Trains… Well, at least the back-end of one…
An early 1900s Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe caboose… In front of it are two 1900s artifacts, one the old crossing sign, then other the arm with three lights on the left. It’s located at the Square House Museum, Panhandle, TX, about an 30 miles NE of Amarillo.
This particular unit was built in 1928, so my grandfather on my mother’s side could well have actually ridden in this one as he traveled the country as an engineering investigator.
Looking from the front to the rear, you can see two of the three bunks. One of the two on the right is folded down, as the back one shows. The chair and desk were the Conductor’s desk. The trains in those days had a four man crew, Conductor, Engineer (my grandpa), Fireman and brakeman, plus backups for everyone but the Conductor if it was a 2-3 day trip, then it was 12 on/12 off.
From the back-end, looking forward. I’m standing back by the restroom, you see the stove/kitchen on the right (wood stove), and their water/sink on the left. The grey container on the right, forward of the stove was their cooking utensils, and food storage.
Looking up into the cupola, the gauge and handle you see are the brakeman’s controls. He could stop the train from back here, in conjunction with the engineer.
Looking ‘forward’ out of the cupola. You can see the walkway the brakeman could use to go up the train to handle issues with specific cars.
One other thing I remember was Grandpa talking about cowboys riding in the caboose, especially when they were hauling horses/cattle. The cattle cars were always right in front of the caboose, causing the air in the caboose to stink to high heaven (his words), due to the cattle farting. The cowboys could go forward and take care of their horses or cattle without ‘upsetting’ the passengers in the forward cars.
One can only wonder what that caboose has seen… much less the people that rode in it!
