Northeastern-Style Steel Caboose - Ready to Run -- Central Railroad of New Jersey 91534 (red, black, white "Coast Guard" Stri

The Rapido Trains HO Scale Northeastern-Style Steel Caboose is based on cars originally designed by the Reading Company in the early 1920s. This all-steel caboose was based on a proposed design by the USRA, which originally specified wood sheathing. The Reading built 285 cars, spread through several classes. The earliest cars had solid underframes while later cars were equipped with Duryea cushion underframes. This design was so successful that other roads took note such as; the Central Railroad of New Jersey, Lehigh & New England, Lehigh Valley, Pittsburg & West Virginia and the Western Maryland. Production was spread out between the Reading and the purchasing roads, which meant variations were bound to be made to the original design. Different groups of cars were equipped with different trucks, running boards, steps, grabs and end wall windows (or lack thereof). Many of these cabooses were used. By Conrail and Chessie in regular service until the end of mandatory caboose operations.