Hi, folks,
While on vacation I stumbled upon this rail car hidden in some brush. At first I thought it was a drover's caboose, but there is no cupola. I'm at a loss. Can anyone else identify this car? I may can answer some questions regarding shape, size, observations, etc. Thanks for helping solve my little mystery.
The Cedar Branch & Western--The Hillbilly Line!
Well you don;t say where you were but it could very well be a caboose from a short line used for carrying passengers on a mixed train. There is no rule it has to have a cupola.
Looks like a drovers cat They were used for the cattle and livestock shipments. There usally 6 to 10 men that rode with the shipments to insure that the livestock arrived to market in good condition Larry
ndbprr Well you don;t say where you were but it could very well be a caboose from a short line used for carrying passengers on a mixed train. There is no rule it has to have a cupola.
This car is sitting on a hillside near Harris Brake Lake, near Perryville, Arkansas. That's about 40 miles west of Little Rock. The Rock Island ran by about ten miles away, and the Missouri Pacific (it has M.P. markings) passes about twenty miles away on the north side of the Arkansas River.
It could very well have been a Drover's Caboose. Not all cabooses had cupolas, not even Drover's Cabooses, as evidenced by these photos of a C&NW Drover's Caboose.
http://www.midcontinent.org/collectn/caboos/cnw10802.html
Here's the story and history on "caboose" MP 1154!!!!!
http://dbry.rrarchives.com/cabsavedhtml/cabstyles.html#SMWOB
My thanks to Elvin Klepzig for providing the information. Elvin is rebuilding the sister to this car, MP 1153. You can see his progress at
http://www.dbry.rrarchives.com/cabsavedhtml/MP01153.html