[FH&PB]

Are you talking about the handrails on the D&RGW no. 62 RPO car?

 

[FH&PB]

I looked through the Narrow Gauge Pictorial Vol II and saw those handrails on 3 RPO/baggage, 2 baggage, 1 combine and one drover's caboose (a combine with a cupola). None of the coaches had them. All I can figure is that maybe the crews had to walk on the head-end cars to set brakes on boxcars in the consist. Just a wild guess, though.

 

[FH&PB]

That makes perfect sense, though I wonder why most of the front-end cars did not have handrails. Could be the route they were used on required a lot of crew movement? It's an interesting mystery.

 

[FH&PB]

Scott, I wondered about that, too. The photos of cars with handrails in the Narrow Gauge Pictorial were all taken on the southern end of the D&RGW lines. But then, they were all taken when the southern end was about all that was left of the narrow gauge, so there wasn't a clear causality. But it sure makes sense to me.

I had planned on adding in some freight cars to my passenger consists. I guess I'll have to put a handrail on top of the front-end cars, then.