My Scratch built 1:1 Caboose

[gmpullman]

Merry Christmas everyone...

I thought it was time to share my 2012 project. I had a little leftover lumber sitting around so I thought I would throw together a replica of a wood caboose which will be my "retirement home" in the near future. It is loosely based on a New York Central wood caboose and it is located in the woods behind my home. It comfortably sleeps five and has all the amenities... and then some, of home.

My wife and I spent quite a few hours this summer on this little project and I must say we are very pleased with the results. Here are a few photos and links to my construction progress... enjoy!

 

Here are links to the Picasa web albums documenting the construction of my little kitbash...

https://picasaweb.google.com/109773316301072016218/CabooseProgressTWO#

https://picasaweb.google.com/109773316301072016218/CabooseYearTWO#

There are other albums if you search my Picasa site.

Enjoy...

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Nice quaint little place.

[gmpullman]

Yes... very relaxing.

My wife bought me a few lumps of coal for Christmas (my mother always warned me to be good) and I throw a lump or two in the stove for that railroady aroma! I love it... This has been a dream come true!

Now, just where am I going to fit a model railroad layout in here???

[hardcoalcase]

Where's my train layout?  Dude... you're standing in it!

Very neat!

Jim

 

[tstage]

Loose or not - GREAT job on the NYC caboose project, Ed!

Did you have the metal porch/deck/steps made for you?  Or, did you fabricate them yourself?

Tom

[Darryl]

Very Impressive!  A great place to escape from "the world". 

Reminds me of a guy who lives across town from me who has an actual caboose in his back yard.  It's on rails and everything...sits right next to his pool and is visible from the road behind his house...really neat!  Thanks for sharing!

[Rastafarr]

What's the rent like? Can I move in yet? I WANT IT!!! TAKE MY MONEY!!!!

Ahem. Very nicely done!

Stu

[HO60s]

Great work!  Sure looks more comfy than the Red Caboose Motel near Lancaster, Pa where we have stayed a couple of times.  

Gale

[kbkchooch]

Great work!

Wanna build another?? 

[Geared Steam]

WOW!!!!!!!!

[tatans]

Can't quite see the cupola from the inside, is it functional? if so, what is up there?  superb job!  all you need now are some very heavy large trucks for the 'boose to sit on And some tracks And some ties And some fish plates And some spikes and you are all set.

[gmpullman]

Thanks for the compliments everyone!

Tom, I was fortunate to have access to a bunch of surplus 1/4" steel plate so I used that to make the step stringers. I welded a piece of 3/8" pipe to the edge to simulate a rolled edge.

Tatans, the cupola on one side is just like a traditional caboose. The other side is the ceiling of the "annex" and it is like a big sleeping loft. I worried about not being prototypical, then found that the Pennsy's N5c had one flat bunk in the cupola. [edit] The Annex is Pullman-speak for an enclosed toilet.

Maybe you can get an idea of the layout in this pic.

A few more photos here...

https://picasaweb.google.com/109773316301072016218/CabooseAlbum#

Thanks again everyone!

[hon30critter]

GMPULLMAN:

Great work! I have to admit that I expected to see it filled with a layout, but I do like the way you have done it up inside.

One question - where's the beer fridge? OK - maybe not so prototypical but a guy has to sit down and relax and admire his work!

It would be nice to see the construction from the ground up. Your first post showed the utilities installed and then you went straight to the built structure.

By the way, when I clicked on the link in your last post I got a message that the page could not be found.

Thanks for sharing. Now I know why I need a place in the country!

Dave

[mlehman]

Impressive work. It takes the idea of a "cabin" in the woods to an entirely different place than usual!

20 years ago there was no problem coming up with a caboose if you wanted one. The RRs couldn't get rid of them fast enough once the FREDs took over, so there was quite a glut on the market. Now they're actually hard to find and far from cheap if you're somewhat picky. But this shows there's no need to let that stop you. And there's no need to hire a flatbed and crane, either.

[gmpullman]

Thanks for pointing out the bad link, Dave. My bad, I had the album set to "private" it's fixed now.

Here's a link to the beginning of construction back in June 2011.

https://picasaweb.google.com/109773316301072016218/CabooseProgress#

If you navigate around Picasa you can see the other albums following construction, lots of photos! You can find the other albums related to the caboose by clicking on the "my photos" under the left Picasa emblem. I had the county zoning and building inspectors scratching their heads.

Under the cupola benches are two lockers, one labeled "Wardrobe" and the other "Commissary." The latter is where the beer fridge is hiding... No rule G on my railroad! I have filtered water piped in, a propane cook top plus the little wood stove. I almost bought a real caboose stove (Pennsy) but the thing was quite large and would have taken up too much room and needed lots of wall clearance. The flat screen TV can be hidden behind a folding galvanized door so it doesn't look out of place in a 1930s caboose.

The two hi-back swivel chairs came out of a CN van and the "head" is from my nephew's GN Pullman, Lewis and Clark Pass.

Thanks for your compliments!

[gmpullman]

Hi, Mike

The Cabin-in-the-woods idea is exactly where the inspiration came from. We had built a little pond and my wife said "wouldn't it be nice to have a little hunting shack back here." Hummm... shack, hack, cabin, crummy—POW! The caboose was born...

I had spent a lot of time in several cabooses over the years so I just started sketching ideas that I liked from them and formulated a plan. Googled lots of prototype plans and photos, even some from MR and RMC, and came up with what you see here.

It was a fun project to build and I still don't know where I ever found the time and still hold down a more than full time job! Of course it's a wonderful place to kick back and shut out all the craziness. i have a little collection of favorite books, a compliment of distilled beverages and I admit to occasionally putting on a CD of on-board track sounds. Its my above ground man-cave (women and children invited, too)

In answer to kbkchooch... NO I look back at these photos and say, WHEW... never again!

My dad had a-l-m-o-s-t come home from Alamosa, CO back in '66 with a D&RGW caboose. Like you said, you could just about pick 'em up anywhere. Especially the wood ones with little steel scrap value. Alas, we lived on a regular city lot and that idea evaporated pretty quickly.

Thanks for your compliments, Mike

[gmpullman]

Glad you like it!

For your pool house why go 3/4? This is 10' x 34' and of course you could shorten it a bit if needed.

I only have a few drawings but I'd be glad to share 'em with you if it would help. Cheers!

Take care, Ed

[blownout cylinder]

    

I so want plans for this...oh my...

[bogp40]

Ed, that is quite impressive. Absolutely fantastic workmanship as well. Are you or were you a carpenter? The woodworking/ millwork is awesome.

Did you by any chance, build the frame in a way to accept skids or a way to mount on a tandem trailer frame to relocate if need be?

[tcwright973]

That is simply outstanding. The ultimate "Man Cave" if there ever was one...

[gmpullman]

bogp40

Did you by any chance, build the frame in a way to accept skids or a way to mount on a tandem trailer frame to relocate if need be?

Hi Bob and thanks for the kudos! I'm just a tinkerer as far as wood working goes (high school woodshop.) I do have a pretty good head for visualizing something and after a few sketches I'm sawing, fitting and fussing. Luckily there have been hundreds of caboose styles out there and I just picked ideas that have already been time tested on the railroad then tried to duplicate it here. I have to admit that it all fits together very nicely.

The posts can be unbolted, there are steel tee plates that anchor the main beams that can be removed and then the whole thing can be jacked up and dollies run underneath. I'm not planning to leave here anytime soon but the option is there if she ever has to be moved.

Thanks again for your compliments...

Take care, Ed

[gmpullman]

blownout cylinder

I so want plans for this...oh my...

Hi, Blownout...

I'll gladly post what drawings I have—when I get a chance. I'm stuck with a few 12 hour shifts at the salt mines this week! They're in an .aad file format that I use the EZ-Architect program (remember Abricadata?) now they're here ...http://www.theliquidateher.com/ez-architect.html

 It's a pretty good and simple program without the learning curve of Autocad.

I don't know if any other drawing programs will open these. Maybe I can convert them to .pdf I'll have to try messing around with them.

To TA462: Funny you should mention pool house. When I first presented the drawings to the zoning board they flat-out rejected it. NO CABINS! OK I says, can I have a potting shed? Sure a potting shed is OK. Next day I'm back with my "revised" drawings, pay my hundred bucks and now we have the coziest potting shed in the county!

Thanks again guys! Ed

[mlehman]

TA462,

Yeah, I think you don't want to shrink this to 3/4 size. At first I thought you were talking pool/billiards, so was trying to figure how they're be enough room to swing a cue on all sides anyway. An H2O pool makes more sense now that I realize that's what you intend.

Even without the need to swing a cue, I'd still go with 10' (which I think is a little wider than prototype, but no biggie, just pretend it was a caboose from the old 6' gauge Erie before they converted it to standard gauge.) My folks built a house when dad got out of the service. Dad decided to save a little money (a couple of thou, IIRC) by taking the standard width option for the house instead of the 4' extra width. He regretted that decision until he sold it and we were always barely able to walk around the bed in the bedrooms because it was so narrow.

It's always a a lot easier to be a little too big than trying to add just a little bit more once it's built.

TA462

I ran outside and measured off 10x34 and I think that might just be the perfect size.   I had the wife holding the tape measure for me and she kept asking me what we're doing.  I showed her your picks and she actually thought it might be a good idea, something different.  She even said we should have one end for pool stuff, store chairs, barbecue etc in and the other side for all the gardening stuff.   I'm going to PM you and ask you a ton of questions if you don't mind later on this week?

[alexstan]

That is an awesome job mate! I love it!