With the release of the Brick Model Railroader Northeastern Style Caboose, I thought I’d give a short photo tour of a couple of vintage vans that plied their trade in the the northeastern states of Vermont and New York along the old Rutland Railroad.

First up is Rutland Caboose #28. Currently on display at Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, Pennsylvania, #28 is a fully restored piece, varnished in Cherry Red, that I was able to visit while traveling to BrickFair in Virginia back in 2009. According to the National Park System’s documentation, caboose #28 was built in 1920 by the Rutland car shops. Built to the New York Central design, the caboose features a cupola that is offset to one end of the van, with a comfortable interior for the crew. The caboose was assigned to the lines between Rutland, Vermont and Ogdensburg, New York. It ended it’s working life as a bunkhouse in Bellows Falls, Vermont before being donated in 1961 to F. Nelson Blount for display at the original Steamtown site in Vermont. The restoration of #28 took place in 1995. The caboose was on display inside of one of Steamtown’s buildings, which made getting exterior shots difficult, but did provide for a look at the roof line.

 

 

 

 

The second caboose is Rutland #45, currently on display outside of the Center Rutland Depot just outside of Rutland, Vermont. The Depot is home of the Rutland Railway Association, who have both a museum and model railroad club on site. This caboose actually lives just a few miles from where I live, so I’ve photographed it a few times over the years, including a couple of days ago to show its current state. Though the caboose is off-limits to the public, in the summer of 2016, a couple of the Association’s members allowed me a look inside the unrestored caboose. While it’s a bit run down (it *is* almost 100 years old), it was quite a treat to see the original floor, paint, and layout. Most interesting to me were the beautiful cast-iron seats up in the cupola which allowed would have allowed for a great view for the train crew.

#45 was built in June of 1924. Originally numbered #95, it was renumbered a few months later along with the rest of the 90 series. Like Steamtown’s #28, it ran on the Ogdensburg sub-division of the Rutland lines. With the end of the Rutland Railroad in the mid 1960s, Rutland #45 become Vermont Railway’s #45 when the state of Vermont bought the former Rutland’s assets. VTR #45 was retired from use in the mid 1970s, and moved to Center Rutland by the the early 1990s. Members of the Railway Association are currently restoring both the caboose and the Rutland Depot that is their home.