Cabooses

I have a Postwar 6657 Rio Grande Caboose.  It was only produced for a few years and one of the few cabooses that had several colors.  Mine is in C-7 condition if not better condition.  It was my uncles growing up.   It is a great collectors item, but as with all post war items the prices I can get for this isn't anywhere then a few years ago.  

I love the latest Lionel Bay Window Cabooses. I have all 4 versions of the NYC BW caboose. 

I have a thing for bobber cabooses.  I have bobber cabooses that I don't have engines for!

I agree with SJC that the Lionel I-12 caboose is very nice.  While I do not have a B&O version I do have them in Lionel Lines and Polar RR paint.

My newest is an MTH Ohio Central caboose.  They are hard to find.  Being that their last two catalogs had Ohio Central locomotives, I'm hoping MTH catalogs another OC caboose soon.  Would like another road number.

I have a lot of cabooses.  Except for my Husky Stack, every freight train gets one.

Two iconic cabeese for their respective railroads are the 3rd Rail SP C-30-1 wood caboose and the Weaver Lackawanna caboose. I wish I could recommend a NYC 19000 wood caboose but no one except Mullet River (kit) has made a correct one. Some are close but no has nailed it.

 

Pete

The Milwaukee Road's ribside bay window caboose is a classic. Weaver made a limited run of them in brass a few years ago. They are pricey - but worth every penny. 

 

The two cars at top left and center are the Weaver cabooses. They are the same except for decoration; the first one is the original 1930's paint job; the second is from the 50's when the logo was added. Top right is a brass 2-rail; the bottom row are various Milwaukee cabooses that are not from Milwaukee prototypes. From left: Lionel, K-Line, MTH.

 

Some other classics would include the PRR N-5C porthole caboose, the PRR N6 and N8, and the UP's CA-1 wooden caboose. 3rd Rail made this one in brass with or without a baggage door, and MTH makes it in plastic. 

    Next to buying a new engine, I enjoy buying a new caboose. Have lots of them. I also enjoyed the new Lionel NYC bay window cabooses.

 

John Knapp

Erie, not Eerie

I do to love the caboose's. I have 19 caboose's

Like Trainsrme I'm a bobber caboose nut. Have duplicates of every bobber MTH has ever made and then some. Great little items.   Joe

Here are two of my favorites

Some of Lionel's Pennsy hacks.  I really like the brass caboose that was catalogued with the first scale S2.

 

 

 

I, too, am a fan of the I-12 by Lionel.  I have the Chessie version which is incredibly detailed with metal grillwork on the windows.

If I have an engine it has to have a caboose. The train doesn't seem complete without one. The only exception is my modern European electric engine.

I agree with Chris.  All freight trains need a caboose.

 

doug

+1 to that.  My only locomotive that doesn't have a caboose (yet) is my Reading TrainMaster that I bought just a couple of weeks ago.  But it will, just as soon as I can find a good one.

I use use cabooses or is it cabeese?  all the time sometimes two ! on every train . road trains. yard jobs. transfer trains..gotta have a place for the crew. dont forget to model a caboose service track....we called it the caboose pad at work.  ALL CABOOSE ALL THE TIME...conrail john

Gentlemen,

   I like them also and have about 10 or 12 in my train collection, even have the original Lionel Tin Plate and the new MTH Tin plate.

PCRR/Dave

 

Original Lionel Tin Plate red Caboose and newer red Santa Fe Caboose on an old 027 Christmas layout.  Way down on the laft hand side of the platform is an old

PRR Brown Caboose with the Yellow Roof and Pittsburgh yard ident, one of my favorites.

The International Car Company extended vision caboose has always been a favorite.

 

Rusty

If you want to see a complete collection of Lionel post war cabooses, Gordon Wilson probably has the most complete I've seen.  Check it out on the TCA Desert Division Facebook Page:

 

https://www.facebook.com/photo...p;type=1&theater

The Montana Rail Link still uses cabeese on some of their locals - for a brakeman/flagman for switching and long backup moves.  Did some train chaising following the MRL a few years back, and enjoyed seeing the cabeese.  Her is a nice pic, but not with a caboose:

 

http://www.montanarail.com/images/gallery/perma.jpg

 

Its a great paint scheme, I sure wish more manufacturers offered Montana Rail Link.

Here is a youtube shot in Missoula Montana showing a Montana Rail Link Caboose

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4znj8MGkSe8

 

Great mountains and tunnels, great paint scheme, modern locals, and the still use cabeese.  More manufactures should offer this paint scheme.

I too think Lionel did us a big favor with the I-12.  SURE WISH I COULD FIND A RED WITH YELLOW LETTERING VERSION, HELP!

 

Mike P

An old favorite of mine not seen too often..

Joe

 

 

Driving in the south Charlotte,NC area last Tuesday I saw a train  crossing overhead, only saw 2 box cars and a caboose.  I did not know anyone still used them. I did not catch any roadnames or anything, it was a quick glimpse.

Hello chessie1971......

 

My goodness,19 cabooses i guess you have caboose fever 

 

the woman who loves the S.F.5011

Tiffany

I have always been a sucker for cabooses.  In fact, I have many more cabooses than I do engines (60 or so engines vs 70 plus cabooses).

My two favorites though, at least in terms of body style and graphics, are the B&O I-12 several others have mentioned and MTH PRR cabin cars.

Curt

I just put in a pre-order for a pennsy ES44AC Heritage Caboose but it not due in until July. I love the looks of it, I hope the real one lives up to my expectations.

 

Chet Klyn

I too think Lionel did us a big favor with the I-12.  SURE WISH I COULD FIND A RED WITH YELLOW LETTERING VERSION, HELP!

 

 

C'mon, michael, you've been buying and re-selling these for years

It should be a rule a caboose for every train !!! 

Like Chris, I too have a caboose for each railroad that operates on my layout. However, most of the cabooses on my railroad are center cupola types, and most are RMT products. In my opinion, RMT makes the best for the buck.

 

 

 

Walter, if you see this I want to buy some of the lanterns used on the RMT caboose.

I wish I had a caboose for every one of my freight engines, but as far as I know, NOBODY has ever made a caboose painted for Green Bay & Western and the correct decals are not available. There was a GBW decal set a while back, from Champ I think, but the herald was black and white and the correct caboose herald is red and white. I suppose I could make a herald on my computer printer, but that idea is well back in a very long queue of projects for "when I have time." 

 

Both Atlas and MTH have made GBW locomotives, but neither has come up with a caboose. I e-mailed Atlas about it a couple of years ago, but they haven't made one so far. 

 

Another one that's surprisingly hard to find is a correct steam-era caboose for Rio Grande. There's a Lionel TCA caboose in black that's pretty close, but unfortunately it's not a very good looking car - the paint job looks kind of crummy and the whole thing has a plastic look about it. I haven't seen a steam era caboose in orange at all, except for expensive 2-rail brass items. Rio Grande cabooses are mostly found in the modern yellow and silver scheme - a very nice looking paint job, but not really correct behind a Northern. A good steam era Rio Grande caboose might be a good project for 3rd Rail - they have done very nice brass UP and SP woodside cabooses at reasonable prices. 

I'm a caboose man myself ....... gotta go wife's coming 

I am not sure how many cabooses I have, but I do know that I have 9 from the Pennsylvania Railroad. Seven are from MTH and two are from Lionel. I also have atleast two or more for the C&O, ATSF, NYC, CB&Q, ERIE and so on. I also have alot of "onesies" because I like to have a caboose to match the roadname on all of my locomotives. Like others have said, a caboose runs on ALL of my trains.

Cobrabob.

I like 'em too but I have to limit my inventory so I just run PRR locos and cabin cars.

 

Pennsynut,

Looks like we have alot of the same Pennsy cabin cars!!!

Cobrabob.

The Lionel I-12 seems to have a big following! I was lucky enough to nab the original one with yellow lettering off the FS board here a while back for a good price.

 

My most collectible caboose though would be my brass Division Point Norfolk & Western early CF type caboose. There is a huge void for these correct N&W coal drag cabooses in the mainstream O-scale market. Mine is the only one I've ever seen, and I had to pay a pretty penny for it.

 

http://www.youtube.com/embed/VGzsJ-pOBbo

 

 

Montana Rail Link Extended-Vision Caboose with smoke.

 

Andrew

Falcon that caboose really puts out the smoke LOL.