Description

by the Conrail Mechanical Department

Publisher: The Garbely Publishing Company

Released: coming November 2024

Pages: 174

Format: 17"x11" wire-bound softcover

ISBN: 979-8-9898683-8-4

New rulings by the Federal Railroad Administration in the late 1970s and early 1980s required culling and rebuilding of Conrail’s caboose fleet, with due dates set in 1984 for things like replacement of windows with impact-rated window glazing and other fairly major modifications. Conrail spent the early 1980s undertaking a thorough standardization program for its remaining cabooses, modifying or replacing things like trucks, standardizing window sizes and frames, and retiring entire classes older cabooses that could not meet the requirements imposed by this standardization program.

This reproduction of an original manual, updated to 1983, represents the last great hurrah of cabooses on the Conrail system, during their last series of rebuilds and service before they were replaced by FREDs in the mid-to-late 1980s and retired wholesale. A large percentage of Conrail’s cabooses were sold or donated to private individuals, museums, short line railroads, towns or cities, or local businesses, and this manual covers the final form that these cabooses took in their service lives. Topics like windows, brake systems, water systems, toilets, and stoves are covered in great detail. Additionally, since Conrail owned so many different cabooses with different features, designs, and manufacturers, entire sections of this book are useful in the maintenance of cabooses from other railroads.

This book is reproduced in a large 17" wide by 11" tall wire-bound format, allowing all of its large dimensional and engineering diagrams to lay flat. The original 8.5"x11" text pages are reproduced two to a page, creating a 174-page final product. If you, your museum, or your tourist railroad owns a North American caboose that was in service in the 1980s, this manual is an invaluable resource to keep the car repaired, maintained, and even in service long into the future!