While searching for something else on the internet, I came across a reference to Shirley, Indiana. Perhaps you may recall the there was a railroad called the Carthage, Knightstown & Shirley which operated a segment of the old Big Four (New York Central) originally for freight and passenger excursions. The CK&S abandoned the north end of their line (including Shirley) and became a land locked passenger only railroad on the five miles between Carthage and Knightstown. Recently that operation was discontinued and the equipment put up for sale. The internet reference was interesting for two reasons. First, because there apparently is an old NYC depot there in Shirley operated by the local historical society. I hadn't realized that. Secondly, there is a reference to the historical society receiving a caboose from the CK&S. Here's a photo of that caboose when it was up in Michigan on the property of the Michigan Transit Museum:

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... ?id=888997

New York Central #17646 is a Big Four wood caboose. I'm not sure when it went down to the CK&S but unfortunately, it deteriorated very badly when there. The cupola was basically non-existant. This is sad because the tall cupola is what differentiates Big Four cabooses from the "standard" NYC wood cabooses. Did the 17646 eventually end up at Shirley, Indiana? The internet news I found was a couple of years old, but the info given was that the caboose was definitely coming there! Would be interested to find out for sure if it acutally did and also if the good folks in Shirley have actually restored it, or are in the process of doing so. I believe no other Big Four cabooses of this type still survive.

Thanks for any info on the goings on there in Shirley.

Les

Found out a few addition things. First of all, the depot is a actually a former Peoria & Eastern combination depot built in 1893. At one time, it may have been one leg of a "corner" depot at the crossing of the P&E with the Big Four. And then I found a photo of the unloading of the NYC Big Four caboose body in Shirley this past April, so obviously the cupola-less caboose actually did make it there from the CK&S. Would still be interesting to find out if the folks in Shirley are working on restoring the caboose.

Les

was this running with the art train? I remember that down in Buchanan MI where it visited.

Found a note on the Town of Shirley (Indiana) website that there was going to be a work session on the Big Four caboose this past Saturday, which they describe as a "long term" project. There was a photo of the caboose covered with a tarp which was going to be removed for the work that day. Would be interesting to find out how their work session went. I believe that this is the last CCC&StL caboose in existence.

Les

Here is a post on their facebook page, (I tried to save and post the photo but the image size is too big and I lack the technical skill to resize it):

https://www.facebook.com/shirleyindiana ... =3&theater

Man, can that town use some good news, according to their facebook page, in the first three months of this year alone they have lost their only bank and their only hardware store.

PMC -

Thanks for finding a way to get that photo of the tarp covered caboose posted here to RyPN. I had read about the hardware store closing, but didn't know about the bank. Well, I give them some kudo's for saving the P&E train depot and now trying to restore the caboose. Hope they are successful. A lot of small towns just seem to give up but this one seems to be trying! I wish them luck. Maybe we can even get some photos from someone in the future.

Les

I have numerous photos of this line during operation, the caboose in question, the lines demise, and pulling of the tracks. Unfortunately, once again, this site will not allow me to post a simple picture, size to big it keeps saying...This site needs a major upgrade, and I'm done here till that happens. This is ridiculous....

AlcoGuy -

I had problems posting photos too, until I found out I could reduce the size of my shots right on my computer to get them down to the max size required. Not hard to do, but just takes a little more work. Hope you can figure out how to do it as I'd like to see your photos.

Les

Maybe if you shared with him your method he could also do it, Les.........

Dave -

I'm don't know if he has the same type of computer that I have, so that may not do it. But I'll try to give a short description and he can try it, IF he is still reading RyPN!

I take my digital photo, most of which are something like 3.05 MB. BTW, don't ask me what MB is, I am not computer savvy enough to know. I then go to EDIT and up at the top of the screen that pops up, there are some instructions that include:
Crop
Resize
Rotate
I click on Resize which brings up a screen showing:
Horizontal 100
Vertical 100
I then change the Horizontal number to 20, which at the same time changes the Vertical to 20. BTW, this is something that I sometime fool around with; sometime a bit more than 20, sometime a bit less. I don't know what the 20 signifies; perhaps 20%? The 20 figure seems to work. Anyway, I then hit OK. Up at the top of that screen is an X which
says "Do I want to save changes?" and I click on SAVE. This ends up getting me below the 350 KB necessary for the photo to be accepted on RyPN. BTW, not sure what KB means either.

This probably won't help, but you asked and there it is! He could try one photo to see if it works.

Les

MB is megabytes, Les.... and it is 20%. You did it just fine. I'm not naturally attuned to these things either, but when I stop trying to overthink the simple point and click programs I can usually find my way through. Most newer Windows computers have picture editing capability in them, and Macs are probably even easier, but I haven't used one of those since the Quadra 610. Lots of digital cameras come with programs that include proprietary photo editing software also, so you can sometimes size the photo as you like when you download it. Sandy has already provided helpful links for people who haven't got it otherwise.

Progress (from the Indiana Railroads Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/shirleyindiana ... =3&theater

File too big or I would add the photos.

PMC -

Thanks for finding these photos. I see five volunteers and one taking the photo. Perhaps there are more involved. Lots to do on this restoration. Maybe someone could contact the New York Central System Historical Society to let them know about this effort. Might drive in a few bucks or another helper or two. A separate photo would help. Their next work session is reportedly the last Saturday in April.

Les

Here is the URL for a free site that will resize your photos
http://www.zamzar.com/