KatysBlog

Here are some recent pictures from our restoration projects on
WP668, our backyard caboose. Shown are: Chris and John welding in the new plate to
replace the damaged bay window*, constructing the new stairs, John putting
in the new electrical system, and me starting to paint the replacement markings.
We received the stencils and will be using them to paint the new
markings this week. I ordered the custom stencils from
Stencils Online.

* pictured is Chris Gremich “The Iron Expert” of CG Designs in San Jose,
CA, phone: 408-313-3706

Chris Gremich (welder)*:

Caboose Bay Window before:

Fitting new plate:

Clamps holding new plate inside:

Chris and John:

Bars holding new plate:

New plate welded in place:

Concrete pad for steps:

Making new steps:

New steps in place:

WP668 with new steps:

John putting in new electrical wires:

Electrical wire spools:

John wiring caboose:

Katy painting new markings:

Katy painting new markings:

Katy painting new markings:

Katy painting new markings:

First finished markings:

Images Copyright 2007 by Katy Dickinson and John Plocher

During the Thanksgiving holiday, between cooking and coming down with colds,
we worked on WP668, our backyard caboose. We added bits of wood trim, pulled
wires and installed conduit, outlets, and switches for the new electrical
system, and continued painting. I have three colors of paint: red primer
for metal bits, rust-red base color, and safety-yellow trim. Each day, I made
a round with each color, painting newly-cut bolt ends, dings and splats, new welds and
wood trim, and putting a third coat of yellow on each of the thirty or so handle bars.

We also placed the final order for the stencils to re-mark WP668. After negotiation
with the stencil cutting company, we settled on Trade Gothic Bold as the
currently-available font closest to the original WP668 letter forms. Our new
reusable stencils have now been laser cut on durable poly film and shipped and we
are waiting for them to arrive. We ordered the following:

• WP (12″ tall – for the bay centers)
• 668 (10″ tall – for the bay centers)
• LT WT 47700 (3″ tall – for the lower rims)
• SAC. 2-67 (3″ tall – for the lower rims)
• WP 668 (3″ tall – over each door)
• BLT. 10-43 (2″ tall – for the lower rims)

We took these markings from the 1973-1974

historic photos of WP668. Here is what we think they mean:

• WP stands for Western Pacific Railroad
• 668 WP’s individual number of our caboose
• LT WT 47700 WP668’s last official weight: 47,700 pounds
• SAC. 2-67 February 1967, WP668’s last test inspection date
• WP 668 the official name of our caboose
• BLT. 10-43 October 1943, WP668’s built date – when WP668 was converted
  from a 1916 boxcar into a caboose

John and I discussed whether to have the built date be 10-16 (as we have seen on several
of
WP668’s sisters) but decided to conform to her 1973-1974 markings. There are also
several other sets of small inspection markings dated from 1958 to 1973 we will paint
on. However, those are in the kind of cut-letter font readily available in stencils
at local hardware stores. We are trying not to be too finicky (model railroaders
who must get everything exactly perfect are derisively called “rivet counters”)
while remaining true to WP668’s history.

When FREDs (flashing
rear-end devices) came into use in the mid-1970s, railroad cabooses became
much less needed. Cabooses served as a the conductor’s office and crew break room
as well as a way to check on the back of the train. Cabooses had either cupolas or bay
windows so that the conductor could oversee that all was well. In the mid-1970s,
US railroads began taking cabooses out of service and chopping them up for scrap.
A few cabooses, like WP668, were lucky enough to end up in museums. At some point
between 1974 (the date the last historic photo we have was taken in Sacramento, CA)
and December 2005 (when we first saw WP668 at the
Golden Gate Railroad Museum in San Francisco), WP668 had her ladders chopped
off – presumably to avoid providing an attractive and dangerous nuisance (an easy
way to climb onto her then-fragile roof).

Last night, Chris* the welder came over with the first leg of the steel pipe
replacement ladders he is fabricating for us. John and Chris tried it out and it
fits WP668 as it should. One end of the ladder slots into round cups welded onto
the steel of the back deck; the other end bolts onto the roof and connects to
the rooftop walkway. Once the ladders are done, we can put the metal skin on the
new roof, then build the roof walkway on top of the metal.

* Chris Gremich “The Iron Expert” of CG Designs in San Jose, CA, phone: 408-313-3706

Chris The Welder came back to work on WP668, our backyard railroad
caboose, on Saturday. He finished attaching the five foot square steel
plate to the bay window. John helped and in the process learned a great
many welding techniques and tricks. Chris’ next projects are to make the
steel handrail and balusters for the wooden steps and the steel ladder for
each end of the caboose. John and I will be finishing up on the bay
window – polishing the metal, adding the filler between welds, and painting.
We also need to buy new wood-frame windows to fit into both bays.
(One window is missing and the other is in very poor condition.)

John spent yesterday working on the electrical. He is running the wires and
putting in outlets and switches on the inside. Also, he is adding two
porch lights at each end.

I am still painting yellow trim. I am also getting ready to paint the markings
back. I have found a company which will make the stencils. Looking at
some of the fonts I have available and comparing them to the historic
pictures I have of original Western Pacific lettering, HGMaruGothicMPRO
or Helvetica fonts seem closest. On one of the railroad email
discussions, I saw a reference to WP using Zephyr Gothic and
Cooper Black fonts but I don’t know what those look like.

Here is a 1974 photo of WP668. The yellow WP 668 on each bay and
the much smaller letters and numbers along the bottom steel edge both identify
the caboose and give service dates.

WP668, around 1974

Location/Date/Photographer unknown. S. Roger Kirkpatrick
collection, listed on

Central California Rails Caboose Index – W
Used with permission of S. Roger Kirkpatrick

Work in progress or planned before WP668 is usable:

• Finish installing electrical plugs and switches inside
• Installing lights outside
• Create, install stairway balusters and handrails
• Final stair, electrical inspections and sign off
• Fill and paint back bay window
• Buy and install wood windows into bays
• Install interior wood facing on bays around windows
• Installing the metal roof covering
• Painting the inside
• Fixing the base floor inside (1/3 of it is damaged, 2/3 of it is solid)
• Covering the floor inside (probably with linoleum)
• Repaint original exterior markings

WP668 is all swept out and tidied up so that our friends and relations
coming over for Thanksgiving can tour to see what progress we have
made.