Nostalgia & History > The End (pt 125): SP bay window

Before the Santa Fe ended my model railroading days for good in 1978 I was pretty deep into the painting & decal work side of the hobby. Quite a few engines, LOTS of cars and a smattering of cabeese went through my spray-painting work. Surprisingly I didn’t paint that many Santa Fe waycars. (I ended up riding in a bunch of them, though :^) But one caboose I really enjoyed painting was an Athearn bay window job in SP colors. Not being a particular SP fan, I sure did like their cabeese (cabii?)!! I always though SP’s bay window jobs were good looking. I sold that caboose at a swap meet sometime in 1977? But it wouldn’t have hurt my feelings to have held onto it...

1. SP caboose 1445 rolls through Evanston, WY on June 5, 1980.
Original Kodachrome slide by James W. Watson.

Thanks for looking back!
Lance Garrels
santafe199
Remembering the late Jim Watson, aka ‘UP6900’



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/24 07:59 by santafe199.

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Nice one, and it looks like the exact SP caboose variant that Athearn's model represents - Class C-40-4 (minus the roofwalks by 1980).

Rich



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/24 09:13 by PasadenaSub.

To me, growing up wth the SP around me in Davis CA, the SP bay window was iconic.  I saw them frequently.  When Athearn Geneis came out with the C-50- bays  and Centrail Shops the C-40- bays, I was very pleased. 

The caboose was the best looking car on a freight train period!  Nice shot of a classic SP bay window caboose.  Thanks for sharing.

Kent in CArmel Valley

I back in my HO days, had a lot of fun upgrading an old Athearn bluebox kit to more closely 
match one of these old warriors near the end of the caboose era.
 

Rick Bacon
Windsor, CO

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rnb3 Wrote: > ... had a lot of fun upgrading an old Athearn bluebox kit ...

Fantastic, a job well done! And the weathered TTX flat on realistic looking cement ties is off the chart!!! You obviously have a lot of time & talent invested here. Kudos all around! :^)

Lance/199

Nicely done.  I like your treatment of the end ladders and the coupler draft gear extensions.
jb