Side door caboose were pretty common during the early 1900’s. But were outlawed (for some reason) by the feds. The last ones were used by the Santa Fe. Mine is from drawings from the Sierra Railway.
But my model was converted to 1:20.3 NG, of course.
Phil Dippel helped me with the development, parts and trucks. Decals by Stan.
Quite the distinctive looking fleet you got assembled there, John.
One of those may get on my list of “things to do”…
Sweet!
Looks “different” without the end platforms…I like it!
Oh that’s so nice John. I’ve seen the Sierra caboose like it, in fact I think they might have had a couple like that. I sat in the cupola of one way back when it was stored behind the Jamestown roundhouse with a long line of other rolling stock.
Really nice job!
You gonna put HEP cabling and a control cab on it ?
Nice work, John. It think she looks great.
Like Ken, I have a sidedoor caboose on my to-do list. As I may have posted last year, I shot a bunch of photos and scoured the files of the Pacific Coast Railway “crummy,” which is in the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento. It’s still my favorite design, but the end platforms seem to be challenging to model, especially since my plan is to convert my Accucraft flatcar into said caboose. I have the Evergreen scribed styrene sheet and all. BTW, I believe Kevin Strong followed a similar path converting a flat to a caboose, for his East Broad Top hack. Also, somewhere, possibly in the Figures section, there’s a shot of a nice side door built by someone whose name escapes me (sorry, dude) in the San Diego area.
As I was saying, here’s the Pac Coast caboose (very cramped area to shoot in) and my mockup of the same from plans in a book on the Pacific Coast. That’s the AMR flat underneath
Cool on both cabooses!
Later,
K
Wow,
I really like that.
Great job!
Ralph
Nicely done!
Nice model
I believe the ones that were outlawed were only the types without end platforms. End platforms allow the crews to easily get on and off safely, without the platforms crews had to be part monkey to get on and off, and it became exponentially more dangerous if someone was trying to board while carrying anything (coat, orders, tools) and doubly so if the train was moving. Also when the side door is the primary means of egress, getting on or off would place crews right next to adjacent tracks, increasing the danger of getting hit by a passing train while climbing the ladder up, platforms eliminated most of these hazards while giving the crews a safe place to stand outside and observe while switching or while the train was moving. Side door cabooses with platforms lasted longer but eventually they stopped using cabooses like a baggage car and even these cars were phased out of service. I think almost all of them on mainline service were gone before WW1.
Hey John, I got to thinking that you could make a Sierra Railway sidedoor caboose out of a boxcar, just like the real railroads did. Is that what you did too? Or is it scratch built? Either way, I admire your handiwork. BTW, I came across the plans for “your” caboose in an old Gazette. More BTW: I saw an actual side door, maybe even the Sierra, at a park in one of the California wine country towns (don’t remember which, as I was having too much fun driving a very expensive Alpina BMW at the time). More BTW: a few years ago when I happened to be in Los Olivos, where the wine movie “Sideways” was filmed, I talked to the town historian who told me that the other surviving Pacific Coast Railway sidedoor is also restored and in private hands somewhere in the area. And in case some of you didn’t know, Los Olivos was the terminus of the Pacific Coast and that Matteis Tavern, a hotel (I guess) of the era still exists and serves as an eatery. Everything else like the station, freight house, and engine shed, are gone. Also located in the area is Neverland Ranch, Michael Jackson’s old digs.
Joe and other fellas:
Thanks for your praise.
I got together with Phil Dipple (Phil’s Narrow Gauge)
to laser out the sides, ends, doors and cupola for me. The kit is based on a 30’ standard Phil’s frame and hardware.
I took it from there and added other details, and misc bits of trim. I had to tweak it here and there to get it to come out as good as it did.
Phil will be offering it as a kit, only 27’ long, probably in late June of this year.
It will be a limited production run.
You can contact Phil for a reservation, if anyone wants one.
Oh, John… That caboose is soooweeeet!
A really excellent model on all counts.
John,
These are wood kits correct?
Very unique, really sharp!
Mark,
They are wood, with brass and cast metal parts.
Plastic window panes.
If you opt for the Accu trucks, they are cast with metal and electric pickups.
Very nice work John! I always look forward to your builds 
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