bay window cabooses

[Prince]

Does someone know of the year the bay window caboose appeared on north western railroads ( or even the Union Pacific in Wyoming or Montana) ? 

[dknelson]

Just off the top of my head, I'd say 1950s for the steel bay window cabooses on the C&NW, and perhaps the 1940s for the wood bay window cabooses that were converted from cupola style.  If I get the opportunity I'll look through old issues of North Western Lines to get more definitive data. 

Dave Nelson

[Sperandeo]

Hello "Prince,"

The Milwaukee Road began rebuilding wood cabooses with bay windows in 1937, and in 1939 began building its own rib-side steel bay-window cabooses. The Union Pacific didn't have any bay-window cabooses until the compact-body CA-11 class in 1979. When the UP took over parts of the Rock Island in 1980, it also acquired some of the Rock's steel bay-window cabooses with conventional bodies.

So long,

Andy

[Beaver14]

If your definition of "northwest" includes the Pacific Northwest, Southern Pacific, with its extensive lines in Oregon should qualify. SP began its love affair with bay window cabooses with the C-30-4 class of 50 cabs in 1947. The C-30-5 class followed with 80 cabs in 1949 and the C-30-6 class with 50 more in 1951. Though these orders were split between the SP Pacific Lines (west of El Paso) and the Texas Lines (T&NO), quite a few photos exist of the bay windows on the Shasta Route and into Oregon. After these, the next major class of bay windows arrived in 1961 with the 200 members of the C-40-4 class--the caboose modelled by Athearn in HO and copied by others.

[Dave-the-Train]

This makes me wonder... What was the logic behind the switch to Bay Window cabooses please?

TIA

[ndbprr]

Safety is a big reason.  getting knocked out of a cupola because of slack action injured many a person in a caboose.

[wjstix]

Plus visibility...most wood cabooses were built to an 8' height, same as the boxcars and reefers that ran in front of them, so the cupolas allowed an unobstructed view ahead of the entire train. When 10' "highcars" started becoming common in the 30's-40's, the view ahead was blocked off - but the new cars weren't any wider, so the bay window gave you at least fairly good visibility down the side of the train.

In 1952 the DM&IR had a caboose designed and built for them that combined the two - essentially a caboose whose cupola was wider than the car body...the "Extended Vision" caboose.

[BRJN]

While not an official reason, space probably had something to do with the changeover, too.  The cupola cabeese I have been in all feel like an hourglass (especially with a centered cupola): skinny in the middle.  This is where the chair(s) to see out the top go, and underneath them are some closets.  There may be 36" of aisle space under the cupola.

OTOH, a bay-window caboose feels more like a room.  The closets can all be put at an end (or in the corners) and the rest of the length can enjoy the full width of the caboose.  If a diagonal table is placed in the bay window, looking out does not require much internal space.  The effect is like being in a smallish bedroom or a big walk-in closet.

Extra-cube boxcars started growing upwards and you can't build a cupola to see over them without getting a top-heavy caboose.  You also have to rebuild every single bridge along the right-of-way to make the extra headroom.  No railroad had that kind of money in the '50's, '60's, or '70's.  (Also note that the 'Standard Northeast caboose' has a short cupola in the first place.)

For visual appeal, I still prefer the cupola caboose.  But for utility, the bay window was the wave of the future.

[dehusman]

Visibility is the answer.  Once the cars exceeded the hieght of the cupola , the reason for the cupola went away.  Also when it was no allowable to ride on top of the cars, seeing the brakemen on top of the cars wasn't necessary.

Dave H.