Canadian Pacific steel cupola caboose paint schemes

Model Railroader Prototype information for the modeler
1

Hi everyone!

Can anyone tell me if CP actually used these steel cupola cabooses and if so, what time period would the yellow ends/red body paint scheme have been in service? Also, were they used in any other paint schemes i.e brown bodies with red ends?

http://www.athearn.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=ATH74009

I have spent a couple of hours searching in the forums and on line for prototype pictures and have come up empty. I am trying to build a fleet of CP cabooses on the cheap. These Athearn cabooses can be had on eBay for relatively low prices ($10.00 - $13.00) whereas the more common wood sided CP cabooses from Trueline are not cheap at all ($60.00+). I am quite willing to detail and repaint the Athearn units, in fact I enjoy that aspect far more then putting an RTR on the track and just looking at it.

As always, thanks for your help.

Dave

2

Thank You.

3

Kootenay Central

Thanks for all the great information. I take it from your comments that Athearn has created a model that is not prototypical. I rather suspected that because nowhere could I find a picture of a CP caboose with that type of construction. I did see the sites you suggested as well as several others.

The yellow and red paint scheme is a little too modern for my era so until I can afford proper CP cabooses (or find some cheap!) I am going to take the same sort of liberty as Athearn did and paint several ATSF style cabooses in the earlier CP brown with red ends scheme. Let’s call it artistic license. Hope not too many people will choke on that. Heck, the price is right and if I run my trains fast enough nobody will notice anyhow![;)]

Dave

4

If you shop around you might find a Trueline caboose for less than full retail price. You could check out the MDC / Roundhouse three-window wood caboose that Athearn now makes. It’s probably closer to the CP cabooses than the 5-window ATSF steel caboose in the pic (even with some windows filled in).

5

The TLT vans are the most accurate out there.

For other types of Vans of the same era, you have Kaslo, Sylvan and brass to fall back on. All of which will require painting.

David B

6

Dave, I sent you a PM (“Conversation”) regarding the Trueline cabooses.

Wayne

7

Kootenay Central’s information is pretty much accurate.

In early 1967, or late 1966 at the earliest, CP started to introduce some colour-coding to their equipment, and changing their paint schemes a little. They’d already been using the script logo since at least the early 1960s. The standard caboose paint scheme before 1967 was brown with red ends, in 1967 they changed to the colourful red with yellow ends (known sometimes as “Kodachrome vans” by railfans and modellers).

In the fall of 1968, the new CP Rail name and “multimark” logo was introduced. So this “Kodachrome” scheme wasn’t applied for very long, but some of these repaints stayed in this scheme into the early 1980s.

The Athearn steel caboose is not remotely close to a CP prototype. TrueLine Trains’ wood caboose represents CP’s common design for wood vans. The Rapido Trains steel van is a more modern 1970s welded design. For other steel CP caboose designs you’re pretty much stuck with sourcing out brass models that have been produced by Overland and Van Hobbies, or resorting to American stand-in models like the Athearn van.

Lots of reference photos here:

http://canadianfreightcargallery.ca/cgi-bin/displayrailway.pl?o=cprail#caboose

8

I suspect you may find in the long run you’d be better off getting several correct CP cabooses rather a “fleet” of very inaccurate ones. Unless you’re planning a layout that will have numerous freight trains running at the same time, you don’t really need a lot of cabooses. I would worry that in a year or two it’s going to start bothering you that you have all these “stand in” cars that really don’t recreate the CP trains you’re apparently interesting in.

If you like working on cars, the TLT wood caboose comes without an interior if you want to add that, and you can get undec ones and decorate them yourself…plus of course weathering them. On a RTR caboose I disassemble the car, remove the window glazing, weather with powdered charcoal, then spray the car with flat finish. Before reassembly I add crew figures in the car (and maybe one on the back platform) and sometimes add an interior or paint the one-piece interior if the car has one (like Walthers cabooses often have). Then the car is reassembled. Even with a pre-dec car, that’s plenty of “modelling” to keep me occupied for a while!!

9

Stix

In the long run I would definately like to have several accurate CP cabooses. However in the short run I am going to have some fun remodeling the ATSF vans by removing the molded grab irons and making new wire ones, adding marker lights etc. etc. If they eventually end up in the scrap yard then so be it. I will not be running several freight trains at once but having a stack of cabooses available might imply that there are lots of freights running in the area.

By the way, I do have 2 Kaslo Shops CP wood side caboose kits. I am relutant to build them just yet because I would like to have a little more experience with painting, decaling etc., which I hope to gain when playing with the totally bogus (for CP) ATSF steel vans.

Thanks for your suggestions.

Dave

10

I also think the Roudhouse/Athearn old time wood caboose is a better stand-in than the ATSF caboose. I reworked one for CNR and they are much more easier to “canadianize” with the same amount of work.

[quote user=“Kootenay Central”]

Well, the caboose shell in the model is obviously NOT a CPR caboose, but, the paint scheme is fairly accurate for the era.

ATSF?

Roughly, and someone else might be able to provide more accurate details, this paint scheme version with the red sides, yellow ends and ‘Canadian Pacific’ in script was applied from late 1966? through early 1968 when the then-new CP Rail Multi Mark scheme was adopted.

The smoke stack should be be BLACK on the model shown.

Here is a view of a yellow-ends-with-red caboose in December 1967, not long before the new yellow/black CP Rail and the Multi Mark logo took over.

http://www.trainweb.org/oldtimetrains/photos/cpr_rolling/vans_3.jpg

The caboose in the above image is of riveted construction and still retains its roof catwalk, ladder to roof, and grab irons around top of cupola which were for entering/exiting the cupola while the train was in motion and to hold onto while giving hand signals to Trainmen on top of the cars ahead or to the head end before radio.

The caboose shown has the Diesel generator set in the closet in the right corner inside the car body, the exhaust pipe visible to the right of the curved ladder above the roof line.

More CPR caboose data.

http://www.trainweb.org/oldtimetrains/CPR/general/vans.html

http://www.angelfire.com/sc3/aldershot7/cp/index.album/t0130?i=11

Not everything is cast in stone, and variations did occur.

Thank You.