Sisters to WP668 Caboose

In restoring our 1916 backyard caboose, WP668, we have been visiting examples
of similar railroad rolling stock to guide our choices in repairs, color, and
problem solving. Since cabeese (cabooses?) were not revenue-generating equipment,
the railroads sortof kept them in good repair and up to standard, but only sortof.
Really, every caboose eventually becomes unique as repairs are made by different
maintenance departments along the line using materials at hand.

Last weekend, John and I visited the
Western Pacific Railroad Museum (WPRM) in
Portola, California.
We saw four sister cabeese to WP668. That is, steel strapped wooden bay window cabeese
originally created as boxcars in 1916, converted to caboose service in 1943, and retired
in about 1975. Here are some details on each of the sisters we have seen so far:

• WP645 is owned by WPRM in Portola but is at a private home nearby. It was
  very recently repainted. It is complete inside – the only one we have seen with all of its
  interior furniture, fixtures, and cabinets.

• SN1642 and WP646 are two cabeese in Portola brought to WPRM in last year
  from the
  Golden Gate Railroad Museum (GGRM) in San Francisco,
  from which we bought our WP668. In fact, we had considered buying SN1642 and WP646.
  It was interesting to see them in their new home. (“SN” means Sacramento Northern, a
  rail company that bought equipment from “WP” or Western Pacific.) Both are stripped
  out (empty boxes). SN1642 was repainted and partially repaired when it was used in an
  exhibit at the S.F. Moscone Center. The WPRM folks said they plan to use it for
  meetings and birthday parties. WP646 is missing its wheels and has had
  several fires inside but has its original paint and markings. Someone recently
  bought WP646 and intends to restore it.
• WP679 is in a public park in Portola (not at the WPRM). It has been repainted
  and is enclosed by a permanent walkway and wooden deck.
• WP695 is a caboose we saw in 2006, at the
  Railtown 1897 State Historic Park in Jamestown, California. It is being used as
  a bunkhouse and is attached to a deck. Some non-railroad windows have been installed
  by cutting through the steel strapping. It has been repainted.

For more examples of WP cabeese in California, see

Central California Rails Caboose Index – W.

Here are photos of the sisters:

SN1642 WPRM in Portola:

WP645 private home in Portola:

WP646 (on a flatcar) WPRM in Portola:

WP679 Public Park in Portola:

WP695 Railtown 1897 Park, Jamestown:

WP668 (in our backyard) San Jose:

Images Copyright 2007 by Katy Dickinson and John Plocher