Union Pacific Caboose

[carlso]

I have looked, with no luck. Does any of the N manufacturers make UP cabeese that might be available now ?

Carl

[Mark5]

You may be stuck until the next release of the Centralia UP cabooses (former Golden West tooling).

https://www.intermountain-railway.com/distrib/ccs/ccsn.htm

Don't know much about earlier UP cabins.

Mark

[CBQ Fan]

I have been waiting for a few years now it seems. UP is a minor player in my inventory but it would be nice to have a proper caboose. Most of my UP engines run pool with the Q. It is really my turbine that needs tail end treatment.

[C855B]

You may be stuck until the next release of the Centralia UP cabooses (former Golden West tooling). ...

Yup. It's a model of the CA-3/CA-4 early steel caboose. Later Centralia editions (including the upcoming release) have the wrong trucks. Consult Keystone Details for an accurate truck.

If you want to cruise eBay for brass, Hallmark made a semi-reasonable CA-7, and Overland made a version of each steel cupola class, CA-3 through CA-9, also semi-reasonable.

Key made a brass CA-11, the last new UP caboose, a bay window design. The model is somewhat crude by brass standards.

... It is really my turbine that needs tail end treatment.

The Centralia model (CA-3/4) is contemporary with the turbines, but only with the small (8") lettering. Large lettering came in 1971, and the Big Blows were gone by then.

EDIT: I failed to mention the MTL wooden caboose. Their venerable early production (since 1975!) design with slanted cupola is an SP prototype, but is a reasonable stand-in for the UP CA-1.

[CBQ Fan]

Yup. It's a model of the CA-3/CA-4 early steel caboose. Later Centralia editions (including the upcoming release) have the wrong trucks. Consult Keystone Details for an accurate truck.

If you want to cruise eBay for brass, Hallmark made a semi-reasonable CA-7, and Overland made a version of each steel cupola class, CA-3 through CA-9, also semi-reasonable.

Key made a brass CA-11, the last new UP caboose, a bay window design. The model is somewhat crude by brass standards.

The Centralia model (CA-3/4) is contemporary with the turbines, but only with the small (8") lettering. Large lettering came in 1971, and the Big Blows were gone by then.

Thanks for the info!  This helps me narrow it down.

[spookshow]

I can't speak to their accuracy or availability, but MTL made a UP bay window caboose (13000060) and Bluford Shops made a couple of different UP transfer cabooses (24390 and 24391).

-Mark

[carlso]

Thanks for the replies, I am glad I asked the question.

Mark - I looked through your caboose page and had no idea that so many have been made through the years. Great source, thanks. I suppose the main word when mentioning caboose is "availablity".

Carl

[Mark5]

I can't speak to their accuracy or availability, but MTL made a UP bay window caboose (13000060)

The MTL model is a SP prototype.

Mark

[pdx1955]

Bluford has UP ex-Rock Island International bay window cabooses (1980+) coming this summer.

[ncbqguy]

 The Panamint Models Shapeway CB&Q No. 7 wood beam waycar truck is a very close stand-in for the UP "Q" truck used on the early steel cars and the wood cars.
Charlie Vlk

[C855B]

The MTL model is a SP prototype.

Yes. And the Bluford transfer caboose is a foob as well. UP had a small fleet of transfer cabooses, but they were home-brews cut down from steel-framed single-sheathed wooden boxcars, not the welded-steel version Bluford offers.

If you want to get right down to brass tacks, I think every major N scale manufacturer has offered a generic caboose in UP paint and lettering. All foobs.

[...sigh...]

Yet another motivation to jump behind a Photon. 

Bluford has UP ex-Rock Island International bay window cabooses (1980+) coming this summer.

CA-13-1 thru CA-13-4, picked-up with dissolution of The Rock in 1980. Only a handful of rebuilds received yellow paint, and nearly all were "dispositioned" in 1985, living on the UP for all of five years.

Source credit for all this: Cabooses of the Union Pacific Railroad, by Don Strack and James L. Ehrenberger; UP Historical Society, publisher, (c)2002.

[jagged ben]

The MTL model is a SP prototype.

Mark

Yes and they really goofed the dimensions compared to the Athearn model.

[robert3985]

U.P. Cabooses in N-scale Part 1:

I have looked, with no luck. Does any of the N manufacturers make UP cabeese that might be available now ?

Carl

Carl @carlso ,

Correct U.P. cabooses are not too easy to find as only three types have ever been manufactured in large quantities.

The first one to be made was offered by Revell/Rapido in the 1960's and is rumored to be a representation of the U.P. CA-1 wooden caboose.  However, I have two of them in their original boxes, and after some research, I found they are not just bad models of CA-1's but modeled after a U.P. N.C.S. (Non Common Standard) wooden caboose made in the late 19th century.  It's a poor model, with oversized windows, guessed-at end platform detailing, too-low ride height, incorrect trucks and sheathing boards that are almost double the width of the prototype's. I was going to use them to kitbash a proper CA-1, but after looking at them closer, decided they should forever remain sealed in their boxes because they're too incorrect.

Photo (1) - Revell/Rapido N-Gauge "Wood Prototype Caboose - UP"  Notice, the printing on the model says it's a steel-bodied "CA-3":


Next, we have the Kadee/MTL "wooden" caboose, which is a pretty close model of the S.P. C-30-1, which was built during the Harriman Era and has much in common with the U.P. CA caboose, 373 of which were built from 1905 through 1913.  Most have the slanted cupola, with a few having a straight sided cupola, and some having a straight-sided tall cupola. The main visible difference between the S.P. C-30-1 and the U.P. CA cabooses were the number of steps on the platform stairways...the S.P. caboose having three steps, and the U.P. caboose having four steps.  The Kadee/MTL model has three steps on the end platform stairways.

The latest paint schemes offered by MTL are much nicer than the earlier versions, with a proper Armour Yellow color and bright red grab irons.  Unfortunately, MTL continues to give them U.P. CA-1 caboose numbers and not paint the roofs Mineral Red which would greatly correct their appearance as nearly all of U.P.'s cabooses got the Armour Yellow/Mineral Red/Black paint scheme from July 1947 through 1950 with Mineral Red roofs.  From July of 1947 through 1950 it was common to see U.P. cabooses on freights with both the early Mineral Red/white lettering scheme, and the late Armour Yellow/red lettering scheme, sometimes on the same train during caboose redistribution movements.

So, the last Armour Yellow wooden CA caboose was retired in 1967, and was probably assigned to local and/or branchline service.

Photo (2) Stock MTL CA with correct MTL coil spring freight trucks (MTL leaf spring caboose trucks are okay too), with brown MTL low-pro wheelsets (but with an incorrect CA-1 number):


The latest MTL U.P. Yellow "wooden" cabooses have bright red grabs, but I don't have any of those to take a photo of.

To improve the looks of the MTL U.P. "wooden" caboose, the roofs should be painted Mineral Red and the smokejack painted flat black.  Also, prime and paint the end railings, brake stand and ladder bright red so that this thin casting is opaque.  The stock trucks provided by MTL are okay, but wooden cabooses started receiving wooden framed, smooth running "Q" trucks in 1952 when U.P. started supplying their steel CA-3 and CA-4 cabooses with steel, friction-bearing, outside swing-hanger trucks.  After 1952, both the earlier steel framed coil and leaf spring trucks as well as the wooden "Q" trucks could be seen on U.P.'s CA cabooses.  As has been posted, Panamint Models at Shapeways makes an excellent "Q" truck that is a direct replacement for MTL trucks on their "wooden" cabooses.  I also sand down the wooden running boards on my U.P. CA's to make them thinner, add .002" 6-0 Suture Silk thread for smokejack bracing, and .004" brass wire cupola braces between the front & back cupola surfaces and the roof.  MTL 905 Z-scale couplers or MTL True Scale Couplers (brown) and brake hoses make a big difference too.  MTL paints their Amour Yellow cabooses over translucent yellow plastic bodies, so painting the insides black, then light green will make them opaque.  For more detail, Fine N-Scale Products ( https://www.finenscale.com/rollingstock.html ) makes cast resin interiors and exterior tool boxes for the MTL "wooden" caboose.  Painting the end platforms Armour Yellow, with the steps and platform being Maroon also helps a lot. If you really wanted to make an accurate U.P. CA caboose, then mill off the stock end platform stairways, substitute GMM etched brass stairways from their "Heavyweight Passenger Car" detail fret, skin off all of the cast-on grabs and put .007" (or smaller) stainless or brass wire grabs in their places.  Precision Scale makes a great set of freight car underbody brake details in either Styrene or investment cast brass too.

Photo (3) - MTL U.P. Armour Yellow CA caboose with just a few mods, namely 905 Z-scale couplers, thinned MTL caboose running boards and Panamint Models "Q" trucks:


Next are the Intermountain (Centralia Car Shops/Golden West Models kit) models of U.P.'s first and second riveted steel-bodied cabooses, the CA-3 and the CA-4, which for all intents and purposes are identical save for a steel brace under the end roof overhang that is reversed on the CA-5.  The original Centralia Car Shops RTR versions had new, highly detailed plastic roller bearing outside swing-hanger trucks in place of the Golden West Models kit's, which are very poor, flat models that not only looked very bad, but also ran very bad.  This was good, even though the new trucks were fragile and often didn't roll very well.  The latest offerings by Intermountain are from the same Golden West Models kit, but they've gotten rid of the excellently detailed correct trucks (for post 1952 CA-3's and CA-4's), substituting leaf-spring steel versions that never were put under these cabooses...with big, ugly bright brass washers between the truck and the caboose's bolsters to get the model to the correct height.  They've also added a grossly thick and horribly detailed cupola running board, which was on the first CA-3's when introduced in 1942, but within months was cut off because it was exceedingly dangerous.  It may have lasted into 1943 on some CA-3's.  This detail applies to only CA-3's painted in the early Mineral Red (reddish brown) color with white lettering.  No Armour Yellow steel cabooses had it, and no CA-4's ever had it either, even when painted Mineral Red/white. Unfortunately, Intermountain is applying this detail to ALL of its U.P. CA-3's and CA-4's.  Luckily, it's easy to remove, as is the whole cupola roof.

Intermountain's CA-3's and CA-4's have sporadic build quality, with lots of things glued on crookedly or sloppily. With their new inaccurate trucks and funky cupola running board, their accuracy has been severely diminished.  The running board details and the curved upper grabs of the end-ladders have always been grossly rendered.  My advice is to attempt to find the older model, with the outside swing-hanger trucks and no cupola running board.  As has been posted, you can get 3D printed outside swing-hanger trucks from Keystone Models, but they have roller bearings...which are incorrect for any U.P. steel caboose before 1964. CORRECTION!  Keystone Models offers both roller bearing outside swing-hanger trucks with or without the truck-mounted alternator for post 1975 CA-3's and CA-4's, AND friction bearing outside swing-hanger trucks.  So, you can pick your caboose year even more specifically!! Thanks Mike!

Photo (4) - Intermountain Centralia Car Shops older CA-3 model w/proper solid bearing outside swing-hanger truck, no cupola running board and better assembly quality...GET THIS GENERATION:


Photo (5) - Intermountain Centralia Car Shops newer Gen CA-4 model w/incorrect roller bearing trucks, incorrect cupola running board, bright shiny brass spacers between trucks and bolsters, and bad build quality...AVOID THIS GENERATION:


If you can't find what you want as far as lettering is concerned on the Intermountain CA-3/CA-4, the lettering is easily removed with isopropyl alcohol and a Q-tip, and you can re-letter them with the excellent decal sheets from Microscale Inc.  I've done that to several Intermountain CA's for friends. To get rid of the sheen that results from rubbing the wet Q-tip on the old lettering, mask the windows and spray with Dullcote.

Photo (6) - Newest Gen IMR/CCS CA-3/CA-4 cabooses with stock lettering removed, removed cupola running board and repainted cupola roof, with Panamint "Q" trucks, FVM 33" narrow tread semi scale wheelsets and reworked center sill:


Photo (7) - Same cabooses with new lettering sitting on the Park City Yard Lead, waiting to go south to Nate Goodman's caboose track on his home layout:


To improve the appearance of the Intermountain U.P. CA-3's and CA-4's, the first thing to do is get rid of the cupola running board and re-paint the cupola top.  I haven't found a perfect match for the color yet, but with a bit of weathering, it will disguise any minor color difference. Next, replace the fugly (and inaccurate) stock trucks on the new model.  I glue on an Evergreen Styrene C-channel (I can't remember the dimensions) over the stock, much-too-small center beam, drill some new truck mounting pin holes in it, paint it black and plug the new Panamint Models "Q" trucks into it.  Those trucks, along with FVM semi-scale 33" narrow tread wheels really make a huge difference in the appearance.  However, by 1955, all the steel bodied U.P. cabooses had been given either the steel outside swing-hanger friction bearing trucks or the steel inside swing-hangar friction bearing trucks.  The removed and replaced wooden-framed "Q" trucks had all been put on waiting wooden CA and CA-1 cabooses doing mainline duty.  My era is from 1947 through 1956, so I get to have both types of trucks and a few different paint jobs on my cabooses! Removing and replacing the ugly injection molded running boards with slightly modified Plano etched SS 50' boxcar versions, fabricating mounting brackets from thin Styrene sheet will make a world of difference, as will adding cupola grabs around the perimeter of the cupola roof, and MTL 905 Z-scale couplers or MTL True Scale Couplers and a brake hose on the car ends.  Of course, you can add more details including separate grabs, end window guards, scratch-built smokejack and toilet vent, and an interior to the cupola.  It wasn't unusual to see U.P. cabooses really dirty, so that would add realism too.

Truth is, a really good starting point for a superdetailed U.P. CA-3/CA-4 would be with an old Goldenwest Models kit.  But, they're hard to find and getting expensive because they're rare.  It's a lot easier to work from an undecorated kit, modifying as you go than to hope you can remove parts from a glued-up version of the kit.  Much of the kit's details, such as the trucks, the smokejack, the ladder tops, the end platform railings and the bare-minimum underbody details can all be chucked and replaced.  Also, adding a cupola interior is a helluva lot easier with the roof panels still removable.  Here's my start at modifying a Goldenwest Models kit...

Photo ( 8 ) - Goldenwest Models kit (what the IMR/CCS models are made from) superdetailed CA-3/4 in progress:


Photo (9) - Same model further along with cupola grabs, painted roofs, Panamint "Q" trucks, smokejack bracing, cupola interior and MTL True Scale Couplers:



End of U.P. Cabooses in N-scale Part 1 -

[robert3985]

U.P. Cabooses in N-scale Part 2:

Now I'm going to get into the brass U.P. cabooses a little, then about how to get yourself the most desirable U.P. caboose...

All of the rest of U.P's steel cabooses have been manufactured in brass in varying qualities and detail levels from OMI and Hallmark.  OMI (Overland Models) had at least two versions, the early versions and the more highly detailed later versions.  The early versions weren't painted, but the quality and accuracy of the second and third versions is really excellent!  However, they're hard to find, especially the early paint job versions with running boards and no Pool Service modifications. The early OMI U.P. CA cabooses with the cast-on running boards actually look pretty good when the cracks are filled, details straightened and they're properly painted.

Photo (1) - Early OMI CA-4 in Mineral Red (with incorrect inside-swing-hanger trucks which came with the model):


Photo (2) - Early OMI CA-5 in early Pool Assignment regalia:


Photo (3) - Early OMI CA-4 Caboose in Armour Yellow with Added Smokejack Braces & Marker Lamps:


Hallmark had two models that were of poor quality and called them "U.P. Welded Caboose" and "U.P. Riveted Caboose"...the riveted caboose was of an imaginary prototype never seen in this world, but the welded caboose represented (although pretty badly) U.P. CA-8, CA-9 and (with a little help) CA-10 cabooses.  They were all unpainted, and with a lot of work, the welded caboose could represent a highly accurate model of the CA-8, CA-9 and CA-10 cabooses since the carbody was pretty good, and the brass investment cast grossly oversized and inaccurate add-on details could be easily removed with a good resistance soldering station, and replaced.

Photo (4) - Hallmark "U.P. Welded Caboose" straight out of the box...really distorted but with some good dimensions and some good detail parts:


Photo (5) - Hallmark "U.P. Welded Caboose" after about 30 hours of work and research built as it was delivered in 1964:


If you see the Hallmark "U.P. Riveted Caboose" for sale somewhere and you're interested in accuracy, don't buy it unless it's a steal, like under $20.  The trucks are nicely detailed, the platform end-railings and ladders are nicely done, and the underbody brake details are well done.  I scrapped all of mine, and kept the good parts for later use.

I had a couple of OMI's EDIT: Key CA-11's (Thanks Mark!)...the last caboose built specifically for the U.P. (a bay window design) and it captured the overall look of the prototype, but was pretty crude.  Since they were out of my era, I sold 'em and I never took a photo of 'em. Mark @spookshow has posted a photo of this model in this thread if you want to see it.

Now, we come to the one caboose that U.P. had more of than any other caboose...and it lasted longer than any other caboose on the system...the wooden, steel-framed CA-1, of which U.P. had 380 of them being built from 1914 through 1924.  Unfortunately, no brass or plastic RTR models of this caboose have ever been made in N-scale.  The CA-1 was significantly different in appearance than the Kadee/MTL "wooden" caboose, which is almost always said to be "a CA-1"...but, it is not.  The most obvious visual differences between the Kadee/MTL "wooden" caboose and the prototype U.P. CA-1 is First, the cupola location, which on the CA-1 is much more centered.  Second, the CA-1 has three windows on the sides rather than four.  End windows differ between both the CA and the CA-1, but the most common end window arrangement is two windows as opposed to the CA's one window. Third, the smokejack is on the opposite side of the car.  Fourth, the roof is also a few inches longer, and Fifth, the steel framing cross-braces are plainly visible on the lower sides of the CA-1, as well as a much deeper steel center-beam.  CA-1's were built with steel frames to withstand the rigors of the new, bigger and more powerful U.P. motive power. The last U.P. CA-1 was retired in November, 1971 and is on display at the Utah State Railroad Museum at the Ogden Union Station, unfortunately in an increasingly run-down condition.

Photo (6) - Stock MTL "wooden" caboose erroneously called a CA-1 vs my kitbashed pilot model properly proportioned as an actual U.P. CA-1:


So, it's pretty visually obvious that the MTL "wooden" caboose isn't a CA-1, or even a good "stand-in".
 
To get yourself a proper U.P. CA-1, you're going to have to scratch-build it or kitbash it.  I prefer kitbashing, starting with two Kadee/MTL "wooden" cabooses and using Evergreen Styrene shapes and siding sheet, MTL couplers, Panamint Models (at Shapeways) "Q" trucks (T58p x8 N offset passenger truck, Caboose, Overton), Precision Scale brass investment cast underbody brake details, GMM's Heavyweight Passenger Car Detail fret, and FVM semi-scale narrow lo-pro 33" wheelsets.  Having a vertical mill also assists me to get the MTL metal frame modifications just right.  I fabricate the end platform railings and ladders, but the stock MTL items can be used in a pinch.  My own brass marker lamps and MV red/green lenses and .003" 6-0 Suture Silk Smokejack Bracing Wires top the model off. Scalecoat II enamel paints, and Microscale Inc. decal sheets and a bit of weathering finish the project.

Photo (7) - My First Kitbashed pilot model from two MTL "wooden" CA cabooses of a U.P. CA-1:


Although it looks a lot like a common U.P. CA-1, there were some things about my pilot model that weren't correct, or what I wanted.  The window arrangement on the sides and ends is a bit flexible prototypically, as the various shops that made this caboose took liberties with how many windows were on the ends...ranging the full gamut from none, to one, to two. I chose two end windows because it was different than the MTL model, and I wanted to see if I could make an okay window out of Styrene sheet.  The number of windows on the sides of the car were almost always three, but I didn't move the cupola-end side windows more towards the center of the car in this build (I got lazy), so I wanted to do that in all future kitbashes.  Functionally, doing this would also make the end-seams of the new Evergreen siding pieces in more easy-to-align positions.  Also, I didn't lengthen the roof extensions over the end platforms as on actual CA-1's, and the ladders on the ends, although okay, are not entirely correct...the real CA-1 having a distinctive kink in the ladder directly off of the top of the railing it's bolted to in order to compensate for the added roof length.  I also wanted my CA-1 to have vertical brake wheels instead of the more modern stands that are on the MTL end railings...although some CA-1's received the later brake stands, some only got them on one end of the car, and kept the older, vertical wheel on the other end, like the CA-1 at the Utah State Railroad Museum at the Ogden Union Station.  Also, when looked at from the side, none of the steel frame ends or the deeper center sill are there on this first kitbash, and the underbody brake equipment is bare minimum too. 

So, I started my second kitbash which will fulfill all of the prototype's dimensions and external features to satisfy my rivet-counter soul and eyeballs.  This meant that I needed to more carefully apply the Evergreen siding, which luckily is exactly a match for the the MTL "wooden" caboose's siding, and relocate the cupola end side window so they are further toward the center.  I also needed to get the GMM etched stairways correctly positioned by cutting away the metal end platforms of the MTL metal chassis...along with everything else on the chassis except the bolster's truck pin fixtures.

Since I had a real CA-1 to go photograph and look at just 9 miles from where I lived, it was easy to just go down there with my camera, flash, tape measure and notebook to take photos and measurements of anything I might have a question about, including the dimensions of the center sill, the holes cut in it to accommodate brake equipment and how the steel frame extensions attached to it along with their end profiles.  I also got to examine and measure the platform end railings and see their contours and how everything was bolted and welded together.  No, I'm not going to put every bolt, rivet and hangar on my kitbash since the goal is to make about a dozen of these because they were the most numerous cabooses in use in my era between Ogden and Green River both ways, but...I'm designing several etched frets that will include the correct rivet and bolt details on several parts because they're very visible on the car's ends.

Photo ( 8 ) - Progress on 2nd CA-1 kitbash showing roof extensions, moved, eliminated and created windows, frame modifications and cupola relocation:


Photo (9) - CA-1 kitbash with Panamint Models "Q" Trucks attached, temporary platform ends & GMM stairways attached:


After looking at this photo, I didn't like the way the platform end-beam looked...it was too thick, so, I bent up a strip of .005" brass and drilled the end rail stanchion holes (.007"dia.) precisely by using my mill's XY table and my NWSL Riveter tool to make exact pilot holes before bending.  The finished version will be made of .003" brass with added etched rivet/nbw details:

Photo (10) - Test end-beam with .007" brass rod stuck in it with N-scale engineer and a penny to show its relative size:


Anyways, my workshop has been down since I moved two years ago, so it's going up this week along with my layout too.  Got too many projects to complete and I'm getting impatient.  This will be one of my first projects to finish and I'll have a complete post on it when it's done.

Hope this answers some questions about what's available in N-scale as far as U.P. cabooses are concerned and gives some of ya a kick in the butt to modify what's out there to make it better for your U.P. trains in the era you want to model.

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[Mark5]

Photo (6) - Progress on 2nd CA-1 kitbash showing roof extensions, moved, eliminated and created windows, frame modifications and cupola relocation:

Very clean and impressively seamless. I hope to get there someday!

Mark