http://www.¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤.com/Centralia-Car-Shops-N-ATSF-Rebuilt-Caboose-PC-p/ccs-6093-01.htm woo woo woo ¤¤¤¤¤ showing these nice looking cabooses. Can someone explain the PC run through version? Thanks, Joe D
Hi, Joetrain59, Short version off the top of my head (others pls correct as necessary): is that to bypass the crowded Chicago area, Santa Fe and New York Central or Penn Central (I can't remember which) for a short time had an arrangement to connect elsewhere, to expedite traffic that would be slowed by Chicago-area interchange. As part of this, there were run-through trains crewed by the two different railroads, on each other's tracks. I'm basing this off top of my head of my memory of the article: Santa Fe Historical Society Warbonnet Volume 16, No. 4, 4th Quarter, 2010 article on this, it was called the "Streator Connection". The Santa Fe cabooses used on this run were painted specific colors on the cupola, to identify that they were equipped with the proper signaling/train equipment for the 2 different railroads. I hope this helps, as necessary, anyone pls correct.
I don't have the book right in front of me (the Priest Santa Fe waycars book) but there were like 10 Ce-1/2 classes that were painted with WHITE cupolas for this run-through service. I can't remember what class they then called it, they gave it a specific class number of its own. Yellow cupolas were for designated local service. I've got a couple of these that I've done extensive rebuilds on to make them lit with Richmond Controls lighting/marker packages using Kato frames, which is just sorta over the top even for me. The original run was much to dark reddish-brown and I repainted mine, the second run was still too dark but 'close enough'. They are pretty hard to dissassemble without scattering and breaking off little parts everywhere.
Maybe for the "Salad Bowl Express"(? )To Hunts Point market in Bronx? Thanks, very interesting car to have. Joe D
The classic 'Santa Fe to PC' interchange tendeded to run over TP&W, that also evolved into an Argentine, KS (Kansas City) to Elkhart, IN turn. What made these cabooses different, according to the Priest book, was that they had radios for both ATSF and PC. So you weren't supposed to loose them. I've never heard of them getting further east than that. I do know from being in Elkhart that you would have sworn it was on ATSF there was so much power there, just like being in Argentine and amazed at all the various eastern roads.
I would like to see pics or directed to a book of Argentine with mixed motive power there. Did PC send any cabeese on the ATSF? that would look neat.
According to the above mentioned Warbonnet article they strayed far and wide because the interiors and crew appointments were positively luxurious compared to PC cabooses so they would 'accidently' get assigned to the wrong train. The article says one was eventually found in local service somewhere in Pennsylvania.
