Sumpter Valley Ry. Caboose #5

This photo was taken at the McEwen depot of the Sumpter Valley Railroad on Sep. 9th 2007. Caboose #5 was used on the rear of our trains for many years. Because it was not possible to safely pass between the last passenger car and the caboose, the rear brakeman would supervise the passengers that chose to ride in the caboose. I always enjoyed being the rear brakeman because it really provided some one on one time with the passengers to discuss history in depth along with our present organization. One time however, I recall a woman being my only caboose rider and she positioned herself in the cupola. I gave her the proscribed safety talk and started my usual brief history. She interrupted me and said she was just riding to watch birds. In fact the water fowl on the dredge ponds that we pass are pretty interesting. I have recited the history of #5 several times in other photo posts, so won't repeat it for this one. The scan is from the SVRR Archive.




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/04/2023 09:12AM by J.B.Bane.