Nostalgia & History > 3 Cabooses

I always liked the UP cabooses with the cupola in the middle and the straight square lines. Here's three of them going to scrap. Topeka, Kansas, 1979.

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Two CA6s and a CA4, all last served in transfer service.

What does the "T" stand for? I've seen "P" for pool, but not T.

rrpreservation Wrote:
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> What does the "T" stand for? I've seen "P" for
> pool, but not T.

Would not the "T" indicate "Transfer"?

WichitaJct Wrote:
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> Here's three of them going to scrap. Topeka, Kansas, 1979.

What a waste! There are many out there who would love the opportunity to get a 'boose. Thanks for sharing some nostalgia.

Kent in CArmel Valley

Sad about their fate but nice to see the photo. Don't believe I have ever seen any with T on them. Thanks for showing these.
Brian Stevens

That second car's number appears to be 25305. If so, it does survive according to this old thread:

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?2,3860732

The odd thing is, Don Strack's site shows 25305 retired in 1986 and 25347 retired in 1982:

http://utahrails.net/caboose/caboose-steel-roster-ca-6.php

In the late 1980's when I was still a teenager and lacked the resources I have today, the railroads were selling off surplus cabooses for $2-4000, with free delivery anywhere on their system. Basically, for what it costs to be in the speeder hobby today, I could've had a nice backyard office or mountain camping cabin.

Desmond Praetzel, "4451 Puff"

Kool shot. But sad Indeed

Posted from iPhone

4451Puff Wrote:
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> In the late 1980's when I was still a teenager and
> lacked the resources I have today, the railroads
> were selling off surplus cabooses for $2-4000,
> with free delivery anywhere on their system.
> Basically, for what it costs to be in the speeder
> hobby today, I could've had a nice backyard office
> or mountain camping cabin.
>
> Desmond Praetzel, "4451 Puff"

When I bought my first caboose from the BN in 1987, it cost me $900. delivered anywhere on the BN system.

Evan_Werkema Wrote:
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> That second car's number appears to be 25305. If
> so, it does survive according to this old thread:
>
> https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?2,
> 3860732
>
> The odd thing is, Don Strack's site shows 25305
> retired in 1986 and 25347 retired in 1982:
>
> http://utahrails.net/caboose/caboose-steel-roster-
> ca-6.php

The caboose retirement dates I have are from UP's records. But during the mid 1980s and mid 1990s, there was only one clerk doing the job of equipment management. She told me that with UP retiring an average of 2,000 cars per month (as many as 5,000 cars per month), it was hard for her to keep the records up to date. She entered the dates into the computer as she was able to. Record keeping during this time of transition was sorely lacking; transition from physical records to computer records, and transition during this frantic time of mergers. She retired in 1995 when UP merged with C&NW because she was old enough, and had been for a couple years. After experiencing the mess of MP to UP, and MKT to UP, she simply did not want to deal with the mess of integrating C&NW equipment into UP's fleet.

Specifically, here is the actual page from UP's "official" equipment record. As you can see, there is no retirement date for 25305, since there are very few dates in the 1980s in the hand-written record. She shared a computer printout of retired cabooses with me.

https://donstrack.smugmug.com/UtahRails/Union-Pacific-Equipment-Record/Cabooses/i-4MDCTPg/A

So, the three UP cabooses in the photo could easily been retired in 1979, and sold for scrap. My own guess is that you saw the cabooses headed for out-of-service storage at either Kansas City or Omaha/Council Bluffs, with final retirement and sale taking place in 1986.

I would like to find out where cabooses with the 'T' were assigned for transfer service. Denver?, LA?, Portland? Seattle?

On the original photo, can you tell me what the number of the third car is. It appears to be 25110 or 25116.

Don Strack