Photograph as originally submitted to this page in the Historical Marker Database www.HMdb.org. Click on photo to resize in browser. Scroll down to see metadata.

Photographer: Mike Stroud
Taken: June 2007
Caption: Caboose 2490
Additional Description: Baltimore & Ohio Railroad "Wagontop" Bay Window Caboose 2490 This Class I-12 steel caboose was built by the B&O Railroad in January of 1942 on an outdoor assembly line at the railroad's shops in Keyser, West Virginia. After many years in regular freight train service, it was last used by the railroad in work train service in the New Martinsville, West Virginia area in December of 1985. The "Wagontop" design is unique to the B&O Railroad, and was also used on some of their box cars and covered hopper cars. The "bay windows" enabled the train crew to observe the train, watching for signs of dragging equipment or overheated journal bearings on the freight cars. The caboose is also equipped with an air pressure gauge and a brake valve so that the crew could monitor the brake pipe pressure and stop the train in an emergency. This type of caboose has an unusual "Duryea Underframe", which is a sliding center sill that is attached to the caboose body with horizontal "springs", and was an early attempt to soften the shocks inherent in freight train operation.
Submitted: January 31, 2008, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina.
Database Locator Identification Number: p15105
File Size: 0.130 Megabytes

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