# Drover's Caboose



## Stumpy (Mar 19, 2013)

Roundhouse kit with details I've never seen in a Roundhouse kit.









First thing I did was hit it with a Krylon rattle can of red primer. Close enough to "boxcar red".

Metal/wire grab irons & hand rails.



















The rattle can of black primer started spitting and sputtering as I sprayed the roof. I thought "Great. That's a do-over." But when it dried I thought it looked like the roof had been tarred, so I left it alone.


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## Stumpy (Mar 19, 2013)

Once the toolboxes and other details were glued to the bottom it was time to add the truss rods, then glue the bottom to the shell.


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## Stumpy (Mar 19, 2013)

Then glue on the roof.










Now that the roof is glued on... oh look... the weights are laying in the box. 

Popped the roof off and glued in the weights. In this pic you can see the window "glass" I added.










The kit came with these little red & green jewel/bead thingy's to install in the marker light that goes on top of the cupola.


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## Stumpy (Mar 19, 2013)

Done.

Kadee couplers & wheelsets.

















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 shipments 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. – _Martin E. Hansen_









Drovers' caboose | Trains Magazine


Ask Trains from the October 2016 issue




www.trains.com


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## Homeless by Choice (Apr 15, 2016)

Nice job. 
I'm glad the weights got cemented in. Is it going to stay pristine looking or are you going to weather it?


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## Stumpy (Mar 19, 2013)

Thanks.

It'll get weathered eventually. But I have a _lot_ of practicing to do on not-as-nice rolling stock first.

I think I do pretty ok weathering structures, but my first attempts at doing rolling stock... not too guuuuud.


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## OilValleyRy (Oct 3, 2021)

Those are great kits and super fun to build even if they don’t fit your era. I think everyone should build one just for the fun experience. All those details are standard. The first one I ever did I added Adlake markers from Tomar and skipped the roof mounted one. For extra fun, I turned the smoke jack into a rotary switch to turn the marker lights on. Instead of using a spring for contact I used a solid brass bar against a brass screw. Sounds inferior but going down the track, it created inconsistent conductivity, which made the marker lights flicker randomly like oil lamps should. 
Sold it to a guy in Australia. Wish I still had photos of it, but I’ve got a kit laying here that I might do the same way someday.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Great “tar” effect on the roof! 

What road name is it going to be?


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

I remembered seeing this recent release by Roundhouse/Athearn (March 3017), in an RTR version…..

It’s definitely not the same caboose though…..different cupola, different trucks, different window and door placement, etc….


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

I recall seeing those a few times on the Illinois Central in the mid-60s. I never knew what the extra sliding door was used for on the side of the caboose.

Great job on the build Stumpy.


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## Dennis461 (Jan 5, 2018)

I built this Roundhouse 40 years ago, has lights.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Interesting……yet another Roundhouse drovers caboose with a different window/door arrangement….


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## MidwestMikeGT (Jan 4, 2021)

Nicely done, @Stumpy and @Dennis461.


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## OilValleyRy (Oct 3, 2021)

MichaelE said:


> I never knew what the extra sliding door was used for on the side of the caboose.


For easier/faster loading at the supply house along a caboose track. Before you ask; coal or cooking oil, lanterns and/or lantern oil, toilet paper for so-equiped cars, paper, pencils, chalk, sometimes even coffee, eggs, bread & bacon, and other assorted rolling office supplies. Depends on the company, how the car was equipped, how long the job would be (4 hour local turn versus 14 hour overnight) and who the Conductor was. If it was Shack on the 19 to Portland, just a can of beans and 47 hammers were loaded.


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## Bobby pitts (Aug 5, 2021)

Nicely done! I enjoyed your "steps" photos!


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## Bobby pitts (Aug 5, 2021)

Nicely done! I enjoyed your "steps" photos!


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## Gramps (Feb 28, 2016)

OilValleyRy said:


> For easier/faster loading at the supply house along a caboose track. Before you ask; coal or cooking oil, lanterns and/or lantern oil, toilet paper for so-equiped cars, paper, pencils, chalk, sometimes even coffee, eggs, bread & bacon, and other assorted rolling office supplies. Depends on the company, how the car was equipped, how long the job would be (4 hour local turn versus 14 hour overnight) and who the Conductor was. If it was Shack on the 19 to Portland, just a can of beans and 47 hammers were loaded.


It seems that you would need these things on every caboose so why the sliding door only on drover's cabooses?


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

Good question.


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## afboundguy (Jan 10, 2021)

@Stumpy awesome pictures thanks for sharing!!! Making me research if the PRR ever used one of these cabooses in 1956 so I can find and make one!


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## prrfan (Dec 19, 2014)

Gramps said:


> It seems that you would need these things on every caboose so why the sliding door only on drover's cabooses?


Those cars were not just used for drovers. They were also utilized in mixed train service as combination caboose and baggage car, hence the sliding doors. A full sized baggage car would not be necessary for the small passenger compliment of a mixed train. IIRC, there are some models with REA lettering.


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## Stumpy (Mar 19, 2013)

Old_Hobo said:


> Great “tar” effect on the roof!


Thanks. A "happy little accident". 



Old_Hobo said:


> What road name is it going to be?


Don't know. I imagine they were pretty scarce back east.



prrfan said:


> IIRC, there are some models with REA lettering.


Yep. See post #9.


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## Gramps (Feb 28, 2016)

prrfan said:


> Those cars were not just used for drovers. They were also utilized in mixed train service as combination caboose and baggage car, hence the sliding doors. A full sized baggage car would not be necessary for the small passenger compliment of a mixed train. IIRC, there are some models with REA lettering.


Yes, the photo in post #9 shows a drover with the REA lettering and your explanation makes sense. But if the primary purpose of these cars was for the shipment of livestock, the sliding doors must have something to do with the drovers themselves. Maybe they needed special equipment to handle the livestock? Just guessing, I'm a city kid from the East.


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## prrfan (Dec 19, 2014)

Gramps said:


> But if the primary purpose of these cars was for the shipment of livestock, the sliding doors must have something to do with the drovers themselves. Maybe they needed special equipment to handle the livestock?


One explanation I saw was that it was to accommodate the drovers’ horses. I know they carried horses in full sized combination cars, but these seem a little small.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

They weren’t all that small….











> 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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## Stumpy (Mar 19, 2013)

Old_Hobo said:


> They weren’t all that small….
> View attachment 572266


Hmm... I think I put the roof on mine backwards. 

And I had it on right the first time.


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## Stumpy (Mar 19, 2013)

Gramps said:


> But if the primary purpose of these cars was for the shipment of livestock, the sliding doors must have something to do with the drovers themselves.


My guess... tack. It would be a lot easier to throw a western saddle through that sliding door vs. carrying it up the narrow steps a through the narrow end doors.


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## J.Albert1949 (Feb 3, 2018)

Nice Roundhouse caboose, Stumpy. I think you need to reverse the roof!

Back around 1976 I built two similar Roundhouse cabooses, non-drover style. Came in the same style box, has truss rods, etc.

Looks like the cupola roof and sides are different, but other parts are probably similar or the same. It looks like the overall dimensions are the same, too. Could be two "variations" they created from one basic kit.

Here's a pic I took a few minutes ago, with 45 years of age on it:








I never bothered with decals. I think of it as a "generic" red caboose. Goes with anything...!


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Stumpy said:


> Hmm... I think I put the roof on mine backwards.
> 
> And I had it on right the first time.


I agree….judging by photos and the Athearn/Roundhouse versions, you put it on backwards….


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## Murv2 (Nov 5, 2017)

This is an old Silver Streak Wood and metal drovers caboose. Also AMB makes a couple MOPAC.


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## Gramps (Feb 28, 2016)

prrfan said:


> One explanation I saw was that it was to accommodate the drovers’ horses. I know they carried horses in full sized combination cars, but these seem a little small.


Bear with me, I feel like Alice going down the rabbit hole. I did a search for this and found nothing. Why do they need horses on the train? I wouldn't think they let the livestock off the train to feed and water them and when they get to their destination wouldn't the livestock go from the cattle car to a fenced in corral? Obviously I know nothing about railroads transporting livestock except for the fact that it happened.


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## OilValleyRy (Oct 3, 2021)

Gramps said:


> It seems that you would need these things on every caboose so why the sliding door only on drover's cabooses?


Side loading doors were optional. Some were wide “baggage” type, some were standard 36” doors. Some were on the Brakeman’s side, so e on the Engineers side, some had them on both sides. They were not uncommon, just seldom represented by the popular model makers.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Maybe because there were so many variations of drovers cabooses…..which one do you make….?


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## OilValleyRy (Oct 3, 2021)

Some examples of side loading cargo doors I mentioned in post 31.

FEC with a 36” door

BAR with a 36” door

IC with what I can only call a half-dutch 36” door 

These are examples of side doors, the presence of which doesn’t make them Drover’s. Drover’s Caboose is an assignment for which a caboose is specifically outfitted as a bunk/camp car. On Drover’s the side doors were used the same as other side cargo doors, loading from a platform… in the case of Drover’s service I assume feed and whatever tools the handlers used for handling/wrangling the livestock in question (sheep, cattle, horses, hogs are handled differently). Again, it’s a rolling office for personnel. The livestock were transported in appropriate cars, not in the caboose.
I always liked side doors, but never saw one on a steel car until finding that BAR photo. I thought the side doors were outlawed around WWII for safety reasons. Speaking of that one, the BAR car is assigned to Drover service, the bunk windows are a dead give away. Looks like an 8 bunk arrangement.


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## prrfan (Dec 19, 2014)

Gramps said:


> Bear with me, I feel like Alice going down the rabbit hole. I did a search for this and found nothing. Why do they need horses on the train? I wouldn't think they let the livestock off the train to feed and water them and when they get to their destination wouldn't the livestock go from the cattle car to a fenced in corral? Obviously I know nothing about railroads transporting livestock except for the fact that it happened.


Yep, agreed, the horse explanation is unlikely or at best probably uncommon. Cargo and baggage are the most likely reasons for the sliding doors.


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## Jscullans (Jul 8, 2019)

I have an odd ambroid caboose kit I bought at the train show that’s somewhat similar


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## Stumpy (Mar 19, 2013)

Un-backwards.


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

I used to see a crew member in the IC cabooses with the door/window open hanging out on the arm rest. They always waved.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

In a drover’s caboose…..?


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

Yep. I remember the times very well. Not too many drovers in Southern Illinois in the late 60s.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Cool!


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