transfer cabooses

I have a question in regurds to the Transfer Cabooses that were built by NYC/PC from 40ft boxcars.

The Finger Lakes Railway has 2 transfer Cabs both Ex CR, Exx, PC, Exxx NYC the builders dates are 6/1945. Would this be the date in which the cars them selves were built when they were boxcars? There are no rebuilders dates showing as to when the NYC or PC rebuilt them into transfer Cabooses.

If you dared to take a sander to the paint, you might find what you want to know beneath a few layers.

Many years ago, I was told by someone that all the transfer cabooses were built in the shops at East Rochester, so if you can find someone from there, that might be a big help.

Transfer cabooses were even made from using prefab construction site trailers, mounted in the middle of a flat.

Dieter.

humm I'll have to maybe reserch it some more anyone know any good sites that might point me in the right direction? Rotchestor is about 70 mile round trip for me. Would you happen to know any good sites that might point me in the right place. I know about the Conrail Caboose web page already but it dose not state much about transfer cabs and there history.

I think there is one here in Michigan...

I want to say the Indiana Harbor Belt recieved some of these cabooses also. IHB #10 is on display (under restoration) in Whiting Indiana...see my link down there.

SRS, I answered your question 2 days ago in the Equipment forum - either you did not see it or you don't believe me, so I'll post again here.

The transfer cabooses were built by the Despatch Shops in East Rochester starting in about 1966. One disclaimer - I once saw the 18003, and it was apparently some sort of prototype as it was literally a body plunked on a flat car. When and where the very first experimental ones were made, I don't know. But the regular production run of these cabooses started under the NYC, and continued into Penn Central days.

The 1945 date you saw would refer to when it was a boxcar. They did not make these cabooses in the 1940s, they made them mid to late 1960's. (Some may have been made in the early '70s, I'm don't know when the program ended).

SRS125, is this the caboose style you are talking ??
N11E ??

http://www.rgvrrm.org/about/railroad/pc18526/index.htm

chnaus

If you compare the earlier transfer cabooses with the later ones like in Chnaus' link, you will notice some differences. For example, when they first started production they were still putting roofwalks and high ladders on them. Later ones eliminated them. And for quite a while, they were made with bottled gas stoves, with two large cylinders standing upright on one end. I believe they later went back to kerosene. Steps and railings also underwent some changes.

Although one of the earlier ones was given a shake-down on a local out of Rochester for about 2 days, that was the exception. It was explained to me, and I make no guarantee of accuracy, that even though they were built on old boxcar frames which the company presumably had depreciated, there were tax issues involved and the cabooses HAD to leave New York State for a given time before they could come back. When they were released from the shops, the Fairport Traveling Switcher would bring them to Goodman Street yard, locked, and they were then sent to.....Anderson Indiana?? So while Rochester was turning out shiny new cabooses, New York in general continued to use the classic wooden NYC cabooses in local service. When the PC merger took place, surplus PRR steel cabooses gradually filtered in and hastened the demise of the wooden ones.

chnaus wrote:SRS125, is this the caboose style you are talking ??
N11E ??

http://www.rgvrrm.org/about/railroad/pc18526/index.htm

chnaus

yes both Cabooses look like that caboose. All I wanted to know was if the date of 6/45 be the date in which the car was built as a boxcar for the NYC. There are no dates showing when it was built as a caboose not intrested in that part sents I already got that info as to when they were rebuilt as transfer cabs that info is avalable on the Conrail Caboose web page. It would seem that every one turns into a big ass hole when asking a simple question. I'm only questioning the date June 1945. So again is this or is this not a date in which the car entered service for the NYC?

YOU say in your original post that the built dates are 6-45. What part of "Built in 6-45" don't you understand? You answered your own question before you asked it. That part was so obvious, I thought you must be talking about conversion to a caboose. If you already know they were built in 6-1945, why ask the question?

I dug out my slide of that 18003. It was stenciled for PC, but bears such a similarity to the later production transfer cabooses it was obviously an NYC product. And since the transfer caboose numbers worked upwards through the 18000's, this was certainly among the very first.

It was taken at Hollidaysburg in November 1974, and a stencil reads "RS41 Heavy. CH PC 4-74". If CH is Chicago, that would indicate it had seen service there.

The flat car appears to be a normal 36 or 40 footer, and the body of the caboose looks about the same length as the early transfer cabs, maybe a bit longer. It has 3 windows along the side instead of one, and has a roofwalk. The steps are attached to the flat car side sill, not recessed into it. Painted typical green, black PC mating worms and white PC 18003 number.

Any details on the early prototypes of these things? When and where they were made? What was the number of the first regular production car as opposed to these prototypes?

There is a freight roster on the Canada Southern website http://www.canadasouthern.com/caso/NYC- ... REIGHT.htm which indicates 389 40'-6" boxcars were rebuilt to transfer cabooses. The boxcars were part of lot 703-B built in 1942. The transfer cabooses were numbered 18006 to 18394. Pictures of three of these can be found on the Fallen Flags website http://gelwood.railfan.net/nyc/nyc-frt.html . All the pictures I have seen in this series have straight edges along the bottom of the car, whereas the 18526 has a "notched" bottom edge.

The freight roster also indicates that a 50' flatcar was coverted to transfer caboose 18005 IN 1963.

Thanks Dave - so it looks like there were 5 (or 6, if they started with 18000) prototypes before the regular production series started. And if 18005 was built in 1963, the 18003 must be at least that old as well.

This helps illustrate how far the hobby has come in 40 years. If a major railroad brought out a prototype of ANYTHING these days, its photograph and description would be all over the internet within days. Yet these early transfer cabs, which looked quite different from a normal caboose of the time, went pretty much unnoticed.

The first time I saw one (18046), the first thing that came to mind was it was a flanger, although it was summer. A closer look showed no plow below it. Only when I saw the number did I realize what it was supposed to be.

18000 and 18001 were converted from 42' flatcars in 1961. 18002 thru 18004 were converted from 50' flats in 1962 and 18005 was converted from a 50' flat in 1963.

I have no info on where they were converted, but they were NYC.

Thanks Roger! That fills in some of the gaps. So they spent a few years with those test cars, and then began the production run using the boxcar frames. It was too bad to see them arrive, as they spelled the end of the wooden cabooses, but from the crew standpoint they were much better I'd think. And while they certainly did not look like a traditional caboose, they sure looked better than a FRED like they have today.

I do recall a few transfer cabs for other than NYC or PC, somebody above mentioned IHB. I don't think I saw any of those but think I did see one for CIRY (Central Indiana Railway). They were an NYC relative. From what I recall that one was exactly the same as the NYC/PC ones except for the lettering. In my spare time (ha!) I'll try to dig out my old books for details if I can find any.