SAL Extended Vision Caboose

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On page 64 of Cabins Crummies & Hacks , vol. 2, there is a picture of a SAL extended vision caboose still in SAL colors and markings. It is number 5702, and it is next to another extended vision in Family Lines colors. The date of the picture is listed as July 1979. How long did SAL extended vision cabooses remain in SAL colors and markings?

-- Rick Milas (rmilas@uiuc.edu), August 05, 1998

Answers

I know personally that some of the SAL 5700 series cabs lasted until the VA state caboose law bit the dust in the late 1980s. Their longevity was due in part to the fact that they had cushioned underframes, which made them safer, causing fewer, less severe employee injuries. Railroads considered cabs a pain in the butt, and were not at the top of the list of rolling stock in line to be maintained or painted (thus the SAL paint lived on). When a defect was reported, they were shoved into weeds and scrapped, rather repaired. Toward the end, sheet metal was welded over all windows on most cabooses, which made them dark and poorly ventilated, which did little to engender good labor/management relations. Today's "shoving platforms" (please don't call them cabs) are the same thing with a new name.

-- Doug Riddell (railroaddoug@erols.com), August 08, 1998.

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