Cabooses

Overview

The A&Y leased most of its cabs from the Southern Railway, as documented in the surviving correspondence between the two companies. Members of the Southeastern Model Railroaders Forum (SMRF) helped identify two additional sources: the Norfolk & Western and the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac, both of which sold a pair of wooden cabooses to the A&Y. No photographs of Southern-style cabs in A&Y lettering have surfaced to date — they may always have remained in Southern reporting marks — but the correspondence record is rich with lease and rental details spanning 1929–1950.

RF&P-Origin Cabooses

Experts on Southern Railway cabs confirmed that the sole photographed A&Y-lettered cab — No. 862 — is decidedly not of Southern heritage. SMRF subscriber S.A. McCall noted a striking resemblance to RF&P No. 839, illustrated in RF&P by W.E. Griffin, Jr. (p. 181). The RF&P series 801–845 were built from 1904 onward, and many were sold to other railroads. Dimensions: 25′ long over body, 7′-5″ sides; cupola 6′-6″ front-to-rear by 6′-6″ wide by 3′-5″ high.

No. 862, unknown location
Black collection

No. 862 is the only A&Y-lettered caboose photographed to date, likely at Greensboro in the 1940s. Both 861 and 862 appear in Southern–A&Y correspondence and are believed to be of RF&P origin. Both were retired in 1950; 862 was in regular service only until mid-1948, while 861 was stored at Pomona beginning November 1949.

N&W-Origin Cabooses

SMRF member Fred Mullins first reported that the Norfolk & Western sold two CF-class wooden cabin cars — N&W 518107 (built August 1915) and 518162 (built January 1917) — to the A&Y in April 1946. The disposition list in Cabooses of the N&W (N&WHS, 1994, by Robert Bowers & James Brewer) confirms both numbers going to the A&Y. Thanks also to James Thompson, Don Yelverton, and Bill McClung.

X-865 (cropped), Greensboro
Jan. 19, 1948 — Porter collection

X-865 in street scene
Jan. 19, 1948 — Porter collection

N&W 518136, CF class
VT ImageBase (external)

N&W 518360, CF class (opp. side)
VT ImageBase (external)

X-865, Pomona, Dec. 18, 1950
Black collection

The January 1948 Porter photo shows a CF-class caboose in A&Y lettering in Greensboro during a snowstorm — the wrecker is out in the full street scene. The A&Y number on this car is not legible in the photo. A December 1950 Black photo at Pomona shows car No. 865 in Southern lettering, nearly a year after the Southern absorbed the A&Y. The timing and location make a strong circumstantial case that this is one of the purchased N&W cabs repainted after absorption — but which of the two N&W cars (518107 or 518162) became A&Y 865, and which became 864, is not established by the surviving record.

Southern-Leased Cabooses

No photographs of Southern-origin cabooses in A&Y lettering have been found; they may have remained in Southern reporting marks throughout. The following roster is drawn from A&Y–Southern Railway correspondence collected by Marvin Black. “First noted” and “last noted” reflect dates mentioned in correspondence, not necessarily the full period of use.