Lanes Trains Bobber Caboose

Freelance Bobber Caboose Banner

This is NOT PRR and unbelievably is - freelance! This is the first time I have ever thrown excessive research to the wind and “winged it’ with available parts and ideas as they came to me. I did not have to buy anything for this project. All items were on hand. It was different and FUN not having to spend hours researching what road number I wanted etc.

It is a rare car! Many long-time S Scalers have ever seen this S Bobber Caboose before. There are no other versions of a Bobber Caboose in S Standard gauge that I know of. It is an OLD School kit made by Super Scale. I would like to find out the approximate time period for it. I bought it as a basket case on eBay to replace my On30 caboose because the cupola was too tall to go with my “Howie” Shay as a logging train. The body is etched COPPER. The frame is very soft metal. It was low temp soldered together by the original builder. I have made literally thousands of solder joints but have not done any low temp work. SO - for the first time ever the wheels have stayed with the model throughout the project – blast booth & all - because I did not want to risk prying them out! The wheels were to the old gauge. I JUST made the NASG back to back standard. I made it heavy - it could be 8 ounces so it stays on the track since there is no equalization or sprung axles.

I should have but did not take any “as received” photos of it. The mood struck me to start and I just dove right in. Photo number one below of the bare shell photo already had some reasonable work done to it.

There was a stunning hand painted yellow scheme, wood floor (the first thing to go after blasting the paint) and ladders and roof that were supposed to magically stay in place but did not. It was just a bunch of parts when I got it. The shell was built and is not square. There is nothing I could do about that. I may have had a better outcome if I started with a complete kit instead of the massive redo.

Details I made for it were the window awnings, steps, end rails, a new brass floor, and roof walk. There was a lot of time was spent making sure it stays together. Previously it was mostly glued together and that all failed. That is the problem with dissimilar material kit. I like to solder everything together.

About mid project I found out it is very close to a B&O Caboose that was also used on the Buffalo Creek & Gauley. For about ½ hour I was going B&O but I steered back to the original idea as a caboose for the Shay. It is by far the simplest decal job I have ever done. It is just the #2 four times sort of like West Side Lumber Company cabooses.

B&O K-1 caboose and later on the Buffalo Creek and Gauley

Click on the below photos to make them larger

I started this project on July 8^th 2012 and finished it on July 21^st 2012.

It is rare that I roll through to complete a project this complex start to finish!

The car was blasted. 3 of the holes in the bottom of the side were for NAILS to hold the body to the wood floor.

I tried but filling them with solder but it would have been very difficult so I reluctantly covered the holes with a brass strip.

I made a new brass floor. It was formed to sort of look like a cookie baking sheet.

I had some machining to do to install the new couplers. I used my big milling machine.

Either 2 steps were missing when I got it or they got lost since, so I had to make 4 new steps. These are the new

steps next to 1 original step. I formed a channel on my brake from sheet brass for the step body and soldered in brass strips

for the treads. I soldered a 0-80 screw to the back of the steps as a stud for better bonding. I do not like to depend on

ACC holding everything together forever.

Here it is starting to look like something.

Construction and detailing is done. The 2 screws in the floor hold the roof on.

The roof walk and underside of the roof showing the alignment angles and hold down studs.

This is the completed roof and body after 1 last blast before painting.

This is the frame after a final blast and DONE – on the track!

It looks GREAT behind the Shay!

Updated 12-1-12