Caboose floor plans? Where?

[Anonymous]

O.K. this is so maddening, where can I find a floor plan for an offset cupola caboose.
I ask this to aid my attempt to salvage a $2.00 Model Power BN Caboose I bought in a bargain bin. I plan on making it into a home next to some old retired tracks on my layout. I would like to totally detail the interior with the original wall placement, but, I can't find a floor plan.

Help?
Anyone?
Murphy

[orsonroy]

The caboose, next to the motive power of any road, is generally the most beloved element of most roads. Check virtually any historical society's database, and they'll have published plans for the interiors of cabooses at some time. Many larger and more popular roads have entire books dedicated to cabooses, which almost always include floorplans. Try digging through the CB&Q historical society's website for books on Q (and BN) cabooses.

Since cabooses are so popular, the modelling magazines have published hundreds of plans for them. Try backissues of MR, RMC, or Mainline Modeler (check the index at the top of this page)

Finally, while there's relatively little easily found on caboose interiors online, I;m sure there's something out there somewhere. Try digging through the eastern roads on the Fallen Flags website, looking specifically for equipment diagrams. And since cabooses are so popular, there are several websites dedicated to them. While they're mostly fluff ("Here's a rusty od caboose that Maude & I took a pic of while on vacation"), some have real data in them.

As with anything else in this hobby, it's all about doing research.

[Anonymous]

Thank you, that was a fantastic reply.
I'll check it out.
Murphy

[BRJN]

Memories from inside a Wabash offset-cupola caboose:

(with thanks to the Nickle Plate Society of New Haven IN and a man who claimed to be named "Santa")

The short end inside the caboose had closets on both sides. The hallway was just wider than the doorway. Under the cupola were ladders up to the seats on top. This area had a higher ceiling than elsewhere. The conductor's desk faced away from the cupola, towards the long end of the caboose. Across from it is the stove, with a frying pan tacked onto the top. Beyond this is a large open space which for tourist purposes has been reworked with long-way benches along the walls and a more-open space for the grownups to stand in.

I suppose you could put a bed (or a fold-out sofa) crosswise at the end away from the cupola, and block off that door. The remaining big space would have to be split between a living room (or a big comfy chair anyway) and one wall have a basic kitchen counter like a mobile home or cheap apartment might have. A bathroom could be placed under the cupola, maybe offset to one side and only climb up on the other side. Ask a plumber about this: should the kitchen and bath be on the same side of the caboose? An alternative would be to cut down the conductor's desk and move it forward, then put the big comfy chair behind it, right by the cupola "skylight" windows.