Passenger cars served essentially as a hotel on wheels for the passengers traveling inside.  Accordingly, the cars needed various systems to meet some mechanical needs of the car itself as well as the needs of the human cargo inside.

For the cars themselves, trucks, brakes and underframes are at the top of the list.  The cars were relatively simple and could be thought of as a bridge on wheels but that bridge still required extensive engineering.

The passengers inside had requirements as well.  The cars had to provide fresh clean air, keep the travelers at a comfortable temperature in a lighted environment, provide food and drink and of course, toilet facilities were essential.  Meeting all these needs at once was a severe test of the mechanical systems of the time.

Here, the site will concentrate on systems that were in place circa 1920 with a particular emphasis on the external appearance of the systems.  Although references will be made to earlier years, no attempt is made to give details on systems obsolete by 1920. In the decades following 1920, the usage of air conditioning revolutionized ventilation, the introduction of lightweight structures changed the underframes dramatically and the availability of powerful generators moved cooking appliances to electricity. No reference is made to these “future” advances in systems.