Re: For the modellers

You probably can do just that. Here are the particulars on RGS' Cabii as I published in the "Galloping Goose" newsletter in the 90's:

Rio Grande Southern Cabooses

I think the word "unique" was coined sometime in the early 1890's by a linguist who visited Southwestern Colorado and witnessed the Rio Grande Southern Railroad. The term certainly applies to the cabooses used by the Southern during its sixty years of service.

When I started this article I intended to speak to the painting and lettering schemes of the cabooses, prompted by questions raised when Gabe and I were deciding on lettering schemes for several of his imported brass cabooses in Sn3. He bought them painted and lettered and, as luck would have it, all lettered wrong for his era! This, of course, led to other questions: When did the smokestack cover disappear off 0400?; were the railings white/silver or red?; etc, etc. At that point I knew that a discussion of just paint and lettering would not suffice. There were many other things that needed to be known about the RGS' fleet of cabeese. In describing these unique cars I will be making statements about modifications and paint schemes. I will try to avoid "always" or "never" statements and will attempt to make my facts based upon empirical evidence such as dated photographs.

To begin with, most of the cabooses, or "hacks" as they were referred to by the crews, came on the line between 1890 and 1892 and all were originally numbered as "Waycars" with a W prefix. They were renumbered with a zero prefix, W400 becoming 0400, etc. between 1907 and 1909. Ferrell's Silver San Juan shows W400 in Telluride in 1907 (Page 591) and 0409 on a rotary train in 1909 (Page 278). Unlike most other equipment of the Southern, only two of the seven cabooses were hand-me-downs from other railroads. First W404 and W409 were Rio Grande Western 084 and Denver & Rio Grande 0510 respectively. Most fans don't realize there were two W404's. The first was scrapped in 1895. More on the second later. There were four additional hacks on the roster at the beginning of the railroad, W405 through W408, all from the Rio Grande Western, but they were never used. They were in such putrid condition that they were refused by the Southern and not placed in service. This gives some clue as to why the 1st W404 was out of service so early! Cabooses W400 through W403 were built new for the RGS as eight wheel cars by the Denver & Rio Grande. Second W404 was built new by the RGS itself in May of 1902. So only one of the cars that were used for the life of the road, W409/0409, was a second hand car.

As originally built, W400 through W403 were 17' 1" long cars. W409 had been built and was delivered to the RGS as a four wheel car. It was 16' long, the smallest of the RGS cabooses. The D&RG rebuilt the car at Burnham in June of 1892 as an eight wheel car using trucks from a wrecked low-side gon. All of these little cabooses had link and pin couplers, no ladders or roofwalks and windows everywhere! All of these cars had three windows on each side, even where the stove was. Each end had a window on either side of the door, protected by bars so that the crew members weren't thrown through them. The cupolas of all of the cars, including the W409, had light boxes on top and eight windows, two on each side. All of these windows were outside hung sliders, even the end windows! The pane of the window covered the siding between the windows when open. The early end steps were dinky little affairs that must have been real fun to try to hit on the fly! The paneling on the sides of the cars stopped at the main body and the space between the body end and the end beam over the step was just the edge of the side sill. The car bodies featured a wide "quarter-round" molding at each corner. A classic view of W402 in this configuration can be found on Page 135 of Silver San Juan or Page 53 of The RGS Story, Vol. 1. The end view of 0409 on Page 278 of Silver San Juan clearly shows the sliding end cupola windows and the two windows on the side of the cupola which later became one. The same is true for the photo of 0404 on Page 228 of Rio Grande Southern, An Ultimate Picture Story.

One can imagine how difficult it must have been to heat one of those cabooses in a raging snowstorm with all those windows! And you have to know that those end windows got broken regularly despite the safety bars. Those outside hung cupola windows must have gotten iced up and immovable pretty easily, not to mention the problems with cinder build up in the grooves. And how do you get to the top of the train? Hop to the next car, I guess, but an end ladder would sure be nice. And those dinky steps. Surely there must be some rebuilding done here!

Sometime between 1909 and 1914 all of the short cabooses got rebuilt. All new siding was applied and the quarter-round molding was removed. Side and end sheathing met in a square corner. Sheathing went across the ends of the end platforms out to the end beams. All but three of the windows in the body were sheathed over. The now standard one window on the stove side and two on the other side were left open. The cupolas were rebuilt with inside hung side windows and fixed windows front and rear. End ladders and roofwalks were applied. The first photos I have found of the cabooses rebuilt in this manner are of 0400 in Silver San Juan on Page 593 and of 0401 on Page 262 of Rio Grande Southern, An Ultimate Picture Story. The shot of 0400 is with engine 12 at Telluride. Although the year is unspecified the engine has electric lights so it must be later than 1914. The wooden pilot and side mounted class lights would indicate the shot was taken before 1920. The shot of 0401 is with "D&RG" engine 262 which dates it prior to 1924's D&RGW relettering. As rebuilt, all of the cabooses retained their roof mounted light box.

A word about those light boxes. Some say that they were used to signal the head end from within the cupola using various colored lights to signal to stop or proceed. This seems unlikely. Others believe they were end markers in the days before side mounted marker lights. This is a possibility since the early shots show flags in used during the day (yellow, I'm told). It would be easy to assume a red light placed in the box after dark to mark the end of the train. By the teens we begin to see marker lamps used day and night and the light boxes were still on top so it becomes a mystery. From photographic evidence it would seem that the light boxes were removed between 1941 and 1942 on all but 0404 which lost it during a Summer 1940 rebuild.

All right. There you have a capsulized history of all of these cabin cars up through the rebuild of 191?. All of the cars were lettered basically the same prior to the renumbering. This is as W402 appears in the Page 53 photo in The RGS Story, Vol. 1, with the railroad roman "RIO GRANDE SOUTHERN" on the fascia board and the word "CABOOSE" in an arc over the number on the side, centered under the center window. The lettering appears to be metallic, either silver or gold and not white, as it shows up very flat in the black and white photos of the time. The assumption is that the base color of the car was oxide red and there does not appear to be any highlighting of the handrails as in later years. After the renumbering the word "CABOOSE" disappeared and only the number remained. See Silver San Juan, Pages 162 and 278 for shots of the 0409 in this configuration. One (278) appears to be in metallic paint in 1909 and the other (162) appears to be in white paint about 1910.

Each one of these cabooses is unique in its own right and I would now like to begin a section on each and discuss changes in them, both in details and in lettering, from the rebuild to the last days of the railroad and beyond. The place to start is the 0400. As mentioned above, one of the earliest published photos of a caboose after the rebuild is that of 0400 in the Telluride yards with engine 12 on Page 593 of Silver San Juan. The number is impossible to discern but it is the 0400. Note the end corner platforms on the roof above the ladders. This addition was only found on the 0400. The other cabooses had only the center roofwalks. Oddly, the 0400 lost these platforms during the early '40s and was like the other cabooses in the final years.

The chimney on the 0400 has no visible means of support, being devoid of guy wires or brace of any kind, even in the early days after the rebuild. Oddly enough there is a brace or rod showing in the photo taken in 1907 on Page 591 of Silver San Juan. It runs from the cupola. The shot in the teens on Page 593 reveal its absence. The chimney cover is a transitory thing. The early shot shows a cover. By 1939 the chimney was about two thirds length and without a cover. Photos taken in 1940 show this also. By June 29, 1946, the chimney had been replaced with a longer pipe with a cover that appears to have a guy wire. See Page 333 of The RGS Story, Vol. 1. Note also that the end platforms on the roof have been removed. By May 30, 1948 the cover had disappeared and there was again no support for the chimney. This configuration lasted until the end of the operations and beyond.

The doors on 0400 were different from the other cabooses in that they were steel sheathed. They also featured a four panel window.

The coupler pockets on this caboose were not cast but were fabricated from wood. Coupler lift bars were freight car type rather than the levers favored by the Rio Grande.

Ah, now for the lettering. There are five basic lettering styles for short cabooses: (1) Standard, being railroad roman full length on the fascia and block sans serif numbers painted low on the side; (2) old standard, with the arced "CABOOSE" and railroad roman W-numbers; (3) small standard, being the name spelled out on the fascia board in small sans serif letters only slightly wider than the cupola with block sans serif numbers painted midway up the carbody; (4) split standard with a scrunched up "Rio" and the "Southern" below the fascia with block sans serif numbers painted midway up the carbody, and; (5) the rectangular herald centered under the windows with railroad roman numbers low on the body.

As with all of the short cars, 0400 had the old standard lettering prior to the renumbering. After the rebuild it had standard lettering. Sometime before 1939 it got the small standard treatment with stenciled block lettering and this is the way the caboose appeared in the classic photos of Extra 42 West taken by the Jacksons on July 5 and 6, 1939. In 1940 the caboose was totally repainted and relettered with the rectangular herald. At this time the edges of the roofs and the handrails were painted white or aluminum. This is the way 0400 appears in the photo in this issue, taken at Ridgway in August of 1940. I have never seen this shot published before or any other photo of this caboose in this paint scheme, that you could discern. There is another photo of this paint job but you can't see the side lettering. Look at Page 2 of Dorman's Rio Grande Southern, An Ultimate Picture Story. Just over the top of the sandhouse you can see the roof and cupola of the 0400. If you look close you can read the number under the eve. She's parked there, in fresh paint. Parked next to 0400 is the 0404, undergoing a rebuilding, as seen in the photo published here. The cut down flatcars seen in the background of our photo are clearly visible here. This puts our photo as August 7, 1940.

By the next time we see the 0400 in print, June 29, 1946, the small standard lettering is back in place and the aluminum or white trim on the roof has disappeared. The handrail and ladder paint was fading and would ultimately disappear as well. This configuration, with what appears to be hand painted numbers, stayed on the car to the end of the road and beyond.

Before I leave the 0400 I have a request of the readers. Where is the 0400? I know it was bought from Ridgway in the '70s and moved out but to where? Also, I was in this car at Ridgway in 1970 and took photos, which I can't find, of the interior. I distinctly remember that the 0400, unlike other RGS and D&RG(W) short cabooses, had footwells and real seats in the cupola. Is this merely the delusions of an old railfan or is this car, to use an overworked phrase, unique? 0400 is currently at the CRRM and yes, it has footwells. I know that at least the 0402 is a "platform" cupola caboose in which you had to "recline" when riding. One side is over a full height cabinet and the other over a full length bunk. I have ridden 0402 at Knotts Berry Farm behind the 41. The cushions and movable back rests are gone and you have to ride the hard boards. Extremely uncomfortable....and absolutely fabulous! Excruciatingly wonderful cramps!

The 0401 was the only RGS caboose to have handrails at the top of the ladders, ala D&RGW practice. And it had them early! See the photo on Page 262 of Rio Grande Southern, An Ultimate Picture Story. As mentioned [above/last time], this has to have been prior to 1924 due to the lettering on C-16 number 262. The "hooks" were right angles rather than the D&RGW crescent style.

The 0401's chimney is a tall standard affair in the '20s with no apparent guy wires. The cap is very wide. By 1942 the cap is a much narrower piece of sheet metal. This chimney top was lost sometime after 1947 but before May of 1949. From then on the pipe is considerably shorter without a cap.

Doors on this caboose are standard wooden panels with two panes in each door, separated vertically. The coupler pockets are wooden fabrications like the 0400.

The lettering on this caboose is absolute standard, and didn't change a bit until after May of 1949. In fact, the only differences between the two photos on Page 262 of the 0401 are the absence of the top light box and the presence of the "owner and lessor" plaque on the 1945 photo. Photos taken on May 13, 1949 and published on Pages 70 and 79 of The RGS Story, Vol. 1 show a caboose with very little paint and in the standard livery with white lettering. Sometime prior to 1951 the 0401 was repainted in a bizarre scheme not repeated on any other caboose. The car received the rectangular herald, but painted high on the carbody just below the fascia board, and the round circle with RRCO inside like used in black on the galloping geese during the '40s and '50s. The lettering and trim on this paint job was in silver.

0401 went with Ex C&S 74 to display in Boulder, Colorado. It was subsequently destroyed with dynamite by vandals.

The 0402 is the only caboose I do not have a picture of before 1940. There are a couple of unusual things about this caboose. The chimney has the most solid support of any of the RGS cabooses with two strap steel braces holding a ring around the pipe. By June of 1940 the chimney stopped just past the ring. It is unknown when it lost its cap.

The doors on the 0402 are standard wooden panel doors with two panes like 0401. Coupler pockets are fabricated wood.

0402 got the rectangular herald early and kept it for the rest of it's time on the RGS and beyond. It is clearly evident in photographs taken throughout the '40s and it carried the herald to Knott's Berry Farm where it is now in daily operation on their Ghost Town & Calico Railway. For many years at Knotts the caboose was painted as D&RGW 0574. I happened to be up at Knotts one day right after they had painted the 41 in Rio Grande Southern livery after many years of D&RG lettering and I asked the shop men there if they were going to restore the caboose to RGS as well. They professed not to know that this was RGS 0402, believing the car to be a Rio Grande caboose. I pointed out the rectangular herald and number beginning to show through on the side of the car that had been in the sun and shortly thereafter the caboose was repainted and lettered RGS 0402, as it is to this day.

0403 had a few interesting characteristics not shared by the other cabooses. First are the cupola windows. Unlike all the other cars which had single pane windows in the cupola, the 0403 had four pane sliding windows. This clearly shows in the photo by R.B. Jackson on page 619 of Silver San Juan.

The chimney on this car was a tall capped one, again without guy wires, which lasted in this configuration until the end of this cabooses career.

The doors on the 0403 were standard wood paneled two paned affairs. The coupler pocket, however, was a D&RGW cast variety, at least as of 1938 which is the first year of photos I have of this car. The marker lamp brackets on this car are mounted on the body and not the fascia board as with most of the other cars.

Lettering is standard with low sans-serif numbers through 1940. Sometime between then and 1945 the car was repainted with the small sans-serif lettering with the numbers up about midway up the body like the 0400. Just prior to the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club outing of May 30/31, 1947 the hack got the paint job that most fans recognize for this car. With white lettering and silver handrails the car was resplendent for the trip. The lettering was unlike anything seen before and what I refer to as the split-standard. The "RIO" had real narrow letters and was joined by a standard "GRANDE" on the fascia board. The "SOUTHERN" was down on the carbody between the windows and the numbers were block sans-serif and painted midway on the body.

Unfortunately, 0403 was wrecked on July 26, 1948 when a runaway 6500 series flatcar smashed into the stove end near Priest's Gulch tank. It was subsequently towed to Ridgway and scrapped.

0404, RGS' only long caboose, was totally unique. As mentioned before, this caboose was built by the RGS in 1902 with eight windows in the cupola with outside hung sliders. Over the years the car was rebuilt with inside hung windows and only one window on each side of the cupola. This is evident in the photo taken on July 7, 1939 on Page 90 of Rio Grande Southern Story, Volume 1.

Also evident in this photograph is the quarter round molding at the corners of the body. 0404 was the last caboose to lose this 19th century touch and it didn't happen until the car was rebuilt in 1940. Refer to our photograph in the last issue. Behind the 0400 is the 0404 awaiting re-sheathing. The quarter round is still clearly in place. Subsequent photos of this car show square corners on the car body.

Even though 0404 was the last car to lose its quarter round molding, it was the first hack to lose its top light box. It went into the 1940 rebuild with the box and came out without it.

The chimney on this car had a strap support to the cupola in the early years with a round stack cap like a house vent. By 1916 the pipe had a more conventional cap. Sometime between July of 1939 and the rebuild of 1940 the cap disappeared. By July of 1948 a new cap had been installed on the stovepipe and this remained until the end of operations. When the caboose was in use by the scrappers in 1952 the chimney was off completely. It was restored in museum life.

The doors on this car are standard wood panel type with two vertical panes of glass. The coupler pockets after 1940 were D&RGW castings.

An interesting but short lived addition to 0404 was the application of tarpaper to the outside of the cupola side sheathing. This was applied sometime after 1941 and was in rags by 1948.

Early photos of 0404 show standard lettering with block letters centered not around the windows but on the carbody itself. This lettering continued until the 1940 rebuild when the car received the rectangular herald and railroad roman numbers. Note that the numbers were not centered on the center window. This is an error that crept in at the Colorado Railroad Museum. The number was centered between the end of the herald and the opposite end of the car. See Page 628 of Silver San Juan. The plan shows the way the car is lettered at the museum and the photo below shows actual practice.

Sometime after 1941 the 0404 received a body centered railroad roman number and a cupola centered "RGS" just under the fascia board. That marvelous expanse of siding, which carried the herald so well, got only "RGS" until the end of the road. Happily, the museum corrected this slight even though the number is in the wrong place!

Several of the cabooses which had been painted with the new heralds around 1940 seem to have lost them during WWII. Could it have been that they appeared too much like a "rising sun" for comfort?

At last we come to the little 0409, the Southern's oldest caboose and possibly the least used. Seems like most of the photos I have seen of this hack have a "bad order" tag affixed to the carbody! Like the 0404, the 0409 originally had eight sliding windows in the cupola and, like the other short cabooses, windows all around the body. Sometime after 1909 this caboose was rebuilt with three body windows and only one sliding window on each side of the cupola. Since this puts the trainman at the center of the cupola I wonder if the interior was rebuilt with a centered seat like the 0404? Anyone been inside this car?

The 0409 had a tall capless stovepipe in 1909 with guywire supports. By 1930 the guywires were gone and the stack was about even with the top of the cupola and still no cap. By 1941 the stack had a cap and a serious lean towards the cupola. By the winter of '49 the stack had been straightened and apparently remained so through the filming of "Ticket to Tomahawk". By the time the caboose was hauled to Ridgway on the cleanup trains the stovepipe was totally gone.

The doors on the 0409 were standard panel type with two windows. The coupler pocket, at least as of 1930, is a D&RGW casting. Like the 0403, 0409's markerlamp brackets are mounted below the fascia rather than on it.

Lettering on the 0409 is standard until the early 40's. At that point the car received the rectangular herald below the windows with low railroad roman numbers. The trim appears to be silver in this configuration with silver paint around the edge of the roof. This same style, seemingly quite fresh, is evident on Page 188 of Rio Grande Southern, An Ultimate Picture Story, in a photo taken on February 14, 1949 as the caboose follows the 41 to derailment doom approaching Stapleton on a snow fighting train.

In the summer of 1949 the 0409 becomes the Southern's most unique of the unique as it sports green paint and a Tomahawk and Western herald for the movie "Ticket To Tomahawk". Joining RGS 20 on the Silverton Branch and near Lightner Creek, the 0409 bobbed along happily after the movie train. It's featured in the parting shot of the movie as Dan Dailey climbs aboard and the train leaves Silverton...er, Tomahawk for parts beyond. The caboose's only physical modification is a board mounted on the sides at the bottom of the carbody between the end beams. It may be that the "bad order" posted on the car just before this movie redo was because the sides weren't holding the handrails and this new mounting board was necessary to make the car serviceable.

When the railroad ended operations this caboose was hauled to Ridgway from Durango. The car was noticeably without window panes or smokejack and it is believed that it had been stored in the Durango yards since its movie role.