Like most pieces of railroad equipment, this caboose was shaped in part by regulatory requirements — in this case, a proposed Pennsylvania law requiring cabooses on through freights to be 8-wheeled and at least 24’ long. Based on a wood-sheathed 1920 USRA design, this steel caboose was a 1924 Reading Company design that became so widespread in the mid-Atlantic region that railfans dubbed it the Northeastern Caboose.
Besides the Reading, original owners included the Western Maryland, Lehigh Valley, Central Railroad of New Jersey and several other lines. Through mergers and acquisitions, these “crummies” eventually found themselves in new paint schemes ranging from Chessie System yellow to Conrail blue. Later in life, many went to second and third owners as far afield as Maine, Ohio, Iowa, and Louisiana.
