up on the fishing dock just west of the Montauk railroad station, to put on ice for the trip home. The REA car didn't carry baggage or express on the fish trains. They carried fish in makeshift compartments filled with ice for the trip home; as indicated by the late retired conductor Jeff Skinner who was familiar with the procedure. He started on the LIRR as a trainman in 1917. (Dave Keller info) |
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This was the means of transport between facilities at the station:
The old baggage
wagon . . . Load ‘er up and pull yer guts out! That’s why
platforms had ramps . . . not for handicapped access, but for baggage car
access.
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 RPO Baggage Car #7737 Port Jefferson 09/1963 Archive: Dave Keller
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 FM CPA20-5 #2007 Delivery Newsday Mineola 1950 Archive: Dave Keller This is the Greenport Train coming
into |
Here’s a shot some years later, with the baggage car and Newsdays headed out to Greenport on train #204.
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 Baggage car #7715 on Montauk bound train #4 Baggage man preparing to dump newspapers on platform 07/1971 Photo and archive: Dave Keller |
.jpg) Baggage car #7715 on Montauk bound train #4 Conductor walking up front to speak to engineer. Newspapers ready to be dumped on platform are visible in door of baggage car 07/1971 (second car is a lightweight parlor) The LIRR and MTA are still in transition as is evidenced by the conductor still wearing his "letter-carrier" gray uniform. Photo and archive: Dave Keller |
Baggage Mail cars
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 C420 #226 at PD Patchogue 1971 Archive: Dave Keller It was also done on the Montauk runs. Here’s the Newsday baggage car on train #4. Info: Dave Keller:
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 PD Conductor Orders 1971 Archive: Dave Keller They always threw a paper off for the block operator!! See the guy in the doorway at the rear of the baggage car in the photo at the left? He’s about to throw Ed Sorensen a Newsday. The above shot shows the paper rolled up on the platform right after it was tossed off for him. Info: Dave Keller |
 RPO/REA car #7743 catching mailbag on the fly at Bayport, NY – August, 1958 (Art Huneke photo, Dave Keller archive)
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 LIRR #7724 Montauk 1976 |
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Information, research, and photos kindly provided by LIRR Historian Dave Keller except were noted.
Baggage consisted of personal items
checked by customers . . luggage, “steamer” chests, baskets, even
bicycles to be taken off the train by said customer upon reaching
one’s destination. Many years back brass baggage tags would go
on these items and were replaced in later years by hard card baggage
tags, similar to what AMTRAK uses today. When you got to your
destination and the train was unloaded for your stop, you turned in your
check at the agency and they would give you your corresponding
luggage. 
