Re: [CBQ] Fw: Unusual way car

["Don Brown dbrown02@rochester.rr.com [CBQ]" <CBQ@yahoogroups.com>]

Very interesting, and a long and interesting life they led!  Thanks for the research and details. 

The only thing I would question is the remark about no turning facilities dictating a center cupola.  Obviously their creation was long before any of us and I can't speak for how men thought.  But in my own time on the railroad I never once encountered a conductor who cared which way his caboose was moving.  There was no front or rear, and it never mattered whether the cupola was on the lead or trailing end in direction of travel. 

I don't claim to know it all and it is possible that at some location or other a man or men wanted his/their caboose oriented a certain way.  But I have never read any mention in various publications or books about having to wye or spin a caboose to get it "right". 

On 5/12/2017 2:44 PM, Hol Wagner holpennywagner@msn.com [CBQ] wrote:

 

Group:

Rupert contacted me about the unusual waycar (see below), and he is absolutely right.  Most of the information on the car and its sister appears in BB 27 on the O'Neill Branch.  The two waycars were built, not by the aurora shops but by Sioux City Car Co., in August 1890 as Pacific Short Line 900-901.  They became Willmar & Sioux Falls 0855-0856 at Sioux City in June and July 1900 and then CB&Q 14497-14497 on October 31, 1907.  Then the Q rebuilt them (presumably at Aurora), adding Q style cupolas and removing the side door and replacing it with a window.  A copy of the builder's photo as it appeared in BB 27 is attached.  Mystery solved!

Hol

BTW, Sioux City Car Co. was acquired by American Car & Foundry sometime after its formation in 1899.

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Hol

I think 14496 and 14497 were acquired when the Burlington took over the Sioux City & Western in October 1907. I was looking at the (confusing) history of the company and its equipment, and received help from Ken Middleton. This included a letter to him from Joe Douda identifying these two way cars as being transferred as part of the sale.

Assuming this was correct, the cars were originally Nebraska & Western (Pacific Short Line) 900-901 and renumbered to 0855-0856 in 1900/1901 by Willmar & Sioux Falls (GN). N&W was incorporated in 1889, construction was undertaken in 1889 and 1890, and operation began in the fall of 1890, which ties in with the date of construction at Aurora.

That the two cars were built for a foreign road would explain their non-standard Burlington appearance. If they were purchased and operated before the line was complete, there might not have been any turning facilities to place a cupola at the rear as desired by conductors, so a mid-point cupola would be a reasonable compromise.

The brief history is

Pacific Short Line (Nebraska & Western), 1889, receivership 1891

Sioux City & Northern 1891-1892 (lease)

Sioux City, O'Neill & Western 1892, receivership 1893-1899

Sioux City & Western 1899

Willmar & Sioux Falls (GN) operates SC&W 1900-

SC&W to CB&Q 1/10/07

 

 

So, all we need is a photo from one of these companies showing the way cars!

Rupert

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Posted by: Don Brown <dbrown02@rochester.rr.com>

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