I posted this up on the Railroads forum but though I’d try here too.
So, I picked up a SP “Police” caboose and it got me thinking how they used. Did RR’s have different practices? Any info or stories would be great. Thanks!
I picked up a couple of those too…very beautiful models indeed. I don’t usually run 'em, just display.(Modern SP stuff makes my knees weak[:I]
I did a little digging around, and it seems that the SP agents used these to keep an eye on the hot intermodal trains. Pilfering of the containers was rampant, so they had officers assigned to the trains. Seems to be mostly on the sunset route this occured.Evedently this was even after regular caboose operations had stopped. This was all the info I found out about their use, but their are prototypes of the Athearn models.I’ve seen the pics on one of the RR archive sites, don’t remember which one.
Hope this helps
Rich
In a video from Charles Smiley Productions entitled, “Sunset Salute,” they show the SP Police in a former passenger coach in the center of a train of mixed auto racks and double-stack containers. The narration indicates that they were there to try to catch cross-border thieves as the train went through Arizona and Texas. The SP Police caboose was probably used for the same purpose.
Over in te Railroads forum, I got a couple of good links to the SP Archives, explained some of the use of the cabooses and a passenger car used as well. They put that in the middle of the train on the auto racks train as they had problems on the sunset route of theives stealing stuff offthe cars. Intersting stuff indeed
Here is what Wikepedia had to say about such a job, and I do know that the position does exist as we have a number in the phone book here to contact them…
Transit and Railroad Police:
Apprehend or remove trespassers or thieves from railroad property, or coordinate with law enforcement agencies in apprehensions and removals.
Direct and coordinate the daily activities and training of security staff.
Direct security activities at derailments, fires, floods, and strikes involving railroad property.
Examine credentials of unauthorized persons attempting to enter secured areas.
Investigate or direct investigations of freight theft, suspicious damage or loss of passengers’ valuables, and other crimes on railroad property.
Patrol railroad yards, cars, stations, and other facilities in order to protect company property and shipments, and to maintain order.
Plan and implement special safety and preventive programs, such as fire and accident prevention.
Prepare reports documenting investigation activities and results.
Record and verify seal numbers from boxcars containing frequently pilfered items, such as cigarettes and liquor, in order to detect tampering.
Seal empty boxcars by twisting nails in door hasps, using nail twisters.
Interview neighbors, associates, and former employers of job applicants in order to verify personal references and to obtain work history data.
That reminds me of an “interesting” story. One day, a couple of immigrants saw a pile of ballast sitting trackside, and they decided to use it for their driveway. The RR police saw this, and coordinated with the local city police and apprehended the two while they were shoveling the rock into the back of their pick-up. The local D.A. was going to charge them with a misdemeanor charge, but the RR officials made it clear they were to be charged with Stealing RR Property, which, in Georgia, is a Federal Offense. The 2 ended up serving 50 years in the Federal prison. The RR argued about “sabotage”, whick, if it were actual installed ballast, and not just surplus sitting trackside, I can see their point (on a heavily trafficked high-speed mainline). As I understand it, this law dates from the WWI era, had something to do with “enemies/spies” possibly stealing or tampering with war supplies. Just goes to show, you DON’T mess with the RR cops (or regular cops for that matter).
BTW, my grandfather was a RR cop on the MP. Not sure about his career details.
Brad
I remembered hearing that SP would put their police cabooses in the middle of intermodal and auto rack shipments so that way the police officers would have easier access to all the cars. Conrail often assigned their police cabooses to high priority and military shipments.
The current Athern model, “74666, Union Pacific, Bay Window Caboose, #4709 Poilce” has SP4709 to the left of the bay, Railroad Police to the right, with a UP shield on the bay under the window. Anybody know if UP is still using them?[%-)]
PS Any meaning behind the 74"666" model number?[:-^]
UP is using that caboose as a shoving platform on the local that works from the Bakersfield Yard out to Edison.