Western Pacific

wp 467
Former Western Pacific (WP) caboose 467 at the Niles Depot, facing the Union Pacific Niles Sub mainline, in Fremont, CA, on Friday, February 10, 2023.
Click on image above to enlarge

I hope you enjoy these photos as much as I do.

WP Cabooses

Click on the following links to see pictures related to the Western Pacific:

Steve Sloan's Trains : UP : Western Pacific : Cabooses

Cabooses

WP Caboose 467

WP Caboose 467 Reportedly: WP 467 was built in in 1973 by the International Car Co. After the UP merger it became a UP Class CA-16 caboose. It was stored at Council Bluffs, Iowa, from 1985. It was donated in 1988 to Niles Depot Historical Foundation, and delivered there in 1989.
WP Caboose 467 in Niles
Former Western Pacific (WP) caboose 467 at the Niles Depot, facing the Union Pacific Niles Sub mainline, in Fremont, CA, on Friday, February 10, 2023.

WP 435 WP 426 class caboose

According to Mike Mucklin:

WP didn't assign classes to their cabooses like UP (CA class) or Santa Fe (Ce class) so I generally refer to them by the first number in the group as being the "class car".
WP 435 was one of the original 1955 built "426 class" cars. This was a group of 35 cars, the first steel cabooses on the WP, numbered from 426 to 460. Construction of the group continued into 1956 and they were delivered with a box car red body, black roofs and yellow lettering and safety appliances. In the early 1970s early cars that were shopped were painted an updated caboose red (bright red) paint scheme with white lettering. Some cars were updated with their end ladders and roof walks removed but some weren't. Some had black roofs and steps but some, like the 435 were all red. As with most shop projects on the WP, there were few specific standards that shop forces were required to adhere to so there were a lot of variations as cars emerged from the repair shop. I believe the first 426 class car to emerge in the bright red scheme from the Jeffrey Car Shops in Sacramento was the 436 on 4-30-73 followed by the 435 on 6-08-73.
435 in Stockton
In June 1973 or later WP 426 class caboose 435 sits at Stockton, CA between assignments.
  • Photo of caboose
    Slide 5.2881, Scan 2008031701.2v2
Caboose 453 International Railway Car Co.
From the series 426 - 460, 35 cars built 1955-56 by International Railway Car Co.
  • Western Pacific GP40-2 3554 on the point
    Slide 5.3619, Scan 2008032403.2
  • Western Pacific Cab 453 is on the rear of the SN Detour detouring east after crossing the SP bridge at Mossdale, CA in 1980 on a date that was not recorded.
    Slide 5.2876, Scan 2008031701.3

WP 668 Western Pacific Composite Bay Window Caboose

According to Mike Mucklin:

WP didn't assign classes to their cabooses like UP (CA class) or Santa Fe (Ce class) so I generally refer to them by the first number in the group as being the "class car".
All of the outside braced cupola and bay window cars were built by WP in Sacramento from retired 1916 era Pullman box cars. The first 12 cars were cupola style cars (nicknamed "Canyon Cabooses" for their recessed ends that provided some protection for crews in inclement weather) in 1937. There was a total of 28 cupola style OB cabooses built before WP built the first bay window style car in 1942. A total of 48 of these bay window box car rebuilds were constructed between 1942 and 1945 when the program ended. The 668 in your shot was the last of the 25 cars built in 1943 and the 658 was in the same group.

This caboose is now private property of Katy Dickinson and John Plocher in San Jose, CA. It was previously at the Golden Gate Railroad Museum, San Francisco.
WP 668 has a related Website here.

WP 668 in West Sacramento
Outside braced Wooden WP Caboose 668 sits at Sacramento, CA in June of 1975 Dave Stanley said, "I'm sure you know this but your shot of the cabooses was taken in West Sacramento, at the SN's Westside terminal along the Sacramento River."
  • Photo of caboose 668
    Slide 5.2885, Scan 2008031701.1v3

Related Information

Related Links

Click on the following links to see other posts related to this story:

My WP collection in Flickr
My collection of WP photos in Flickr.
WP Roster
A Good WP Roster by The Diesel Shop.

Social Media Links

NOTE: If anything is my "life's work" it's my train photos. — If you scan an analog photo of mine, or if you share a digital photo I took that does not have my photo credit, add something like "Photo by Steve Sloan" directly onto the image. It's not enough to say "Photo by Steve Sloan" in the text caption. People download photos off the Internet/Social Media platform and whatever is in the text does not stick to the photo. Then, they get reshared and that data is lost. I deserve credit for my work.

You may not use my photos for profit and/or as part of, or to sell, a product or service without my consent.

Special Thanks!

To all the great folks who helped me out with information for these Web pages!

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Table of Contents