A
Short History by Whitney Haist
The
loggers
called their shop built cabooses, “crummies,” as
they were equipped with only the most basic amenities for the rear
train crew
to ride, observe the log cars and control the train brakes. Nonetheless, the crummy
was a huge
improvement for crews riding inside out of the weather over the early
days of
logging railroading where the crew road on top of the logs.
An
extraordinary example of such a caboose with roots dating
back to the late 1930s in northern California’s Tuolumne County, is
Pickering
Lumber Co, (originally the Standard Lumber Co, dating back to 1901)
caboose
number 04. The
caboose is the only known
completely original Pickering
caboose left in existence. The
caboose
interior has been preserved as it looked in service complete with
paperwork leftover
from the Pickering
days. The caboose
makes a fitting
addition to PLA’s collection of logging equipment (including Pickering
Locomotives
#5 and #12) and will be used in interpretive log trains when restored
to
service.
Pickering
Caboose History
Brian
Wise, long time PLA member and logging railroad historian, writes:
Pickering's
first caboose was an ex-Central Pacific four-wheel "bobber" style
caboose, numbered "01". This was the only caboose used on the
railroad until 1940.
During the
summer of 1938, a B&B gang member was killed
on Chinaman Creek trestle and the Company made no formal investigation
which
prompted several enginemen to contact the local office of the
Brotherhood of
Firemen and Enginemen. A meeting was called where, with
representatives
of the BFE and the Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen in attendance, the Pickering
crewmembers
voted to unionize. Unionization was likely the impetus for
the
construction of other cabooses in order to provide the train crews with
safe
means of riding the log trains.
Bobber
caboose #01 was replaced with a new #01, followed by
#02 and #03. These three were reputed to utilize the frames
and trucks of
short Russel log cars, although #02 had a entirely wood frame (which
was the
deciding factor for its non-use during the 1971 Sugar Pine Railway
revival).
Cabooses #04 and #05 were constructed from shortened log cars of steel
construction. The attached photo of #04 was taken in October,
1947 in
Twain Harte, CA and exemplifies the "family" look of cabooses #01 -
#05.
Caboose #01
was disposed of before the railroad ceased
operations in 1964. Caboose #02 may still exist in private
ownership,
possibly at a winery in Planada, CA.
Caboose #03 (resided
with plywood around 1960 and known as the "plywood wonder") exists at
Railtown, 1897. Caboose #03 has deteriorated greatly over the
years and
was severely damaged by fire several years ago.
Caboose #05 exists at Railtown 1897, and may still
be the property of
Dr. Al Nickel who also own(s)(ed) Shay #7 and two other pieces of
rolling
stock. Caboose #05 burned while in storage prior to moving
out of Richmond to Niles
Canyon
and was subsequently rebuilt by
Dr. Nickel at Brightside using drawings I drafted up after visiting and
photographing details of Warren's
caboose which is essentially identical in construction.
Long time
PLA member Warren Smith, at age 17 had the
foresight to rescue Caboose #04 from the scrapper for a purchase price
of
$350.00. The car
was moved by rail from
Standard, CA to San Leandro
by the Sierra Railroad and the Southern Pacific.
A sympathetic local trucking firm helped Warren
by transporting the
caboose from a siding at the Caterpillar Tractor Co. to Smith’s family
home in
1966 for another $350. The
caboose spent
many years on the Smith’s family property and was visible to many BART
riders
once the system was in operation.
In
2011, Warren
offered the caboose to the PLA for preservation.
04
Moves to
Brightside
Moving the
caboose was not without challenges as development
around the Smith homestead including the BART tracks made it extremely
difficult for truck access. The
cupola
was removed after several weeks of preparation to make the caboose a
legal height
load. The day of
movement to Brightside on
June 9, 2011 started with the difficult job of turning a 70’ tractor
trailer in
a 75’ yard. Once
the lowboy truck was in
place the caboose was winched forward on crude snap track. The rail was rusty, the
wheels were rusty and
the truck bolster had not rotated in nearly half a century. As the trucker slowly
winched the car towards
the trailer, the rear truck, lead axle, outside wheel flange smoothly
and
quietly climbed the rail, traversed the head and dropped to the ground. With two track jacks, a
3-ton come-a-long and
some creative ingenuity, the truck was re-railed and caboose moved to
Brightside.
Work
to do
Contrary to
the moniker “crummy”, the subject car displays
carpentry and metal workmanship of high quality for a shop built rail
car. It is our
intention to replace the rot damaged
end sill, framing, siding (back to bead board), windows, and roof. The floor and seats in the
cupola are
peppered with small dents in the soft wood.
This, of course came from the loggers spiked boots,
and patina like this
will be left, as is, to tell it’s own story.