Atlas NE Cabooses

[cefinkjr]

Anybody know whether N&W NE cabooses -- like those made by Atlas -- had plywood or steel sides? I'm specifically interested in N&W 557728 and 557733 but information on any similar cabooses would be appreciated.

I know that many "Northeastern" design cabooses were built with plywood sides but some were steel, too. They may have been built with plywood sides and later upgraded with steel so I guess the date would be important, too.

Thanks,
Chuck

[cspmo]

I think they are steel . i haven't seen any yet.

[Mark300]

This is an interesting question.

Since the N&W was a coal road featuring some major motive power, I couldn't imagine their NE cabins (slang for cabeese) would have been built with anything other than steel.

Most roads that featured pushers (WM, C&O, B&0, Pennsy and so forth) went in for steel frames and boxes especially in their helper districts; it's a lot of stress being placed by a pusher on the only car in the train NOT filled with coal. Remember....the pushers always started first allowing the lead engine an easier time of picking up the slack and getting the consist moving until the train reached a kind of 'stasis' moving up the grade as a complete unit. The caboose had to be a very sturdy car to deal with those stresses and keep the crew and 'brains' (Conductor) safe.

I believe some federal USRA construction regs after WW1 may have even required the use of certain materials on cars like a caboose.

Near where I grew up as a kid, I saw several long trains start up on the NYC after switching out cars. I was impressed how the caboose whip-lashed a couple of feet as the slack was taken up and the train began to move. It would seem that plywood wouldn't last...and the crew seemed to know what was coming and would brace for the jolt.

You might try the N&W's historical web site....they may have some information on those particular numbers if they are numbers really used by that road.

Mark

[orsonroy]

The two N&W cabooses you mentioned are ex-NKP (and W&LE) all-steel cabooses, built between 1948-1951. They're not Northeastern cabooses; their generic description is "NE" because that's the class designation that the New Haven - the road that initially designed that cabooses - gave 'em.

Coal roads had LOADS of wood cabooses. It's the strrl frames that give a caboose it's strength. The wood body doesn't get any of the train load on it, so railroads could technically be using wood bodied cabooses today. Virtually every Eastern coal road used wood cabooses through the 1960s, and some like the D&H used them into the 1980!

[rrinker]

And the wood cabooses weren't always the oldest ones, either. With steel being a vital commodity during WWII, railroads that needed cabooses built them with plywood sides, even though they may have had pre-war all-steel designs in service.

--Randy

[Anonymous]

Plywood? I dont think I would want to be inside a plywood caboose with a Mallet shoving on the back door 3 feet away.

[rrinker]

Well, the underframes were all steel....

Of course, that's why there were laws enacted that said the caboose had to be BEHIND the pusher. Thus you would see loco, train, pusher, TWO cabooses. It also made for more swiching at the top and bottom of the helper grades, to move the road caboose to the back, and put it back on the end of the train when the helper cut off. Most inconvenient...

--Randy

[cefinkjr]

Thanks to all for the replies. I was notified when the first reply was posted and thought I would continue to be notified -- this topic is still in my "Watched Topics" list -- but that flag apparently has to be reset every time a notification is sent. That's my excuse for not having acknowledged your replies sooner.

When I posted my question, I was thinking of the steel framed, plywood sided cabooses built during WW II. And looking at the Atlas cabooses with a good magnifier I now see that the 'seams' are not really seams between two steel sheets. They are the narrow strips of riveted steel that held the plywood sheets in place. Of course, you might also be able to make the case that these cabeese were later upgraded by replacing the plywood sheets and that's really steel you're looking at (and not styrene [:)]).

Based on what I see on the Atlas cabooses and Ray's information that these are ex-NKP and W&LE cabooses, we may have another case of the model being developed based on one set of plans and photos (with plywood sides) and lettered for another railroad's similar equipment (with steel sides). Whatever. I guess I can weather them either way and make some sort of logical argument to support it if any rivet counters question rusty plywood [}:)].

Aside to HighIron2003ar: I wouldn't want to be in a titanium caboose with a Mallet pushing on it; much less a plywood one. Ever see the picture -- I think it was in Trains -- captioned "When Jawn Henry pushed too hard"? N&Ws steam turbine electric apparently shoved a little harder than the steel frame of a caboose could take. The caboose was completely telescoped around a tank car just ahead of it; the tanker's single dome wound up in the caboose's cupola. Thankfully the train crew was riding Jawn Henry's cab so there was no loss of life.

Thanks again,
Chuck

[orsonroy]

QUOTE: Originally posted by cefinkjr

Based on what I see on the Atlas cabooses and Ray's information that these are ex-NKP and W&LE cabooses, we may have another case of the model being developed based on one set of plans and photos (with plywood sides) and lettered for another railroad's similar equipment (with steel sides). Whatever. I guess I can weather them either way and make some sort of logical argument to support it if any rivet counters question rusty plywood
Chuck

Actually, the new Atlas caboose comes with two body styles, to match the NH caboose or the W&LE/NKP version (the NKP caboose has the wrong roof, however).

If you're looking for a N&W wood cab, why not just buy the one from AMB?
http://www.laserkit.com/laserkit.htm
Kit #864

If you just want a plywood sheathed caboose from ANY road, both AMB and Sparrow's Point make them.
http://www.bethlehemcarworks.com/Products/Sparrows_Point/index.html

Or, if you want to use the existing Atlas caboose, carve off ALL the rivet detail, scribe in 4x8 panel lines, and repaint.

[cefinkjr]

Uhhh, rrrrriight... How about I'm willing to live with what I've got? [:-^]

I should have explained that I'm in the process of weathering four of the Atlas cabooses (two N&W and two CRR) for a friend and what I wanted was justification for the amount of rust I put on the cars. Actually, I intend to be pretty sparing with it anyway but an overall patina of rust just wouldn't do for plywood sides. And that was the reason for my question in the first place.

Or ... was this topic merely a rationalization of my hesitation to start dirtying up $25 cars that don't belong to me? Actually, I have started by "rusting" the re-railing frogs hanging from one side of each caboose. Another procrastination is that I'm waiting for my next LHS trip when I will get some chain to replace the molded styrene safety chain on the end platforms. (Don't tell me that either road never used safety chains -- in my world, they do. [:)])

Chuck