Long Island Railroad Early Cabin Cars

The LIRR iconic cabin cars N-52 were built starting in 1927, LIRR N-52.

Prior to that they had some 4-wheel bobbers. Have a very PRR look, infor is harder to find. LIRR 4 wheel caboose I believe a model was available in HO.

By 1926 no H-3 remained on the roster so they probably never pulled in N-52 cabin. Best bet  for a "good enough" would be to convert of the available bobbers to look more like the LIRR car.

Until after WWII they all would have been wood sheathed.

Hope this helps.

Thanks Scotie!

The information is very helpful. I do have a MTH Bobber caboose I was going to repaint. I may add some details to make it closer to a Pennsy style caboose. Thanks again for the information.

Tom

Tom,

I consulted "The Pennsy Era on Long Island" by Ron Ziel. There are several photos of H-3s but none in which there is a caboose. LIRR #163 was built by Baldwin in 1892, sold to the LIRR in 1903, and retired in 1924. Ziel states that in 1916 the LIRR H-3s were downgraded to switching duties when the PRR sold 15 H-6s engines to the LIRR.

I also checked "Pennsy Power" by Alvin Staufer. It had one builder's photo of an H-3a but no information about cabooses.

The best information I could find was in "Cabin Cars of the Pennsylvania and Long Island Railroads" - Data Book Number 2. It shows PRR four-wheel wood cabin car Class NC with wood underframe adopted in 1893. It had an 11-foot wheelbase, 23-foot 6-inch length over end sills, 15-foot height over cupola, and 36-inch wheels. It also shows PRR four-wheel wood cabin car Class ND with steel underframe, introduced by Lines East in 1903 with 13-foot 6-inch wheelbase, 26-foot length over end sills, 13-foot 5-inch height over cupola, and 36-inch wheels. No similar cabooses are shown for LIRR.

I think a bobber caboose would be the most appropriate for your engine. I also have a model of LIRR #163 and think it is outstanding. MTH deserves credit for having made it.

MELGAR

Thank you, MELGAR.

Great info about the H3 engines. Very informative.

Interesting how the LIRR early cabin cars are have been rarely documented. The data from the Cabin cars data book that you mentioned, will help me research the caboose project. I was figuring on a four wheel caboose, slightly longer than the MTH bobber that I have, but it is a good start…

Thanks again.

Tom