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  • 19000-series Wooden Cabooses

  • Discussion relating to the NYC and subsidiaries, up to 1968. Visit the NYCS Historical Society for more information.
Discussion relating to the NYC and subsidiaries, up to 1968. Visit the NYCS Historical Society for more information.

Moderator: Otto Vondrak

 #618074  by Otto Vondrak
 
How many 19000-series wooden cabooses have been saved?

Danbury Railway Museum is restoring NYC 19322. Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum is working on 19877:

http://rgvrrm.org/about/railroad/nyc19877/

Any others?

-otto-
 #618099  by BR&P
 
Quite a few Otto, and I won't try to list them all. But in the more immediate area:

18567 WAS displayed at Wilson NY depot/museum....still there?

19044 Central NY NRHS Syracuse

19224 - Dunkirk NY fairgrounds

19602 - displayed Hamburg NY, no cupola

19682 - at restaurant, Clarence NY

20054 - Northeast PA Lake Shore NRHS

(Number unknown) - Webster NY at former Loose Caboose restaurant

(number unknown) - Owned by Syracuse NRHS member at Hannibal NY
 #618316  by Otto Vondrak
 
NYC 19144 is on display at the Fairgrounds, owned by Central New York Chapter NRHS:

http://www.cnynrhs.org/Images/19144-01.jpg

NYC 19322 is nearing the end of a multi-year restoration at Danbury Railway Museum:

http://flickr.com/photos/cemeteryrodeo/374032162/

NYC 19224 is part of the Alco-Brooks display at Chautauqua County Fairgrounds in Dunkirk, NY:

http://wnyrails.org/cities/dunkirk/display.htm

NYC 19602 was restored by Western New York Railway Historical Society. Its cupola was removed by NYC in the 1950s:

http://www.trainweb.org/wnyrhs/cabeeseFrame1Source1.htm
 #618521  by BR&P
 
I mistakenly showed 19044 rather than 19144 in my post above.

My notes show the 19602 in the shop at Frontier on 12-17-66 coupled to 19547. At the time, I did NOT show this as having its cupola removed. Either it was removed after that date, or it had already been removed and I missed making that notation. Unfortunately I did not take photos of that pair which would have answered the question.

Another survivor is the 19969, no cupola, which was sold to Eastman Kodak, and later reported as preserved near Canaseraga NY. (Which I always figure is on the Erie and PS&N near Swain, but another thread on these pages shows a Canaseraga STATION near Canestota.) I'm not sure where the 19969 is.
 #618828  by lvrr325
 
There's one in New Woodstock by the LV Depot, there was one along 12B in Clinton (in a trailer park of all things), and there was one along Route 11 way up above Watertown towards Potsdam (been a good 10 years since I saw that one so I forget just where it is), among others. Roger, the caboose guy, could probably give you a good list of what's out there, he posts here occasionally. I'm sure there's more out there.

The CNY NRHS had two at one time, both were combined to restore one car, but I think the frame to the other one still exists at Central Square.
 #620348  by gbrimacombe
 
Might any of those NYC cabooses without their cupolas actually have been NYC rider cars used during the war on NYC express trains? Although specially constructed for express train service, they look very similar to the 19000 series wood cabooses only without the cupola, and they were also equiped with high speed four-wheel passenger trucks. I wonder if, in fact, any of them still exist.
 #620364  by BR&P
 
Any photos I've seen of the rider cars show they had a different number series from the cabooses. The cabooses without cupolas - at least the ones I've seen - maintained the original caboose number, and none of them had passenger trucks. No idea if any of the rider cars still exist, although it seems likely that if one did it would have been pictured in a magazine or discussed online at some point.
 #620916  by lvrr325
 
Pic in PC In Color shows a rider car as an old 4-axle heavyweight coach, modernized with sealed windows at the ends and the ones in the middle of the car blanked out.
 #620947  by BR&P
 
The type gbrimacombe is talking about is probably older than the modified coach. I have a book with a photo of NYC 2708. Roughly the length of a caboose,and has end platforms and steps like a caboose. No roofwalk and no ladder from the end platform to the roof. Steel frame and end sills, (no truss rods) wooden sides, two windows. High speed trucks. Also does not have the curved grab irons found on the sides of cabooses to help while boarding in motion. Geared handbrake. and two hoses, one for the train line and the other probably for communicating a signal line. Photo caption says it was rebuilt from a boxcar and was attached to solid mail or express trains. The book, by the way, is "Railroad Work Equipment And Special Cars" by Robert Wayner. A good book, photos of lots of off-beat equipment.
 #621009  by gbrimacombe
 
lvrr325 wrote:Pic in PC In Color shows a rider car as an old 4-axle heavyweight coach, modernized with sealed windows at the ends and the ones in the middle of the car blanked out.
The rider cars you are referring to preceeded the specially built wood rider cars that were specifically built to relieve the converted rider coaches for much needed war time passenger service. I have some excellent builders photos and plans for the wood rider cars that I obtained through the NYCS Historical Society, and am building one in O-scale. I distinctly remember seeing these cars at the tail end of many NYC express trains coming through Rochester. I am still curious, however, to see if any still exist. I was informed that one does exist at a museum somewhere in northern New York, but know little of the details.
 #621429  by bluegrass-express
 
I visited the railroad museum at Wilson NY in the late 1970s, and a NYC wood caboose was parked nearby. BR&P made mention of it above. A look at maps.live.com satellite photo shows it's still there, south of the village along Rt.425. It also shows in a photo of the depot on the Existing Stations website.

I used to ride the Lakeshore Limited out to Cleveland OH in the mid-late 1970s to railfan for a day, when PC and Conrail had shifted F units to local service out of Collinwood yard. A wood caboose was visible from E222 St bridge near the site of the roundhouse, north side of the mainline. At some point, there was also a NYC baggage car.
 #634046  by BR&P
 
Another one not too far away is at the railroad-themed restaurant at Ithaca NY. I drove past there a couple weeks ago and it does not appear to retain its NYC lettering. Caboose 9 may have the number, or perhaps some ambitious fan could look to see if it's still stenciled on the underframe.