# Union Pacific Drovers Cars/Caboose/Cabeese - any idea what color they were?



## rutintampa (May 29, 2016)

Hello all,
I hope this note finds all safe and well. 
I just finished reading the excellent book, "Cabooses of the Union Pacific". 
There is some information about Union Pacific's Drovers cars ...... 
... some converted from retired wooden boxcars - boxcar red?
... others were converted from retired 50' - 60' coaches - Pullman green? / UP Yellow
, but nothing states what color they were. I thought it would be fun to model them as the layout and schematic drawings are included.
It mentions lettering, but doesn't cover colors of the cars / cabooses.
Does anyone have any thoughts on this topic?
all are welcome. Thanks for reading,
all my best,
Eric


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## Steve Rothstein (Jan 1, 2021)

I had never heard of them before, but a google search gave me a little information about them. Most important, it showed me a Pico model of a UP Drover's Caboose. If the picture is accurate, they were mostly yellow with dark red roofs and the lower 25 percent (or so, just my estimate) of the walls dark red.


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## rutintampa (May 29, 2016)

Steve Rothstein said:


> I had never heard of them before, but a google search gave me a little information about them. Most important, it showed me a Pico model of a UP Drover's Caboose. If the picture is accurate, they were mostly yellow with dark red roofs and the lower 25 percent (or so, just my estimate) of the walls dark red.


Hello Steve,
Ive seen that pic as well, but nothing in the 300 page UP caboose booe even remotely resembles it. Strange, huh?
That pic you sent seems to be an early prototype.
Thanks very much for the reply


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## Steve Rothstein (Jan 1, 2021)

rutintampa said:


> Hello Steve,
> Ive seen that pic as well, but nothing in the 300 page UP caboose booe even remotely resembles it. Strange, huh?
> That pic you sent seems to be an early prototype.
> Thanks very much for the reply


It is weird that that one model is the only one I found and you might be right that it was a prototype. I had not seen that color scheme on any other UP cars, though I am far from expert at it, but a prototype would explain it.


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## rutintampa (May 29, 2016)

Steve Rothstein said:


> It is weird that that one model is the only one I found and you might be right that it was a prototype. I had not seen that color scheme on any other UP cars, though I am far from expert at it, but a prototype would explain it.


 Hi Steve,
I may build one in HO scale using a harriman MDC 60' coach or combine. I guess I could paint it brown or Pullman green. UP also had a few converted from retired boxcars. The b&w photo I have shows side windows and a door, no cupola. 
So, it would appear that neither of UP's Drovers Cars were "caboose" in the traditional sense of the purpose built end of train cars.
Either way, it should be a fun build........ now, I've got to find some more stock cars to go with the Drover's car.
all my best,
Eric


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## rutintampa (May 29, 2016)

Hi Steve,
Have a look at the two relatively diverse sources for Drovers Cars that the UP used........ Pics taken from "Cabooses of the Union Pacific"

...... what do you think, different than the "purpose built extended caboose with windows and a side door.
all my best,
Eric


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## Steve Rothstein (Jan 1, 2021)

rutintampa said:


> Hi Steve,
> Have a look at the two relatively diverse sources for Drovers Cars that the UP used........ Pics taken from "Cabooses of the Union Pacific"
> 
> ...... what do you think, different than the "purpose built extended caboose with windows and a side door.
> ...


Eric,

This sounds like you are right that the one I found a pic of seems to be a prototype and that UP decided to not go that way. If you look at some of the older westerns, the movies seem to show the drovers putting their horses in another stock car and then riding a passenger car with the animals. I would guess that the drawing of the converted passenger car labelled "Drover's Service" would more likely match what was in my mind from the movies. It also makes the use of the term drover's caboose seem wrong to me, but that is probably my personal preconceived notion of what a caboose should be.

With the lack of documentation of the coloring, I would suggest painting them the colors you see for what they came from. If it was a converted boxcar, use either the shade of red or brown that you see on other UP boxcars. If it were from a converted passenger car, go with either yellow or green if you can find passenger cars from UP of that color. It seems reasonable to me that UP would not waste too much money completely repainting the outside of the car since it would not affect the passengers they were aiming for at the time. And if someone thinks you are wrong, let them prove it and then you will know what color they should be.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

_The drovers’ caboose was a unique part of American railroading tied to the shipment of livestock such as cattle and sheep. In 1906 Congress passed a law that required the feeding and watering of livestock on trains every 28 hours. Since most such shipment took longer than that, the railroads had to carry drovers, men who handled the livestock, along with those trains to comply with the law.

The drovers’ caboose was much longer than a typical caboose, because it served not only the train crew, but also the drovers assigned to watch after the livestock in shipment from the ranch to the processing plants. These cabooses had two separate sections. The rear section was the standard railroad crew portion with cooking and sleeping accommodations as well as the cupola or bay window. The front section was reserved for the livestock drovers.

These cabooses appeared usually in stock trains where the entire train was made up of livestock cars. They were also used on occasion when large shipments of livestock were mixed in with other freight. The drovers’ cabooses were always kept on the rear of the train since the cars’ primary purpose was still to serve as quarters for the conductor and brakemen and only secondarily as quarters for the drovers_


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Steve Rothstein said:


> I had never heard of them before, but a google search gave me a little information about them. Most important, it showed me a Pico model of a UP Drover's Caboose. If the picture is accurate, they were mostly yellow with dark red roofs and the lower 25 percent (or so, just my estimate) of the walls dark red.


That Pico caboose was decorated for dozens of railroads, so I wouldn’t think it was the type, or colour, that the UP had.....in fact, the one below doesn’t look like it would be yellow.....I would suspect boxcar brown or red.....similar to the bottom pic of Roundhouse’s model....


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