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McCloud Rails : Equipment & Caboose #025
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Former McCloud Equipment: Caboose #025
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Caboose #025 had an interesting history on the McCloud. It started life as a standard Great Northern
wooden 26-foot long caboose, and became one of at least 8 cabooses of this type sold to the McCloud. After a
few years of service a sliding door was cut into the carbody on each side on the "long"
end of the car. However, a year or two later the #025 was involved in a rear end collision at Car A, which
demolished the carbody but did little damage to the frame. The McCloud had an old body from 4-wheel caboose
#05 still around, and it was mounted onto the frame. This assembly lasted for a few years until the time that
the old carbody from the #05 became unsafe for further use. The caboose was once again stripped down to its
frame, and a new carbody following GN plans was fabricated in the McCloud shops around 1948. One half of the
caboose was left open, and a large toolbox was installed in the open end. The #025 was assigned tothe lumber company, and it
spent many years in service on the logging trains operating out of Pondosa. After rail operations out of Pondosa
ended the caboose spent a couple years in maintenance-of-way service on the railroad until
some point in the mid-1960's, when it was sold to the nearby Yreka Western Railroad. The caboose is now
in service on the YW. Historical information courtesy of Dennis Sullivan and Brett Gibson.
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| The #025 in its second phase of life, with the old four wheel caboose body. Caboose was painted red at this time. Pondosa, CA. Courtesy of Brett Gibson. |
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| #025 after the new GN-styel body had been fabricated. Note that a closet is present on the end of the car. Pondosa, CA. Courtesy of Dennis Sullivan. |
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| By the mid-1960's, the #025 wore the darker orange paint applied to the two wide vision cabooses purchased new in 1962. Note that the closet is now missing. January 1973 Railroad Modeler, from the Glen Comstock collection. |
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| The #025 received a red paint job following it's arrival on the Yreka Western in the mid-1960's. This photo from the dawn of the 1980's finds the caboose sitting in the yard at Yreka, CA. Jimmy Bryant photo, courtesy of Nevada Historical Society. |
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| Another shot of the #025 at Yreka, CA, circa 1990. Photo by Anna Moore. |
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| The #025 did not see much service after arriving in Yreka, and although painted for its new owner it was never assigned a number and was rarely used. However, new owners took over the YW in 1999, and shortly afterwards the caboose was re-painted, numbered YW #001, and was named the City of Yreka. The caboose was then added to the YW's excursion train. Photo by and courtesy of Bill Killion. |
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| By the end of 2007
the caboose really started showing its age, which prompted the Yreka Western to rebuild the car in their
Yreka shops over the winter of 2007/2008. The work involved stripping the open end of the caboose down
to the frame, with steel beams inserted in place of the end beam and under the floor of the porch. The
company next installed new deck constructed of 2x6 tongue & groove flooring. The YW could not find
a ready supply of V-groove siding, which forced them to use plywood in the rebuild of the short walls
around the porch area. This photo shows the caboose on 12 July 2008, immediately after its first run
after emerging from the shops. The railroad still had to install a railing across the top of the new
sides, apply a couple additional coats of new paint, and lettering. Photo by and courtesy of Larry Tuttle.
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