ESPEE silver caboose

[John Nutt]

I have been searching the net looking for a picture of an SP caboose painted in the trailer service silver with no luck. Anybody have an image-I would like to model one in N scale. Thanks

[Kevin Stevens]

It's not in color, but here is one photo I found:

http://www.snowcrest.net/photobob/spcc17.html

That is the only online photo of one I could find. I hope it helps at least a little.

[LadySunshine]

Hello John, I hope this is what you were looking for:

http://gelwood.railfan.net/other/sp/sp-cab.jpg
http://gelwood.railfan.net/other/sp/sp-c4709k.jpg

smile.gif smile.gif

[John Nutt]

Thanks Kevin and Lady for your help.Its seems strange that such paint scheme was seldom photographed.

[Alan]

John, what was the era that scheme ran?

[SP 8299]

Try as I might, I can't find any pics of them on the web or my books. Weird that I can't find any pics, but it turns out Espee only had 8 hacks painted in the silver Trailer/Flatcar Service scheme, all of them C40-1 and C40-3 class cupola hacks. This page from the Espee Modeler's Homepage, http://espee.railfan.net/sp_c-40-03.html , has info and the numbers of the ones that got silver paint, but unfortunately, no shots of any in silver. I'll keep looking...and heck, at least knowing which ones got silver paint is a start. ;)

[ 17 January 2002: Message edited by: SP 8299 ]

[Kevin Stevens]

Originally posted by Alan:
John, what was the era that scheme ran?Alan, I believe (speaking from vague recollections of past reading) the Trailer Service cabooses showed up sometime in the early to mid 1950's and were gone by the early 1960's. There were only eight cabs painted in the silver paint, and I believe they were all cupola cars, although I remember seeing a photo of a bay window car in standard colors with the Trailer-Flatcar service lettering. Somewhere buried in a drawer somewhere is my 1981 SP Review that has a feature on SP cabooses and answers this question accurately...unfortunately I have no idea where and it would take a search party to find it. :(

[John Nutt]

Kevin-Sure would be nice to see what is in your 1981 sp review when you find it. A bay window with trailer service lettering-never heard of that one.

[Martyn Read]

There's a colour pic of SP caboose 1097 on page 78 of the Morning Sun book "SP Color guide to freight & passenger equipment" it shows it on the back of a 50's piggyback train, although the pic is undated i'm pretty sure it's pre-'58 due to the trailer colours (they all have circle S-P-Lines heralds on the noses)

The text of the pic says

"Early "hot" piggyback service on SP's coast line between LA & San Francisco was operated under the "Advance Overnight" label, a train leaving an hour before the regular Overnight. The silver trailers provided inspiration forpainting eight regular steel cabooses in a matching scheme, as seen here in a posed shot on the Peninsula"

Quick book review, I was quite dissapointed with it from a rail vehicle point of view, as about 50% of the book feels like road vehicles, but there's some great early intermodal pics, so if that's what you're into.....

[Kevin Stevens]

Originally posted by John Nutt:
Kevin-Sure would be nice to see what is in your 1981 sp review when you find it. A bay window with trailer service lettering-never heard of that one.OK, found my copy of the '81 SP review...according to the book, there were eight cabooses known to be painted into the silver "Trailer-Flatcar Service" scheme: 1031, 1069, 1076, 1096, 1097, 1147, 1181 and 1201 (all steel cupola-type cars). There is no mention of the actual dates these cars carried silver paint, but there is a photo of silver #1096 taken in 1954. As for the "Trailer-Flatcar Service" bay window car, I wasn't mistaken...there is a photo of bay window cab #1342 taken in 1964 in standard Tuscan and Orange, but sporting the Trailer-Flatcar Service lettering on its sides below the road name and number (photo is black and white, but the colors are obviously standard).

[c.a.jon]

Saw one parked at the Lompoc yard a couple of weeks ago. It was nite time so no pix. Didn't look like it had been moved in a while.

[John Nutt]

c.a. jon-Was this caboose restored or just as it was when pulled from service?

[Kevin Stevens]

Originally posted by c.a.jon:
Saw one parked at the Lompoc yard a couple of weeks ago. It was nite time so no pix. Didn't look like it had been moved in a while.Is it possible that the caboose seen in Lompoc is white instead of silver? There is a white bay window caboose around that was painted for SP RR Police. Here is a link to a photo of the caboose I am referring to:
http://shastaroute.railfan.net/Photos/Caboose/08569.jpg
Also, here is a photo of the caboose as it looks today after being de-SP'ed:
http://cencalrails.railfan.net/sppd4709.jpg

[ 16 February 2002, 17:24: Message edited by: Kevin Stevens ]