Re: Derrell's Eight-wheel Caboose: Hiding in Plain Sight?

Posted by Jim Courtney on
URL: http://c-sng-discussion-forum.254.s1.nabble.com/Derrell-s-Eight-wheel-Caboose-Hiding-in-Plain-Sight-tp3634p3641.html

Thanks, Chris.

You're obviously the go-to-guy for anything Idaho Springs!

So an earliest date of 1913 would be about right and consistent with Derrell's thoughts on the date of the photo.

One other detail I noticed this morning--the brake staff/wheel appears to be on the platform to the right (shadowed half-brakeman is resting his hand on it).  There is no hint of a brake cylinder under the car side, although that damn switch stand of yours obscures the center of the car.  If the brake cylinder is on the other side of the car, then not only is the caboose riding on 30 year old DSP&P trucks, but it may still have the backwards brake staff to cylinder rigging of the inherited South Park freight cars.

Gives one the sense that the 303/1002, when it was inherited from the DL&G at the dawn of the C&S, was considered the biggest and the best of the cabooses, with no need for repair or remodeling (it was already listed as a 14+ foot car in the 1903 roster).  It just kept rolling along, acquiring new paint schemes every so often. The USSA hardware and modern end ladders/end roof walks have been applied prior to this photo, but the rest of the caboose didn't seem to have major shopping until the underframe was rebuilt and reconfigured to 4 wheels.  Wonder when that happened?

Sorry, I don't get your point about the Gilpin cabooses and how they relate.

Jim