The new paint scheme for Southern looks good, but does anyone know when Southern painted the bay windows yellow as per this model? Thanks
Southern started a rebuild program in 1968 that lasted through 1972.During this time most cabooses(cabeese?) lost thier chocolate brown color and their four-digit numbers except car numbers 3201,2192,2194,and 6900.the bays were painted yellow at this time,may have been yellow before, I'm not sure.The yellow bays were to identify the caboose as being in local service although I've been told that they were used for road service from time to time. Athearn's model is not right for this prototype(close enough for me though).Their paint scheme,however,is a perfect match for the two numbers chosen.The blt date,service date,even the safety slogans on the steps are exactly what they should be! I look foward to getting both of these even though they aren't "perfect" and maybe two years too new for my modeling era.Rivet counter I'm not!
The yellow bays were used on shortline affiliates cabooses (Carolina & Northwestern (built for them), Georgia & Florida (2nd hand), Georgia Northern (2nd hand) Tennessee Alabama & Georgia (second hand) and Tennessee RR. quickly come to mind). The same is true of the X200- and X258-series yellow bays and it usually denoted that the cabs were not equipped with radios... there was one X600-series cab that also had a yellow bay. All typically were intended for local service and had Bettendorf roller bearing trucks instead of the typical caboose leaf spring trucks with the yellow baywindow denoting this. Prior to being repainted in red with the yellow bay the CRN and G&F cabs carried the same paint color and lettering style as the current Southern practices and oddly enough some G&F cabs that were acquired from the SOU were leased by the SOU because they had toilets installed while some SOU cabs did not. Cupola cabooses in the X250 - X257 series (yes... Southern had cupolas on the system) were repainted from their original colors to red with a yellow band even with the cupola sides to denote their limited "local service" usage. X250 - X252 and X255, X256 were former Savannah & Atlanta cabooses, originally painted silver with black roofs and cupolas, X257 was formerly a Norfolk Southern Magor cupola caboose... the only NS cupola caboose that survived the merger in service. All of these were used in the western part of Virginia on the Interstate Railroad, which had some of their wood cabooses rebuilt by SOU and repainted in a similar scheme only to have them retired within a year. "3201,2192,2194,and 6900" Numbers should be X3201, X3192, X3194 and X6900... the X2100-series were wood cupola cabs with truss rods, none of which survived into the 60s. These all were cabs acquired by the G&F from the SOU.
Great news! At last a Southern caboose for my Southern GP38 and SD35!!! Jerry,Thanks for the caboose information-most useful.
Thanks southernman and Jerry, very helpful. Bit late for my layout, but it wouldn't be the first time there has been 'era creep' when something cool comes out!
