Trying to locate a story that I remember reading once, about what a family went through that decided they wanted their own backyard caboose. I remember a lot of trouble with the railroads that were hauling it, with it making numerous back and forth trips and other issues, before arriving at its final destination somewhere in the Northeast.
But all I can find is 'So you want to buy a caboose' from the August 1990 issue, and the following online story.
http://trn.trains.com/railroads/2006/07/own-a-caboose
Neither of these is it, but I'm pretty sure what I read was in this publication. Anyone have any ideas?
Thanks :)
Your Seaboard clue made it easy to track down. The article is titled 'The saga of SBD 025705', from the January 1990 issue.
The story I thought I read in Trains was about well known author Adolph Hungry Wolf's acquisition of several railcars and cabooses and locating them in the Canadian Rockies - in fact he wrote an entire book about the adventure: "Off On a Wild Caboose Chase." I thought for sure there was an article by him in Trains but the index does not seem to come up with it. I wonder if it was one of those brief anthology stories that in some way does not get indexed by author.
Dave Nelson
There also was a different one, mid 2000's, about someone purchasing a caboose, and the breakdown on cost for it, supplies, shipping, delivery, remodeling/refurbishing, track for it to rest on, etc...
Can't quite remember which issue, as it was well out of my price range... But always thought, wow, that would be cool to have...
Ricky W.
HO scale Proto-freelancer.
My Railroad rules:
1: It's my railroad, my rules.
2: It's for having fun and enjoyment.
3: Any objections, consult above rules.
Man, I've read so many headache and hassle stories about buying a caboose I've resolved not to get one unless it was made by Lionel, MTH, Williams, Ready Made Toys, well, you get the picture.
It WOULD be cool to have one, though! Great place to build an O gauge layout!
Well, the solution I came up with was to scratch build one just like you have to do when you can't get the exact model you want.
My wife and I began this little project back in 2010. Trying to find an actual caboose, as you can imagine, is nearly impossible (there happens to be one in Michigan on ebay presently) so I started sawing and hammering and we now have a "nearly" authentic caboose that is better in many ways than trying to restore an existing caboose.
I made an amalgamation of several caboose designs and going from memory of the hundreds that I've been in and sketched out plans that would suit our needs but still try to retain as much authenticity as possible.
If this link works you can view some construction photos here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/109773316301072016218/CabooseAlbum#
My dad had toyed with the idea of buying a Rio Grande caboose when we saw many for sale in Alamosa, Colorado in the early 1960s but hauling it back to Ohio posed a bit of a problem
Have fun, Ed
Looks fantastic, inside and out! You're one helluva craftsman!
Considering all the restoration work that would have had to be done on a real caboose I'm sure you went the right route building your own.
Again, great job!
Go to www.discoverlivesteam.com, on left side of home screen, there is a "Buy and Sell" / Fill Scale Railroad tab. There are presently 2 cabooses being offered for sale, along with lots of other railroad stuff.
Care to tell us something about the signals?
Now that is down right COOL!!!!!
I am impressed, has a very real look to it, well done.
daveklepper Care to tell us something about the signals?
Thanks for the kudos. Gentlemen! The caboose was fun to build but I sure wouldn't want to do it again! The 91908 isn't an authentic NYC number, of course, but I'll certainly remember my wedding anniversary from now on!
The GRS type G signal came off the NYC main line near Ashtabula, OH. My nephew was involved with the contractor doing the signal upgrades and was in the right place at the right time. I had a PRR USS lamp housing and found two more on eBay. The B&O CPL dwarf was a gift from my B-in-law, a 40 year CSX/B&O employee.
The Hayes bumper was from a NKP siding serving the plant I'm employed in. When they were clearing out some scrap a few years ago I made a request to have it. All it cost me was a sheet pizza for the scrapping gang . The coupler was a modification made by the plant to help keep tank cars from rolling away.
Some of the interior appointments came from friends who had owned railroad equipment and had some surplus goodies (The Pullman hopper, caboose hi-back chairs) the rest of the stuff was picked up here-and-there.
The design was an amalgamation of many visits to various cabooses over the years. I just made modifications to suit our needs and this is the result.
*John, that link doesn't work. Can you update it? [edit, found it!]
http://www.discoverlivesteam.com/discoverforsale/rollingstock.html
Thanks again, Ed
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.