Hol --
Re. Denny Anspach's questions about CZ baggage car underbody water tanks:
The E. G. Budd Co's May 3, 1946 proposed specifications for the CZ included this regarding the baggage car water system:
"The baggage car will be equipped with an insulated, underfloor tank of two thousand gallons water capacity. The tank will be equipped with large air vents and a ruggedly-constructed sight glass in each side to show the water level. Sight glasses must
be properly protected.
Thermostatically-controlled steam loops will run through the tank to provide anti-freeze protection. A steam connection for this purpose will be installed in the discharge pipe at both ends of the car.
Four filler connections, two on each side of the car, designed to take the Railroad's standard plug shown on Print No. 14179, and equipped with a water strainer, of the same type as those installed on the "A" Car of the Denver Zephyrs, will be provided
on each Baggage Car.
Two motor-driven rotary pumps will be provided inside the Baggage Car. Pumps will have a capacity of fifteen gallons per minute and will be connected to a 76 volt D.C. motor. Each pump will have a separate connection from the water tank, with a strainer
in the line, and electrical connections will be made through a double throw switch in the baggage care so that either pump can be used. Water discharge connections will also be made so that either pump can be used, delivering water to either end of the car.
Piping will be designed so that water will drain out of the line when either pump is running.
Electric power for the motor will be obtained from the diesel electric locomotive and any circuit wires will be extended separately to a receptacle at the end of the car.
The Railroads have furnished a sketch showing the electrical circuits for this equipment."
And Virgil Staff's "D-Day of the Western Pacific" (Interurban Press, 1982) has this to say:
"As assurance against a shortage of boiler water between Eastern Division terminals, two 1,000-gallon tanks were installed beneath each baggage car of the California Zephyr. Taking advantage of the existing water transfer piping on the locomotives, a
glad-hand coupling was connected to the transfer piping inside the diaphragm of the baggage car. When the water in the baggage car tanks was needed in the locomotive, the fireman could go to the rear of the locomotive and close the pump motor switch, which
was located inside the diaphragm at the end of the baggage car on the collision post. This was usually done at some regular or unscheduled stop, and the pumps then continued to operate until the fireman opened the switch art some other point where the train
stopped. These tanks may not have been used after delivery of the 804 Class (FP7A/F7B), but they were maintained for a number of years following that date as a precaution against delays."
"When the California Zephyr began operation on March 20, 1949, the 801 Class power (F3A/F3B) ran from Oakland to Salt Lake and return....The small capacity steam generator water tanks did not allow for extended runs, and initially not all of the belly
tanks under the baggage cars had been installed. This work was being rushed to completion, and any baggage cars with tanks were immediately employed to compliment the boiler water in the booster units. An electrician rode each train at least partway, and
on train No. 18 he switched on the baggage pump at Virgilia and switched it off at Portola. On train No. 17, he threw the double knife switch at Stockton , and shut it off at Niles. The steam trainline gauge was maintained at 150,olbs. or better at all times
since this appeared to be the minimum pressure at which the needs of the diners could be served.
On the California Zephyr, the power left Oakland with full tanks of fuel and water. Should the baggage car belly tanks be installed and operational, no engine or baggage car water would be taken at Oroville or Wendover. On No. 17 at Salt Lake, the 801
Class power would be waiting with full tanks, and Rio Grande would fill the baggage car tanks with as much water as there was time to permit. This provided additional emergency water into Winnemucca and cut the time for filling up at that point....
On occasion, No. 17 arrived in Salt Lake with the water supply pipe from the baggage car frozen. This necessitated taking boiler water at Wendover in order to make Winnemucca. In December 1949, a copper pipe was installed from the steam trainline pipe
on each baggage car to the steam generator water supply...
After delivery of the 804 Class with increased steam capacity and larger boiler-water storage, the baggage car belly tanks were seldom used although they were temporarily maintained and filled as protection for heating the train in case of delay during
subzero weather."
Additional text states that by early 1952, the baggage car tanks were not generally in use, and by late summer 1954 Western Pacific had determined to make no further use of the baggage car tanks "since, on occasion, transfer lines tended to freeze when
on foreign trackage, and the pumps frequently lost their prime."
Author Staff's statement that not all baggage car belly tanks had been installed at the time of the CZ's inauguration is suspect given that Budd's 1946 specification proposal included them, and the photographic evidence tends to support the conclusion
that all six CZ baggage cars were delivered with factory-applied underbelly water tanks. The California Zephyr Trains Agreement between the Q, D&RGW, and WP makes no mention of the baggage car water tanks whatsoever. Having found no mention of the CZ baggage
cars' water tanks in any internal Q correspondence, I conclude the baggage cars were so equipped for the sole benefit of Western Pacific. Since this appears to have been solely a WP motive power matter perhaps explains the occasional arrival of No. 17 at
Salt Lake with a frozen baggage car water supply pipe, and the reference to D&RGW adding as much water at the station dwell allowed, suggesting that the Q added no water whatsoever and Rio Grande only added water westbound at Salt Lake. It also appears that,
like Silver Treasure, the six CZ bags had their air-brake reservoirs and piping mounted in the ceiling of the car(s).
After the use of the tanks was discontinued, removal of an individual car's belly tank(s) was presumably done on an as-needed basis out of mechanical necessity, but was otherwise postponed for as long as possible to avoid an otherwise unnecessary expenditure,
explaining why one or more of the six cars appeared without the tanks in latter years.
For the HO modeler, an undecorated Broadway Limited CZ baggage car (and the previously-mentioned Custom Brass steam generator vent) appears to be the most direct (and cost-effective) path to an accurate rendition of Silver Treasure as it includes the belly
tanks and fill-up connections (and enables the end-of-car reporting-mark plates to be left-off/removed and the mounting holes plugged).
Bill