Western Railroad Discussion > When did SP stop operating police cabooses?

After cabooses stopped being mandatory on freight trains, SP converted several into police cabooses. Some had air conditioning installed and one even had spotlights.

Usually there was a police officer or a special agent inside the caboose to monitor the train and arrest anybody they caught trying to steal freight.

The Cabooses were marked police and had a police badge painted on the sides. Sometimes they would ride empty to deter crime.

When did SP stop using these on trains? Did this stop before or after the UP merger?

I would assume they also dealt with the occasional tagger or hobo.

One of these cabooses (the one with the spotlights) was a Rio Grande caboose.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/23/20 13:47 by Sp1110.

I believe they also used a passenger car. Lots of action on the Sunset Route along the border.

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

Don't know when they stopped using them but I seem to recall the ex-DRGW one ended up in Lompoc for use as a shoving platform and someone posted a couple years ago that it was still sitting on a spur around there, or perhaps Guadalupe. Can't remember but maybe it's still there?

I would say when the UP took them over

As of a couple of weeks ago, there was an SP Police Caboose in the Bakersfield Yard. Don't have any idea of its current status, but it has seen better days.

MojaveBill Wrote:
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> I believe they also used a passenger car. 

It was a Sunset Limited stainless RPO.

RRBaron Wrote:
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> MojaveBill Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I believe they also used a passenger car. 
>
> It was a Sunset Limited stainless RPO.

No, Baggage-Dorm

http://espee.railfan.net/sp_rr-police-caboose.html

http://espee.railfan.net/sp-police-passenger.html

Dave

No dates but some info and photos:

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,2959783

trainjunkie Wrote:
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> Don't know when they stopped using them but I seem
> to recall the ex-DRGW one ended up in Lompoc for
> use as a shoving platform and someone posted a
> couple years ago that it was still sitting on a
> spur around there, or perhaps Guadalupe. Can't
> remember but maybe it's still there?

Still there about a mile north of Surf as of last February.