Lemme second that remark. One of my childhood friends had such a caboose on his HO layout, and I swear that seeing it on the tail end of a fast moving freight train in his basement started my lifelong admiration for the Crash, Bounce & Quiver. Union Pacific must have liked the paint scheme too because the railroad painted a number of its cabooses silver with red lettering, and they were assigned to the North Platte - Grand Island - Galesburg run-through pool.
But in second place the Union Pacific CA-3 through CA-10 series cupola steel cabs were pretty nice. Their smooth riding suspension systems and cushioned drawbars earned them the nickname, “Cadillac Crummies.” The CA-5s (UP 25200-series) had nice wood paneling inside, they rode quietly, and generally were warm in the winter. Many of the CA-8s (UP 25500-series) did not have axle generators, so the electric lights inside and markers often didn’t work.
The UP 24000-series were inherited in 1980 from the Rock Island estate. Bay window cabooses all, the few that Union Pacific did refurbish were the best riding units in the fleet. Very smooth, very quiet. UP 24567 survives to this day and usually accompanies the Northern and the Challenger during their annual break-in runs.
The last cabooses the MoPac acquired, the so called “Cheesebox on a Raft” design were the absolute worst. They rode rough, were g-dd-mn noisy, the chairs weren’t at all comfortable; but because they had the smallest volume of air to heat in the winter, they were nicely warm. Shortly after the 1982 merger, many of the U.P.'s better cabooses drifted southwards and were hoarded there like precious treasure. It must to have been a revelation to those MoPac trainman that there were railroad managements in t