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Maintenance of Way Equipment |
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TOP: Derrick No. 028-- at Grand Junction, 8/2/98.
 BOTTOM:
Derrick No. 028 again at Grand Junction,
12/01/2002. The wheel car / boom car is also visible.
THIS IS A LARGE IMAGE |
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Spreader O44, displayed at the Hot Sulphur Springs museum. It was
stationed in Utah for snow-clearing work from 1930 forward, and donated to
the museum in the 1990's. |
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Flanger
052, stored at Monte Vista on 12/28/2009. |
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Flanger
062, stored at Monte Vista on 12/28/2009. |
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40-foot Boxcar No. AX68862-- painted for MOW, at Grand Junction, 8/2/98. |
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MOW Boxcar No. AX69035-- at Bond, 11/30/2002. Photo taken from onboard Amtrak.
The flatcar to the left is carrying panel track. |
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Dozer Flatcar-- complete with dozer, at Bond on 11/30/2002.
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Tool Car-- converted passenger car at Grand Junction, 12/1/2002. This car is the former diner-lounge Mt YALE, originally built with wood sheathing in 1910 as Western Pacific's OAKLAND, returned to D&RGW in 11/1923, later rebuilt with steel
sheathing and large picture windows (1936), and retired to X-3275 in February 1953. It was used on the classy Exposition Flyer train in the 1940s, among other premier trains.
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Modern M-O-W dorm cars-- at Grand Junction, 8/2/98.
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Modern M-O-W dorm car-- a closer look. Reminds me of a houseboat! |
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Rio Grande's Home-made Steel Cabooses |
| Below are photos of a few
later Rio Grande cabooses (i.e. W W 2 to present). Good data on these
hacks is available at Don Strack's
Utah Rails
D&RGW Caboose page.
Here
is the Folio Sheet of the series 01470 to 01490. (It's a photo of
a reproduction mounted in the "Ski Train" museum caboose in Hot Sulphur
Springs).
The Rio Grande 01400 series were unique. They were all
built in the railroad's shops between 1940 and 1959, mostly in groups of 10. Distinctive Rio Grande features include: the posts at the
corners; the ladder tops which end pointing up at an angle, rather than
curving down to the
rooftop (unlike many model cabooses); the extra-height cupola; the cupola
side window style. Also note the two marker lights, added late in
their careers. The one on
the right corner was red and was used as the usual EOT marker. The one
over the door was white and was used primarily to give the crew illumination out
the back. This would be handy for night backup moves, for instance.
It was seldom illuminated during daylight. Modeler's notes: the only
semi-accurate models of these cabooses in HO are in brass (OMI) or in resin
(ProtoWest). The Athearn caboose is a Santa Fe prototype and is the
correct length, though the windows are completely different from the D&RGW
cabooses, the roof has way too much arch, the roofwalks curve with the roof
instead of being flat, the trucks are too close together, and the cupola is too short. In
other words, it's a stand-in only. Your other option is to
scratch-build, which I
have done. |
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Caboose No. 01405 rests outside the Burnham shops in Denver, May 1984.
It was built in 1940 in the first group of steel hacks, and originally was painted in the solid black scheme
with white lettering (flying Rio Grande herald). It is of riveted
construction, as were all cabooses up through 01469. Note that the
side windows have not been plated over, a rare feature at this late date. |
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Here are three views of
caboose No. 01408, in
four-stripe paint, seen at Roper Yard (Salt Lake
City). The time is July 1983. The windows have been changed to sealed
panes, and have not been plated over yet. (Photos
by Warren Johnson. ) |
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TOP:
Caboose #01423 sits by itself in Alamosa
(downtown) on 5/16/99. This cabin was used on the local to Antonito, and was one of the
last
Rio Grande cabooses in active service. As with most cabooses
active on the Rio Grande in the early 1980s, the body side windows were
plated over with steel (only the end door windows were left). Here are several other looks at 01423, taken in March 2002 at Alamosa's east yard.
UP kept the caboose in Alamosa for the local service right up until the sale
of the branch to San Luis Rio Grande in June 2003. The caboose was
sold along with the rest of the branch, and was used by the SLRG until the
sale to Permian.
Sometime after these photos, the car was tagged by local nocturnal street
"artists". 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. The 01423 was built in 1942.
Here is a page of walk-around photos
of 01423, many of which are close-up detail views. These photos were taken
in Monte Vista on 12/27/2009. |
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Caboose 01448, on display at the museum in Hot Sulphur Springs. This
caboose had previously been on display at the Winter Park ski area, as an
exhibit for the Ski Train ahd skiing in general, hence the bogus herald.
It was given to the Hot Sulphur Springs museum in 1999, but it still has
most of the skiing exhibits inside. The interior had been gutted for
the exhibits, so there's no authentic railroad interior left (including the
cupola).
(bottom) The famous raised numerals of Rio Grande steel cabooses, visible
in this oblique photo of No. 01448. The steel numerals are mounted on
spacers to hold them beyond the car body. |
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Photo
from early summer 1966 of a riveted caboose, probably No. 01454. Note
that this caboose and No. 01479 below do not have the number painted on the
cupola on the side facing the middle of the car. This seems to be a
feature of the black scheme. |
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Probably May or June 1968: caboose 01455 trails a westbound freight into the
Moffat Tunnel. It's in the original all-black paint scheme.
Items of interest: yellow handrails and ladders; "firecracker" radio antenna
on the cupola; windows replaced with single-pane glass but still with wooden
sashes; raised numerals on the carbody side (the oblique angle helps to see
this feature). Caboose built in 1947. Photo by someone
in my family using my dad's camera. |
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Caboose 01479 (probably): a welded-construction caboose seen at West Portal in
1967. Not a great photo, but my sister the photographer was only about 15 at the time, so
we'll forgive her! Note how smooth the cupola face seems, as compared to
riveted-construction cabooses. |
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Caboose No. 01489-- Feb, 1996, near Ft. Garland, CO, headed east.
This hack was built in 1959, part of the last group built by the railroad
and the last non-extended-vision cabooses acquired. It is of welded
construction. Note that the windows have been plated over (circa
1984). Also note that a previous paint job is showing through the
peeling paint. This caboose originally wore the same scheme as No.
01405 above. Note the axle generator on the rear truck, inboard axle. |
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Wide-Vision Cabooses |
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Two
views of a very unusual movement indeed! On July 1st, 1995, a long
eastbound manifest freight passing through the Glenwood Springs area was
punctuated by Rio Grande wide-vision caboose No. 01505. I have no idea
why a caboose was on a mainline freight at this date, unless it was simply
being transported for storage or something. These two shots are captured
from camcorder video, and were taken from a moving car near Chacra. |
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Caboose No. 01510 sitting behind the Pueblo depot (out of service) , 5/16/99.
Rio Grande had fifteen cabooses (01500-01514) of this type, built in 1966. The
cupola is slightly offset toward one end. |
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Caboose No. 01510 opposite side, at Pueblo, 5/16/99.
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Caboose No. 01516-- Also at Pueblo (out of
service) , 5/16/99. Notice that the steps are missing. Rio Grande had
ten of these (01515-01524, built 1976). These are similar to the first
series, except for the centered cupola, the abbreviated roofwalks, the
side ladders, and the different layout of the porch railings/ladders.
They were delivered in the solid Aspen Gold paint scheme. |
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Caboose No. 01522 works the local at Monte Vista, 5/14/99.
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Caboose #01522 another view, at Monte Vista, 5/14/99.
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Track Speeder-- Parked by east Rocky, March 1984.
This particular speeder is now being restored at the Glenwood Rail Museum
(in the depot). |
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Track Speeder-- Another view, March 1984.
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Track Tamper-- Sept. 1994, northbound out of Colorado Springs on the Joint Line.
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Ballast Spreader-- Sept. 1994 north of Colorado Springs. There was a
small parade of MOW equipment northbound on this afternoon. |
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