Cabooses of yesteryear were rather Spartan and utilitarian. Despite their near universal contemporary appeal to railroad buffs, and unique design aesthetics, at least amongst those so afflicted, they were commonly referred to as "crummies", "shacks" or even "zoos".
To provide storage and facilitate convenient operations of a newly constructed garden railroad, I decided to build a full size replica of a bobber caboose. I figured that it was worth a little extra time and effort to provide the desired comfort and amenities for an age-independent playhouse for me. From there I could operate and tinker with garden railroad trains, or just hang out there year-round.
This is the first in a series of articles and it will focus on the design and construction of the caboose itself. Subsequent articles will more fully describe and illustrate train operations and the expansion plans I currently have in the works.
The Challenge I had completed construction of a block wall raised bed and laid out rough terrain contours. I had installed the sub-roadbed and track on a modestly sized (20' x 40') raised-bed garden railroad. The thought of the burden of lugging locos, rolling stock and controls from inside to the railroad when I desired to run trains became an obvious impediment.
This caused me to prioritize an early goal of providing outside storage to facilitate train operations. As a test for reactions to my idea at a club meeting, I positioned a bobber caboose with a sign reading "similar to be built" at a site behind a stonewall overlooking the layout. Next to that I placed a marker with the words "Mt. St. Ellen (the Mrs.,), future eruptions anticipated". This also acknowledged a need to provide a method of transition into the caboose which would be situated about 36" higher than the layout.
Thinking out-of-the-box After struggling with various options to get trains to the caboose and back from the layout without obstructing the entrance, exit or inside aisle, my "DUH" factor kicked in. Trains could enter on one side of the caboose, run along the back wall, exit and turn around outside the caboose, reenter and traverse a double mainline through to the other side and back out to the layout proper.
I decided to build a 3-inch PVC conduit based trestle with a composite roadbed as a way to provide the needed transition to get from a raised bed layout to the even higher elevation of the caboose site.
Design and Construction An ARISTOCRAFT bobber caboose was selected as the prototype from which to scale up to my caboose model. This was clearly opposite from conventional modeling practice.
In designing my caboose, I assumed a 1/2-inch to the foot (1:24) scale factor. For the design, I also consulted a website (http://crcaboose.railfan.net/) which gave detailed drawings and descriptions from many classes of Conrail cabooses. I also consulted Caboose, a book by Brian Soloman and John Gruber, available from MBI Publishing Co (ISBN 0-7603-0895-0).
The 2003 National Garden Railway Convention and a visit to the Denver train museum allowed me to photograph and measure the inside of a bobber. I was especially interested in the configuration and access to the cupola. My final interior design was based on a desire to maximize layout viewing, and to provide train access, storage and workspace, rather than a compulsion to maintain fidelity with the real caboose.
In order to minimize waste, I established construction dimensions based on whole 4'x8' sheet goods and 8' lumber lengths. That led me to establish an overall size of 8'x16' with a 30' outside platform at each end. The configuration I used for 2'x8' deck framing is shown. The floor framing rests on concrete block piers.
Wall and roof framing: I framed the walls in a modular fashion with each section configured as shown.
Strips of scrap plywood were attached to the face sides of the framing over the cupola area to allow the upper sections of sheathing to overlap the main lower sections. An arc with a 2.5" drop on each end was cut from 2'x10'x10's with a band saw. Aligning the cuts was a two-person job. Waste pieces were saved and attached to the bottom of the rafters to provide a curved ceiling outline inside the caboose.
Rafters were doubled up to provide a beam fore and aft of the cupola section in order adequately support the suspended seats. Windows, frames and sills: My trip to the home center confirmed my impression that purchasing ready-made windows (4 front, 2 end, 8 cupola) would have put a serious dent in the motive power/rolling stock budget. Therefore, windowsills, frames and sash were made from scratch. A sill profile was cut from 5/4"x4' pine and this material was ripped in half for the sash frame.
Rail and style panel router bits were used to groove the sash frame for the glass and a rubber gasket material was used in lieu of any glazing. While I had planned to have the sash open by simply tilting in from the top, I later considered this unnecessary since the open doors provided adequate ventilation. I then fixed the sash to the frames with molding.
Doors: I selected pocket doors in order to avoid intrusions that would have been created with inward or outward swing doors.
Sheathing and Roofing: Originally, I used T 1-11 plywood for the exterior sheathing and roll roofing with a plastic raised center vent for the first roof covering. This turned out to be a mistake! A torrential rainfall demonstrated that the roof pitch was insufficient to prevent excessive leakage through the vent. Since this occurred before the interior work was completed, it greatly eased a potential frustration of wasted effort and expense. So I removed the roll roofing and closed the center vent (relying now on soffet vents) and installed rubber membrane roofing.
Interior: I rough framed a booth area with a table centered between two windows on a flooring section raised about 5" to facilitate viewing. 
Similarly, I used rough framing to build the cupola benches, worktable and track worktable.
The worktable was raised about 20" from the floor (A higher elevation would have been more desirable but I was constrained by the excessive run needed to maintain a reasonable grade of about 3.5%). Next I put up insulation and applied the drywall. For a finished look, I constructed pine face frames using a pocket hole jig. I routed the inside edges to accept the same beadboard strips I had used as wall and ceiling paneling. I used similar face frames and panel inserts for the cabinet doors.
Other interior details (see photos): I made a nice find at the home improvement store with a diamond plate textured 2'x2' foam flooring material with interlocking edges. It cushions the foot and, more importantly, any (cringe!) dropped equipment. I made track-width kerfs on the shelving used to hold my growing inventory of rolling stock/locos (impetus for the expansion plans).
I covered the seats with foam padding and upholstered them with vinyl.
A cabinet below the cupola houses the entertainment center (cable TV also connected to wireless miniature video//sound cameras mounted on locos or rolling stock). 
An electrified kerosene lantern serves as the cupola chandelier.
A ladder provides access to the cupola and trap doors with insulation inserts allow ingress/egress of trains.
I used a propane heater to quickly warm the space and provide a cozy interior environment, even in the middle of winter. This allows me to operate anytime the tracks are accessible.
Exterior Embellishments: I fashioned the smokestack, grab and end rails (telescoped with metal fence pipe), as well as rooftop railings from PVC pipe and fittings. I installed a center roof walkway with decking boards and brackets to provide fore-and-aft outside rooftop seating for the truly adventurous. 
However, I simulated the cupola doorways and omitted the fixed exterior ladders to prevent unauthorized access to the rooftop.
I selected a lettering font and printed individual letters in an outline format that I copied onto cardstock and cut out as stencils. I arranged and stapled the letters in several places to the T 1-11, and spray-painted the graphics.
Labor-intensive hand touch-up was needed because of the unavoidable overspray on the rough/grooved siding surface. The caboose number I used signifies the date of our move to Connecticut (from New York, but originally from the Scranton, Pennsylvania area (Steamtown, USA)). I found a 3-way lantern and mount at a local train show and I electrified it before attaching it to the caboose.
Running Trains Oh yes, the trains! Side, fore and aft windows in the cupola provide terrific views of both the layout and a formal garden to the left.
A summer shot of this garden, viewed from the house, is also shown.
The present congestion from trains parked on the center mainline and siding tracks require me to run at least two (preferably more) trains at a time.
The circuit for the trains to run to/from the caboose and through the layout takes about 10 minutes at moderate speeds. I run the trains using DCC (MTS) from inside or outside using wireless handhelds or via computer. A video cam provides me with nice detail on track conditions, including switch positioning. My whistles are triggered on entrance to the caboose from either direction to alert snoozing engineers watching the action in too much comfort.
What's your favorite caboose (you don't even need to own trains)?
Though a bobber design served my railroad's need quite nicely, site-specifics and storage considerations could suggest alternate configurations, such a bay window or drover's caboose (if you have a big family or lots of friends).
The addition of other amenities (e.g., microwave, refrigerator, bunks, and commode) could further increase the versatility of the structure. Such amenities may indeed become essential in some circumstances or on certain occasions. A caboose could serve or double for garden equipment storage or used as a workshop. The cupola skylight provides great natural lighting especially in winter when leaves are off the trees. Whatever your idea or plan, broach the subject carefully with your significant other, lest they might have other household priorities.
Future plans and possible seismic activity
Garden trains seem to thrive quite nicely in the caboose environment and it's amazing how readily they seem to almost self-propagate, crowding the sidings in which they were originally planted. My Fed-Ex guy, a train buff too, now delivers directly to the caboose to help perpetuate this cover story. I spent this winter designing/building an extension shed to connect with the back of the caboose for a yard tree. Six-16' sidings will help relieve congestion and provide space for more trains. This extension and a 5-bay double-track cedar trestle were built to replace the PVC-based turn around and will be installed beginning this spring. However, any further details on these plans will need to be the subject of future articles. Right now I hear some rumblings and I need to check my seismograph on the status of Mt. St. Ellen.
Top of Page
