Re: The Strange Story of Sumpter Valley Caboose #4 / U.S.A. Caboose #909

Yes. In the case of Caboose #3, its construction appears to be referenced in 17 East Oregonian (Pendleton), No. 5037 (May 2, 1904), at page 1, Col. 2 (Sumpter Extension, ¶ 4), at, [oregonnews.uoregon.edu] (Aug. 30, 2016) (“the company is building new refrigerator cars and cabooses”).

In 1898, the S.V. Ry. only had two cabooses, according to Poor’s Manual of Railroads for 1898, at page 273, at, [babel.hathitrust.org] (Aug. 28, 2016). In 1907, the S.V. Ry. had three cabooses, according to 1st Report of the Railroad Commission of Oregon (1907), at page 172, at, [babel.hathitrust.org] (Aug. 27, 2016). For these reasons, the 1904 East Oregonian article appears to be referencing the building of Caboose #3.

In the case of Caboose #1, the 1916 I.C.C. Valuation states that it had been purchased second hand, and gives the identical overall dimensions as for Caboose #4. Except for the number of windows, Cabooses ##1 and 4 also appear to have the same architecture. This leads to the possibility that Caboose #1 had been one of U.&N. Ry. Caboose ##70, 72, or 73 (1620, 1622, or 1623 after 1885). These three cabooses, plus the S.V. Ry. #4, were the four large narrow gauge cabooses built either by the U.P. Ry. at Omaha in 1880 or by the U.&N. Ry. at Eagle Rock in 1883, apparently using U.P. Ry. plans. The spread sheets that I did from info in the Official Railway Equipment Guide's shows the Oregon Short Line & Utah Northern Ry.'s disposing of three narrow gauge cabooses in 1893 and the S.V. Ry. of acquiring its first caboose about then. The Union Pacific System (including the O.S.L.&U.N. Ry.) did not let its OREG data fall too far behind - maybe a month or two at most.

So, for these reasons, one has to highly suspect that S.V. Ry. Caboose #1 was one of U.&N. Ry. Cabooses ##70 (UP 1880), 72 (U&N 1883), or 73 (U&N 1883). It's not quite as tight as the evidence regarding Caboose #4, though.

Robert