B&O Wagon-top caboose, plans in latest MR

[dknelson]

I am not a B&O modeler but I have always had a fascination for these unique cabooses. The plans and photos in Model Railroader have reminded me of a project I began years ago to try to convert an old Marx bay window caboose to B&O style (it would be, at best, an approximation). I think the Marx tooling has been taken over by one or another of the cheapo train set makers as I still see these stubby bay window cabooses being sold new at swap meets. I gave up on my project but maybe someone else has done it?

There have been brass models over the years but I have enough difficulty affording brass that I would actually run on my layout much less just be a pretty collectible on the shelf. Indeed for shelf purposes I would almost prefer O scale to my regular HO. If Atlas did this in O scale plastic I would be in hog heaven!

A question for B&O experts. The article in MR says that the main achievement of these wagon top cars (B&O also had boxcars and I think covered hoppers in similar style) was that the sides and roof were one piece of steel, curved. Thus there were no seams to leak. But the photos of at least some preserved cabooses show a seam at the roof line. Was this due to later repairs? Or is this an optical illusion in the photos?
Dave Nelson

[dknelson]

I am not a B&O modeler but I have always had a fascination for these unique cabooses. The plans and photos in Model Railroader have reminded me of a project I began years ago to try to convert an old Marx bay window caboose to B&O style (it would be, at best, an approximation). I think the Marx tooling has been taken over by one or another of the cheapo train set makers as I still see these stubby bay window cabooses being sold new at swap meets. I gave up on my project but maybe someone else has done it?

There have been brass models over the years but I have enough difficulty affording brass that I would actually run on my layout much less just be a pretty collectible on the shelf. Indeed for shelf purposes I would almost prefer O scale to my regular HO. If Atlas did this in O scale plastic I would be in hog heaven!

A question for B&O experts. The article in MR says that the main achievement of these wagon top cars (B&O also had boxcars and I think covered hoppers in similar style) was that the sides and roof were one piece of steel, curved. Thus there were no seams to leak. But the photos of at least some preserved cabooses show a seam at the roof line. Was this due to later repairs? Or is this an optical illusion in the photos?
Dave Nelson

[dknelson]

Yes this is cheating I know, but replying to my own prior posting is one way to get it back on the first page. Dirty trick? Sure.
Dave Nelson

[dknelson]

Yes this is cheating I know, but replying to my own prior posting is one way to get it back on the first page. Dirty trick? Sure.
Dave Nelson

[mrd4747]

Lionel just announced int their latest catalog, a B&O wagon top cabboose. You could swap out the trucks and couplers with the appropriate 2-rail variety.

[mrd4747]

Lionel just announced int their latest catalog, a B&O wagon top cabboose. You could swap out the trucks and couplers with the appropriate 2-rail variety.

[Sperandeo]

Dave Nelson raises a good point, as caboose C-2824 in the August MODEL RAILROADER definitely has riveted seams below the radius coming down from its roof. I checked photos and drawings in two books, "Cabooses of the Baltimore & Ohio RR," by Robert Hubler, published by the B&ORR Historical Society, and "Baltimore & Ohio Cabooses, Vol. 1 – Photos & Diagrams," by TLC Publishing. The seams on 2824 definitely appear to be non-standard, and not representative of the the way these cars looked when built or in service. (The seams on the angled parts of the bay window were usual, and appear on all these cars when built and in service.) As Dave suggests, the car at the Ohio State Historical Society seems to have been repaired, but whether by the railroad or its restorers we can't say.

So long,

Andy

[Sperandeo]

Dave Nelson raises a good point, as caboose C-2824 in the August MODEL RAILROADER definitely has riveted seams below the radius coming down from its roof. I checked photos and drawings in two books, "Cabooses of the Baltimore & Ohio RR," by Robert Hubler, published by the B&ORR Historical Society, and "Baltimore & Ohio Cabooses, Vol. 1 – Photos & Diagrams," by TLC Publishing. The seams on 2824 definitely appear to be non-standard, and not representative of the the way these cars looked when built or in service. (The seams on the angled parts of the bay window were usual, and appear on all these cars when built and in service.) As Dave suggests, the car at the Ohio State Historical Society seems to have been repaired, but whether by the railroad or its restorers we can't say.

So long,

Andy