Did the Santa Fe use wide vision cabooses? If so, would they have been in use in 1959, my cut-off date?
I am no ATSF expert – I think they did, but not in 1959. Even in the 1980s the cabooses I saw going through Galesburg IL were modified and improved versions of their standard steel cupola cabooses.
You might find this website useful
http://www.hebners.net/caboose/atsf.html
Dave Nelson
No.The Santa Fe’s WV was later.
The Ce-8 class was built by the International Car Company in 1978. (999700-999749)
The Ce-11 class were built by the International Car Company in 1981.(999750-999824)
Thanks guys, looks like I need to sell 1 wv caboose.
Would the old Athearn “blue box” caboose be correct for 1959? I have two of these, not lettered for ATSF but could be repainted. What would be the correct paint scheme for 1959.
Yes the Athearn caboose is based on the ATSF one. I believe it would wear a pretty simple scheme in 1959, the version with the large herald came along a few years later in the sixties IIRC.
My “avatar” is an Athearn Blue Box ATSF caboose with upgraded details, Tahoe Model Works trucks, and a new paint and lettering job. In 1959 these cars looked much the same except that the end railings had been raised to 42-in. (from 36-in. as on my model), the handrails were painted white after 1953, and most cars had radio antennas and a battery box replacing one tool cellar.
Merry Christmas,
Andy
I’m assuming the round things seen on the cupola in the photo posted by "wjstix’ are radio antennas.
I plan to run Santa Fe trains on my freelance layout with a medium size city as the main focus plus a branch line with a small farm town.
Thank you for all your help guys.
Larry T.
No, they’re manual signals that the conductor or rear brakeman could raise or lower to signal the engine crew with. They started being phased out around 1950 when radio came in, so leaving them off a c.1959 caboose should be fine. MR had an article on them not too long ago, either in the mag and/or one of their special issues.
Here’s a link to an article about them by S. Sandifer at the ATSF RR Historical Society website…