Baggage Carts

Baggage Carts were one of the utilitarian devices used by almost all railroads to move goods and luggage around their depots. They received little more attention than the broom in the corner, but without them, the expediency of railroad freight service would have been severely compromised. From the beginning of railroading in America in the 1830s, there was the need for getting a passenger's luggage or a store owner's goods to and from the trains. Hand trucks, motorized trucks, conveyors, loading docks and more were utilized in the transfer of everything that went on or off a train. But the baggage cart was perhaps the most common of these forms of transfer. There were literally thousands of baggage carts in existence throughout the heyday of railroading. In addition to the railroads, baggage carts were owned and operated by transportation companies such as Wells Fargo and Railway Express and these carts would sit beside those of the railroads'. Hand powered carts gave way to motorized carts or trailers pulled by a variety of motorized vehicles. Even today baggage carts can be found at stations serving Amtrak's trains. Because baggage carts took a back seat to the trains themselves, little has been recorded of them and few photographs specifically highlighting the carts have been taken.