File this one under "endangered cars".

With the unannounced scrapping of some Rock Island Budd cars in the last few years (Narcissus, Golden Banquet), maybe it's time to be proactive about identifying endangered RI equipment.

I noticed recent photos of this wood, outside-braced RI caboose in Colorado Springs, CO. I have no idea who owns it. It is apparently stored at a materials yard. From photos, it looks neglected. In one photo I see a small hole in the roof. Windows in the cupola are missing. Some siding is rotten. So weather is getting in. Maybe still time to save this one before it decays further. I'll bet the owner is willing to deal.

Lots of photos here, including some of the interior:
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/rspict ... ?id=162221

Mapped location: https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit? ... 6_nAgfW_Go

Looks like a Mike Pannell special to me. And it's only 2-1/2 hours south of Cheyenne too. :)


Ol' 17628 by Flickr Goot, on Flickr

Hey .... my divorce would be finalized if I went after that one too !!!

Nice though.

Mike Pannell

You'd be living in the silo.

From what I've heard in the past, the current owner of this amazing relic is not interested in anyone's offers to take it off his hands. I've been visiting Colorado Springs off and on for the past 30+ years and that caboose has been sitting there all this time. I'm sure the folks over across town at the former Rock Island roundhouse can give us the long story on this and any prognosis for salvation.

Dan in Wichita

I believe that #17628 was one of those cabooses that the Rock Island converted from old 40' single sheathed boxcars at their 124th Street Shops in Chicago in the late 1930's and on into the mid-40's . Many of these cabooses survive today in museums or owned privately (such as 17628). Anyone know if the Rock's 124th Street Shops are still in existence?


Les