We just received the current issue of The Western Pacific Headlight
(Issue 35, Spring 2008). This is the official publication of the Feather
River Rail Society (FRRS) and the Western Pacific Railroad Historical
Society (WPRRHS), based in Portola, California. The back pages 22-23 of this
issue show six black and white photos of “WP Wooden Caboose Photos” taken in 1973-1975
by Peter Arnold. Our own WP668 is one of them. This is the same WP668
14 September 1974 photo also published on p. 122: Western Pacific Color Guide
to Freight and Passenger Equipment by Jim Eager, 2001
(Publisher: Morning Sun Books; ISBN-10: 158248063X, ISBN-13: 978-1582480633)
Here it is in color (published with permission of Morning Sun Books):
All six photos in the current Western Pacific Headlight issue
are of steel strapped wooden bay window WP cabooses. This group was originally built
as boxcars around 1916 and converted to caboose service around 1943 (for World War II).
They are numbers 643, 645, 668, 679, 680, and 683. Looking at the
Central California Rails Caboose Index W, at least three cabooses pictured
(645, 668, and 679) still exist. WP645 and WP679 are in Portola and, of course,
WP668 is in our San Jose backyard.
KatysBlog 