Re: West Side Lumber Caboose #4/6 - The Early Years

As impressive and important as his books are, unfortunately, there are numerous errors in Mal's two West Side books. The referenced dates are definitely incorrect for the two short cabooses, but are somewhat closer to the earlier first #3 (later renumbered #5) and first #4 that Mal does not include in his roster. The short cabooses were the second #3 and #4, which were followed shortly by the third #3 and #4. The short cabooses were strongly disliked by the trainmen which explains their quick replacement. The short #3 surely has the distinction of the shortest service use as a caboose at the West Side and ended up spending the greater majority of its service life as the woods locomotives sand car. The short #4 technically was the same, but as the renumbered #6, ended up serving as the camp switcher's caboose for many years.

Tim McCartney