The Bobber

I decided a need another small caboose. When I go to Gary Beatty's Mini Festa Fiesta in May, I plan to take the San Emigdio Canyon mini and the Lockwood Creek diorama, and if I pose a short train on the diorama and run a freight on the mini, I'll need two cabooses, and maybe another car or two.

So I ordered a PNW 12' Peaked Roof Caboose from Pacific Northwest Miniatures. The kit arrived today. The picture is a stock photo from their web site.

I like PNW's kits a lot. They're well-designed, just challenging enough to make them interesting, and it's handy that they come complete with trucks and couplers. In this case, the design is pretty whimsical, but I like that about it. I'm thinking about what color to paint it -- my other cabeese are all oxide red, but I might do something different here, just for fun. I may also apply one of my L&SE heralds on the side below the cupola.

I probably won't get started building for a few days; when I do, I'll post progress updates.

2/8/26: I started work on the caboose yesterday, but quickly discovered that the underframe parts are missing. Floor, side sills, and end sills are all there, but no frame, bolsters or coupler mounting pads.

I sent a message to PNW and quickly got a response: Apparently he shipped a batch of these with that part missing. He said he'd ship it ASAP.

Meanwhile, I went ahead and started building what I could. I'll probably have the superstructure all built and ready to go by the time the frame parts arrive.

I'm thinking about painting it bright red at this point, but I'm still also considering forest green, in a nod to the old Central Valley caboose that was my very first craftsman kit, close to 60 years ago.

3/15/26: Ready for the paint shop. I'll add end railings, tarpaper roofing, and couplers after painting.