|
The Rio Grande's shops built caboose No. 01423 in 1942, as part of a
batch of 10 such cars. It began life painted in the standard spartan
black scheme, but received the various updated schemes before finally ending
up in the solid gold Action Road scheme seen on this page. Cabooses were
dropped from most trains beginning in 1985, but several continued to be used
in local service for long past that time. The 01423 ended up as a
semi-permanent resident of Alamosa during the eras of SP and UP ownership.
UP used it in local service right up until the sale
of the branch to Rail America (dba San Luis & Rio Grande) in June 2003. The caboose was
then transferred along with the rest of the branch, and was used by the SLRG until the
line was
sold to Iowa Pacific Holdings. The caboose was transferred circa 2004 to the "Wagon
Wheel Gap" tourist line between South Fork and Creede. However, to
date the line has not commenced operations, and so the caboose is currently
stored on a spur in Monte Vista just north of the highways 160 - 285
intersection. These photographs were taken on 12/28/2009 at
Monte Vista. The location is not very camera-friendly, with a building
located close to the sunny side. On the other hand, access is
unrestricted (except to the interior), which makes it easy to get close-up
detail shots such as these. (Other views of this caboose
here) |
|
Left Side |
 |
View from the street, i.e. the north-east. The caboose was tagged by
vandals in 2004. Evidently some effort has been made to remove the
graffiti, revealing the gold paint underneath. |
 |
Closer view from the "rear" quarter. For purposes of orientation, the
cupola end will be considered the rear, with left and right sides identified
from that perspective. In practice, these cabooses would be run in
either direction. Note the reflective Scotchlite striping, applied in four
rectangular areas on the body as well as on the gate panel. |
 |
Three views of the brake valve gear on the left side. This one is from
forward. |
 |
This side-on view of the brake valves reveals the piping between the valve
and the air reservoir. |
 |
Aft view of the brake gear shows us the cylinder and the associated
linkages. This also gives us a good look at the structural features
under the car. |
 |
The left-side rear quadrant, showing the lube panel, rear grabs, and
various stencils. (Ignore the one that says "PROPERTY OF D&RG RY"; this
was added by the current owners.) |
 |
Raised numerals. The D&RGW built all of the 01400-series cars with
these classy cut-out numbers. Over time, some cabooses lost them, but
01423 proudly retains them, albeit with graffiti on the left-side set. |
|
Right Side |
 |
Right reqr quadrant. Here we see most of the herald panel as
well as the stove vent, side safety striping, weight and maintenenance
stencils, and part of one of the blanked windows. (Again, ignore the stencil that says "PROPERTY OF D&RG RY".) |
 |
Right side lube & COTS stencil panels. Incidentally, COTS stands for
"Cleaned, Oiled, Tested and Stenciled", in reference to the air brake
system. |
 |
Right-side numbers, and the middle window (blanked). Also note the
drain elbow, coming from the lav. |
|
Ends and Interior |
 |
Cupola-end platform. Note the fact that this end of the car does not
have any windows other than the one in the door. Looking at the
folio sheet, we see that
the spaces to either side of the door are take with storage lockers. |
 |
Opposite end (non-cupola end). This end has two extra windows in the
carbody. Note the chain hanging between the railing and the cut lever, to
the left of the brake wheel. This is attached to a hook which is used
to operate the cut lever from the platform by pulling on the chain. In
the photo above, this hook and chain are wrapped around the railing.
Here we see one of the two marker lights found on each end. The
center light is white and is used primarily for illumination. The
light on the right corner is red and serves as the end-of-train indication. |
 |
Closer look at the platform of the window-end of the car. You can see
the cut-lever hook apparatus mentioned above. Note the Duryea
cushioned underframe gear behind the coupler with its large spring.
Also note the brake wheel linkages, and the various brackets and grab
irons.. |
 |
Standing on the window-end platform. Note the corner post, built from
angle iron. Here you can see the quarter-round wood fillet which the
shops installed in each post. The paint has mostly come off this one.
Also note the grabs, and the downspout for the gutter which is above the
steps. |
 |
Looking in through the end window on the non-cupola end. To our left
we see the icebox / water cooler and the conductor's desk. The pocket
on the wall above the desk is labeled "B O Report" (bad order). The
lav is immediately beyond the desk. Far right is the heating stove--
note the chimney. |
