
The cars were still too short to allow more than two or three beds to be positioned end to end.īritain's Royal Mail commissioned and built the first Travelling Post Office cars in the late 1840s as well. Britain's early sleepers, when made up for sleeping, extended the foot of the bed into a boot section at the end of the carriage. They were short, often less than 10 ft (3.05 m) long and had two axles.īritish railways had a head start on American railroads, with the first "bed-carriage" (an early sleeping car) being built there as early as 1838 for use on the London and Birmingham Railway and the Grand Junction Railway. The first passenger cars in the United States resembled stagecoaches. The only problem with this design is that the passengers were expected to stand for their entire trip. It featured a roof and small holes in the floor for drainage when it rained, and had separate compartments for different classes of travel. One of the early coach designs was the "Stanhope". The first passenger trains did not travel very far, but they were able to haul many more passengers for a longer distance than any wagons pulled by horses.Īs railways were first constructed in England, so too were the first passenger cars. Up until about the end of the 19th century, most passenger cars were constructed of wood. Restored clerestory cars on display at the Mid-Continent Railway Museum in North Freedom, Wisconsin History 19th century: First passenger cars and early development
