Curious question about RDG NMl/CR N4 cabooses. The NMls of 1941 were built in the Reading, PA shops. Does anyone know if these were Bethlehem, or similar, kit cars?

A little more info: Caboose #93920. Structural shapes are marked Bethlehem. Rosters say it was built by Reading but the question remains if it was built from scratch or was it actually a kit supplied by Bethlehem (yes, they made kits).

Car is likely going to be used as a static gift shop. It's in the process of getting a coat of exterior paint and the interior paneled.

My copy of John W. Hall's Reading Company Cabooses book arrived on the premises earlier this week, Eric, so what else would you like to know? LOL

Bethlehem Steel supplied the assembled Duryea cushion underframes and the bodies were fabricated in-house on jigs at the car shops.

They weren't "kits" per se but the Reading guys did seem to enjoy sharing the drawings with allied and connecting railroads such as the WM, CNJ, and even the Lehigh Valley.

When completed, the interiors were finished in the same brown and buff combination as the structures and the apparently well-documented original exterior color was Dulux 028 Caboose Red which just happens to very close, if not adjacent, to 2622 Scarlet on the paint charts. 5027 Ford Tractor Orange-Red/Chevrolet Corvette Monza Red appears to be the modern equivalent of 028 and this color is widely available as an agricultural implement paint.

On the Van Sickle color chart, the number is #479...

https://vansicklepaint.com/documents/va ... olor-guide

Thanks Pete. RDG must have shared with Bethlehem. P&WV ordered virtually identical cabooses from Bethlehem and they came as kits, body and all as I understand it, and they were assembled in the Rook car shops. Ya know, I think I'll check the details on that. I could be mis-remembering.

Meanwhile, the caboose got a coat of a bright, orange-ish red epoxy - it's what we happened to have on hand. Not at all prototypical but it certainly stands out. At least it's painted.

You're quite welcome, Eric!!! What the Reading did, according to Mr. Hall, was take an original URSA composite design and converted it into a steel-bodied version, then sent it out to the various carmakers, including Bethlehem, before deciding to build the cabooses themselves.

The NMl class ran from #92880 to #92929 so what's the number on that one again? I'll check and see if it's on the book's survivor list.

Speaking of which, this is an excellent reference with lots of pictures and other goodies. There's even a fold-out drawing of your frame in there and the Sherwin-Williams codes for the 1962 green and yellow as applied to the International wide-vision cars in 1970 and 1971 from a lettering diagram. Managed to eBag it for less than the price of a case of drinkable beer, too.

Glad you guys got your caboose finished painted. Looks good from here!!! ;)

It's #93920. Sanding through the paint layers revealed the original red, yellow & green and Conrail blue schemes.

I did a close comparison of the Reading NMl cars and the Bethlehem kit cars. At first glance, you'd think they are identical but there are subtle detail differences that give the kit cars away. I wonder which others purchased Bethlehem cars either assemble or in kits.

Not a lot of info in the book concerning the construction of the P&WV, WM, CNJ, and LV cabooses, Eric. The Reading did build five standard steel versions for the L&NE which the CNJ eventually acquired, however, and eight composites for the L&HR during the war which were identical to the RDG's NMn class built at the same time.

Well, if your caboose is supposed to be #92920 instead of #93920, then it wasn't listed as a known survivor as of May, 2001 unless it was one of the number-unknowns that, at the time, was lettered for LVXX as #1941 and located in Stillwater, Ohio. LOL

If you still have access to the list, the red is DuPont Dulux 28-028 and/or 98-028 Caboose Red and verified by a receipt from DuPont illustrated on Page 162 which is in the collection of the RCT&HS. The Sherwin-Williams codes for the 1962 green and yellow are F44GN12 and F43XN2 respectively and are found on International Car Company drawing #12E-32 illustrated on Page 171 and now in possession of the Pennsylvania State Archives.

Synaptic misfire.... It's 92920. Sorry guys.

LOL Eric!!! Yeah, the last posted photo on RR Picture Archives is from all the way back in 2112...

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/rsPict ... ?id=674557

That's okay, everything's now pointing toward Dulux 028 being that darker Ford Tractor red so there's a good chance I'm already screwing this one up. Remember talking about Ford Vermilion way back when?

Here's 92920 as it sits today. Not the original red - the paint used was what we had on hand - it badly needed sanding and paint. No, I had nothing to do with the lettering before you ask.

I wasn't going to, Eric. LOL I see it got another patch over the frame there on the other end so that might be a problem area on these cabooses. Going by those older pictures, it looks like it rots from the inside out.

Yup. That was your typical sill rot due to leaky windows. There was also a rust hole on the bottom of the cupola. It's water-tight now.

Since it was gutted when we got it, it's being outfitted as a gift shop. It did see some live action for the conductor on the Santa trains but it's unlikely it'll see any regular service.