Known as an M-5 Cupola, this caboose originated in 1942 as a Pullman Standard boxcar and was converted for use as a caboose in 1966 in Waycross. It was retired from regular service as an SCL/LN Caboose in 1980.
The restoration was the Eagle Scout project of Joseph Keys, Jr., of Pittsburg, Kansas; it is authentic in details down to the stencil work, identification numbers and paint scheme. The M-5s were the only metal cabooses ever used by ACL before its merger with Seaboard; they were wooden throughout the bulk of the fabled railroad’s history. Cabooses like this were among the earliest my father worked at the beginning of his career as a conductor, and he shared many memories of them when we visited this relic in Fitzgerald recently.
Thank you for sharing this! My great grandfather was an engineer for the Atlantic Coast Line and I have been searching for more information on him and this railroad line. I see the post was 2011 and I am seeing it for the first time today.
Little Red Caboose, chug chug chug, Little Red Caboose chug chug chug. Little Red Caboose behind the train train train train. Never looking back chug chug chug going down the track, chug chug chug. Little Red Caboose behind the train… Sorry I just had to do that . song from my childhood
I’ll bet my friend Davis Sims, used to ride in this caboose.