Help please - would appreciate information on NKP caboose colour scheme used during the late 1930s to the end of the steam era. This data has been rather hard to come by here in Kiwi and is needed to go with an N-gauge Berkshire.
Thanks, NelsonH
I think I have exactly what you need!
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/pcarrell/Prototype%20Train%20Photos/aai.jpg
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/pcarrell/Prototype%20Train%20Photos/afk.jpg
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/pcarrell/Prototype%20Train%20Photos/aft.jpg
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/pcarrell/Prototype%20Train%20Photos/Captured2006-6-24.jpg
These are all from around that timeframe I believe. Hope it helps!
Andy Sperandeo MODEL RAILROADER Magazine
Sperandeo wrote:Hi Nelson,The first Nickel Plate caboose to wear the "Nickel Plate High Speed Service" slogan was no. 1076, repainted at Conneaut, Ohio, in August 1946. The slogan became the standard for NKP cabooses, but it took a year or so before all were repainted – some 1947 photos show cabooses without the slogan.Note that the stripe along the top of the carbody was a very light gray, not white as sometimes represented on models or incorrect historical restorations.So long,Andy
Oh man! There I go learning something again.
I've really gotta stop this habit.
Thanks for the clarification Andy!
G'day Andy,
Many thanks for reply which has provided quite a challenge to come up with a realistic match. Your name is known to me over some years through various articles in the Model Railroader magazine and I still have references in use that I gained from articles saved from time to time. Needless to say, in modelling American outline (Santa Fe being to the forefront due to the first loco I bought being an 0-6-0 s/back Bachmann switcher that still performs well after 30 years or so which carried that brand) I have been quite lucky in what info has been forthcoming out here.
Thanks once again for the info provided.
Nelson
NelsonH wrote: Help please - would appreciate information on NKP caboose colour scheme used during the late 1930s to the end of the steam era. This data has been rather hard to come by here in Kiwi and is needed to go with an N-gauge Berkshire.Thanks, NelsonH
Hi Nelson,
Andy and Philip have given you some good information, but it's incomplete. Here's the story behind the NKP's caboose roster from about 1930 to 1958 in a nutshell.
In 1930, the NKP was running four types of cabooses, 1000-1208, 46-147, 212-253, and 255-292. The 1000-series cabooses were the road's standard long wood cabs, in use from the first day of operations to the last. 46-147 were smaller cabooses inherited with the 1924 absorption of the LE&W. 212-253 were cabooses absorbed with the takeover of the TStL&W (Clover Leaf), also in 1924. Finally, 255-292 was a series of older NKP cabooses bought along with the 1000 series cabs, and which didn't last much past 1940.
During WWII, the NKP added two series of cabooses to the roster, the 1250-1276 and 1343-1399. The 1250s were former C&O cabooses bought secondhand to relieve the NKP's WWII caboose shortage. The 1340s were home built cabooses converted from 38' double sheathed boxcars.
In 1949, the NKP leased the W&LE, and added two more caboose series to their roster, the 700-760 and 826-918. 826-918 were old Wheeling wood cabooses, while the 700s were brand new all-steel cabs built by the Wheeling (and which were the NKP's first steel cabooses).
In 1952, the NKP built a single steel bay-window caboose, number 400. The car was based on modified 700 plans, and toured the NKP to gain employee input.
In 1954, the NKP built another 25 700-series steel cabooses, numbers 761-784.
Between 1955 and 1960, the NKP built 401-450, which were modified versions of 400.
Finally, and after the end of steam, the NKP built 451-500, more steel bay-window cabooses, which were a standard International Car Co design with some 400-series features added.
As for paint schemes during this period, the NKP had two.
Before 1946, the standard NKP caboose color was a "red" body with black roof, underframe and end beams, with yellow grab irons. I've got red in parentheses because there's a LOT of controversy about the color. Tony Koester has a 1930 painting diagram for the 1000-series cabooses that states that the "red" color was "boxcar red", same as the road's boxcars. I, on the other hand, have at least three photos showing that the color was a "real" red color, and was closer to Floquil caboose red. I also have an ICC accident report that states that the NKP's "red" cabooses with three marker lights were among the most visible of all of the eastern railroad's cabs. Finally, a 1944 issue of Trains magazine calls the cabooses "bright red" (of course, they also mention some steel cabooses, which the road didn't have for another ten years!) Between Tony and I, we "think" that while the NKP was under NYC control (before 1922) the cabooses were all painted the same as the NYC - boxcar red. Once the NKP gained "independence" (really, Van Sweringen/C&O/AMC control) that color was changed to a true red, which was the de facto standard of all the AMC roads. We can't quite pin down the exact date of that change, but it was some time between 1930 and 1940 (the date of my earliest color photo showing the red color).
In 1946, the NKP started experimenting with the "High Speed Service" paint scheme. They went through a couple of different versions before settling on what we think of as the NKP's "standard" caboose scheme, as on the photos that Philip provided. The NKP set up a repainting schedule for all of the different caboose classes, which was "sort of" followed (I have a photo of a 1250 in the HS scheme in 1949, and they weren't supposed to be repainted until 1951. Likewise, I have a 1970s photo of a 46-series caboose that was NEVER repainted. There is also some evidence that a couple of the original 700s were never repainted by the NKP, and worked for the N&W for a time in Wheeling paint). In general, the period from 1947 to about 1952 was the transitional time for most NKP cabooses, where both paint schemes could be seen in service).
The paint scheme itself is pretty basic: a bright red for the body (I like Soo Line red), black roof, underframe and end beams, "gray" slogan stripe (VERY light gray), and boxcar red for the steps and end platforms. Grabs were yellow, lettering was white, and the slogan was lettered in black.
One odd thing about the "High Speed" scheme is that every caboose class had its own style of script for the slogan. In the days before computers, there was a general guideline for the slogan lettering, but it was up to the individual paint shops around the system to make it work. That coupled with the talents of whomever cut the individual lettering stencils turned into several different styles of letters.
Photos of all of these cabooses (except for the 255-series) are on the Fallen Flags website:
http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nkp/nkp.html
http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/wle/wle.html
One note about modeling the NKP cabooses in N scale: good luck. Atlas has a model of the 700-784 that's very nice, but those are the ONLY correct N scale NKP cabooses on the market (and their roofs are wrong, but we'll overlook that). The 1000 series cabs, the signature caboose for the road, will have to be scratch/bashed (I've done so by using parts from an ATSF cab and making new "wood" sides). The Athearn/Roundhouse wood cupola caboose can be used for the 255 cabs, and the Model Power bay window caboose, with a few modifications, can be used for the 400-450. Microscale makes correct NKP caboose decals for all paint versions.
Hope this has helped!
Ray Breyer
Modeling the NKP's Peoria Division, circa 1943