Developed at the turn of the 20th century, Heavyweight Cars were the first passenger rail vehicles to be constructed using modern industrial materials, with most cars featuring a body comprised of rivetted steel. Improvements included better durability, greater interior comfort, and new wheel designs that dampened rail noise and resulted in a quieter, smoother ride for passengers. Despite these advances, the cars retained certain characteristics derived from their wooden predecessors, such as the iconic clerestory roof design and potbelly stoves in more basic coach cars. Heavyweight Cars could be found operating on just about every railroad in North America until the advent of lighter-weight streamlined equipment in the 1930s. While mostly absent from long-distance trains by the late 1940s, heavyweight designs continued to be used on commuter railroads into the 1970s.
