To Jim and Kathy Marriott,
Congratulations on your purchase, and thank you for helping preserve a
piece of CB&Q history! The best source of information that I'm aware of
is the book 'Waycars of the Chicago, Burlington, &Quincy RR' by Daniel P.
Holbrook & Steven D. Lorenz. This book was published over 20 years ago
by a firm that is now out of business, the book itself has been out of
print for quite a while, and used copies seem to be difficult to find.
Recently I saw a flyer indicating that the book might be reprinted. I'm
sending this reply to the BRHSlist, a group of several hundred 'Q'
historians and modelers, many of them more knowledgeable than myself.
Perhaps someone on the list can provide additional help.
The outside dimensions, number of windows and window placement might help
identify your waycar. (CB&Q 'cabooses' were known as 'waycars'). Also,
if you have any more info. on where this car has been for the last 20 or
30 years and who owned it, that might help narrow the search. As you
suggested, If the car number can be determined, we can provide some
pretty specific information, maybe even some photos of it when it was in
service.
Good luck and keep us posted on your progress!
Don Zinnecker, Omaha, Nebraska
JimKathMarriott@w... (Jim/Kathy Marriott) writes:
> My husband and I purchased a CB&Q caboose this summer. We live in
> Northern California (how it got out here must be an interesting
> story in
> itself) and are having a hard time researching our waycar as the
> I.D.
> numbers were sandblasted off by the previous owner. The train museum
> in
> Sacramento gave us a lot of information and confirmed it's origin.
> We
> were led to believe that it was a Western Pacific car, and thrilled
> to
> find a book CABOOSE by Mike Schafer with our exact model on the
> cover!
> It is all wood with a cupola and the trucks contain wood beams. It
> appears to be from 1878-1903 (one of 350 built) but are going to
> have a
> hard time getting specific information without those numbers on the
> outside. It sits on a section of track that we had installed and my
> husband just put a new roof on. Good thing, as it just started
> pouring
> down rain. It really is in good condition, but there is some dry rot
> on
> the siding and at the bottom of the cupola. It still has most of the
> original brakeman seats in the cupola and appears to have not been
> altered very much. Any suggestions on how to proceed? Thanks for any
> help you can give on this project, Jim & Kathy Marriott
>
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