Red Caboose - RN-17416-02 - Boxcar, 55 Foot, Thrall All-Door - Cooperstown & Charlotte Valley - 28072

Prototype History: Lumber has always been difficult to ship by rail. Box cars provide protection but are hard to load and unload. Flat cars eliminate those problems, but loads have to be tarped to protect them from the weather.

In 1967, Thrall took the best of both ideas and created a unique car that would solve these problems. The All-Door Box Car had no true sidewalls, but was equipped with four large doors which could be opened in pairs. This provided a 25' wide opening that made loading and unloading a breeze! And since it was a box car, the loads were completely enclosed for the entire trip. As the housing boom began in the 1970s, the cars became a common sight at lumber mills and yards across America.

Thrall Door boxcars arrived in Detroit in the early 70s. They were used to carry hardboard products to Ford plants in the Detroit area.

Road Name History: In 1865 the Articles of Association for the Cooperstown and Susquehanna Valley R.R. Company (C&SVRR) were filed. The stated purpose was to construct a railroad "from a point at or near the Village of Cooperstown to a point at or near Colliersville forming a junction with the Albany and Susquehanna Rail Road".In February 1868 work was started on the line. However, the first train was not run until July 14, 1869.
The C&CVRR came under the ownership of the Delaware and Hudson Company in 1903 and became known as the "Cooperstown Branch" and was used "for freight only until 1930 when the rails were pulled up". The D&H built an ornate stone station in Cooperstown shortly after the takeover. Along with a branch to Cherry Valley, the former C&CV line became a rural feeder into the D&H mainline. The D&H constructed a turntable and small locomotive maintenance facility in Cooperstown which were removed in the 1950s. The C&CV was merged into the D&H effective March 1, 1957.
The CACV was used during the 1980s to store large numbers of idle St. Lawrence Railroad boxcars. Several of these cars were stored on Clintonville Hill in the vicinity of milepost 7, secured only with handbrakes despite the steepness of the grade. Vandals released the brakes on several cars, which rolled southward and derailed at the foot of the grade. Metal pieces from the wreck can be found between the railroad right of way and the west bank of the Susquehanna River.
The last CACV freight train operated in December 1987, followed by infrequent equipment moves until being purchased by the Leatherstocking Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society in 1996.

Brand/Importer Information: Originally Red Caboose was a manufacturer of HO and N Scale model railroading items. It was located in Mead, Colorado, and was founded in 1990 by Leon Fairbanks. Red Caboose manufactured highly accurate, well detailed N, HO, and O Scale freight cars and locomotives.

Red Caboose closed its doors in January of 2015. Red Caboose N Scale has been sold to Fox Valley Models and HO was sold to InterMountain Railway. Many of the Red Caboose toolings have seen re-releases from Fox Valley since the acquisition. We just wish they would clean up the underframes. Red Caboose always went light on the details where they thought people wouldn't look.

Manufacturer Information: While they were in business, Red Caboose split its production runs between the US and China. Which models were produced where was a function of which body style and which run. Furthermore, which Chinese company was used for production is something we would love to find out.