I just found this on ebay. Can anyone tell me what style of caboose this is and how was it used? Can be seen at the ebay address:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 2150791588


cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=13
sjpro92@tds.net

> I just found this on ebay. Can anyone tell
> me what style of caboose this is and how was
> it used?

It is indeed just what the listing says, a transfer caboose. Transfer cabooses were built to work on short switching runs, most commonly transferring cars from one railroad's yard to another railroad's yard in a city where two railroads exchanged cars with one another.

Becuase they did not travel long distances or at high speeds, transfer cabooses didn't require the creature comforts of a traditional caboose. They were generally cobbled together in a railroad's own shops from whatever bits and pieces thay had lying around, usually by putting a small fabricated cabin on top of an old box car or flat car frame. By making the cabin a great deal shorter than the frame, the builders created a wide porch area on either end which offered the crew good visibility during switching moves.



eledbetter@rypn.org

If mememory serves, these were built in the mid-1970's by the Grand Trunk for service on short yard runs and transfer jobs. I believe they were constructed from the bodies of old 40-foot boxcars at the Port Huron Car Shops, but I'll have to do some checking in the records at Durand. I can remember these working the "Dunn Paper job" when I was a kid (circa 1978-1979), but its been years since I have seen one. Heck, if someone would be willing to chip in, we might even be able to find a place for it at our museum, or maybe the guys at GTWHS could at their facility in Lansing. Most of our money is tied up in an 1830's fort barracks building at the moment....

T.J.

Port Huron, Michigan

tjgaffney@phmuseum.org