Eastern Railroad Discussion > A mystery caboose in D&H Land

Sitting on the interchange track at Delanson, NY today we find this highly modified caboose, waiting for NS to pick it up. The three cars it was coupled to yesterday were pulled overnight, probably by 11R. Maybe the caboose was refused upon inspection?

To my eye, it has a vaguely UP vibe in its construction. It was obviously used as some kind of shoving platform, since it has a designated “front” end, complete with air horns. Past lettering was HZRX, with an ID as “VB-3”. 

Anybody know the story behind this critter?

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VB-3 was one of 5 or so remote control platforms formerly used by Montreal, Maine, & Atlantic Railway: http://cs.trains.com/trn/f/111/t/267610.aspx

As to VB-3's provenance, I wonder if it's a former CP van? 

The "CWW" reporting mark is owned by the Columbia Walla Wall RR: https://www.portofcolumbia.org/port-properties/cww-rail-line/



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/29/21 08:42 by JPB.

Here is one that I took when it was with NS H76 back in 2017 in Hillsborough, NJ.

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It might have been one of former Algoma Central cabooses made into a remote control caboose on the Wisconsin Central. The advantage of the remote caboose was that any locomotive mued up to it could be remotely controlled through use of the caboose. We used one of these on the White Pine, MI copper mine job which allowed single man operation. 

Exprail

So do I understand correctly that this caboose could only function in full remote control mode if the locomotive was coupled to one end of the car, and not the other?  The headlight and horns are only pointed in one direction. 

Seems like that would limit its effectiveness in the real world of railroading, where you can go in any direction, on any train, at any....well, y'all know that stuff. 

It didn't matter which end of the caboose was coupled to a locomotive(s) or one on each end with the caboose in the middle like we did on the WC.  The caboose was like any other car (with no independent power) it only contained the electrical/radio equipment, I seem to recall it also may have had a small diesel generator, to permit any locomotive(s) to become remotes when mued up to it. The whistles and head lights were used to provide point protection when the caboose was used as a shoving platform. The ability to allow any locomotive(s) to become remotes without any special equipment made this an economical and smart way to provide remote operations. 

Hopefully, this clarifies things.

Exprail

Thanks. I guess I got carried away with this car, which has a clearly labeled “F” on one end denoting the front, and all the horns point in one direction. 

Looking further, I see that there are headlights at both ends so it is bidirectional.