Conrail caboose 21292

QUICK FACTS

Model: CR class N-21 bay window caboose
Built: September 1978
Builder: Fruit Growers Express, Alexandria, VA
Past Railroad Owners: Conrail, Norfolk Southern, Delmarva Central
Current Owner: The Garbely Publishing Company (leased to and operated by Operation Toy Train of New York, Inc.)
Current Location: Erie Turntable, Port Jervis, NY

Caboose No. 21292 was built in September of 1978 by Fruit Growers Express (FGE) at their plant in Alexandria, Virginia. It was built new for the Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail), which was formed in 1976 by the federal government by combining parts of six bankrupt railroads in the northeastern United States. For much of its career, this bay-window caboose was assigned to the coalfields around West Brownsville, Pennsylvania, serving as a rolling office for the conductor on the rear of jointly-operated Conrail/Monongahela Railroad coal trains.

Around June of 1994, the No. 21292 became one of the very few cabooses on Conrail’s roster (less than 10 out of over 2,500 total cars) to be repainted with the railroad’s new “Conrail Quality” logo. It was reassigned to service on the Delmarva peninsula.

When Conrail was split up on June 1, 1999, the No. 21292 was part of the 58 percent of Conrail that was transferred to the Norfolk Southern Railway (the remaining 42 percent was purchased by CSX Transportation). The No. 21292 remained in local service out of Harrington, Delaware, where it had been stationed in its last years of Conrail ownership. In the early 2000s, it was assigned to NS train H93 every weekday, operating around Delmar and Salisbury, Delaware. The car was eventually taken out of service for a rebuild that was never completed. In 2016, ownership of the No. 21292 was passed to the Delmarva Central Railroad, which took over Norfolk Southern’s rail lines on the Delmarva peninsula.

In April of 2019, the Delmarva Central donated the No. 21292 (in its full 1994 Conrail paint job) to the non-profit Operation Toy Train to be used for additional volunteer capacity on the organization’s annual Toys for Tots collection trains. However, the car was severely delayed from leaving Delaware for over two and a half years due to a host of mechanical issues. Several of these issues, including missing parts and broken safety appliances, were repaired or replaced by members of The Garbely Publishing Company’s staff on location at the caboose’s storage location in Harrington, Delaware on a volunteer basis. The No. 21292 was finally moved to Kenvil, New Jersey in December of 2021.

However, due to the delays and the changing needs of the growing organization, Operation Toy Train had already sourced alternative cabooses and railcars by the time this car arrived in New Jersey. When it became apparent that the car was no longer needed by the organization, and that there were not plans or funds in place to properly restore it, it was offered for sale. Due to the personal investment of The Garbely Publishing Company’s staff in this car over the prior three years, as well as the growing need for an off-site storage location for some of the company’s expanding book catalog, it was a logical acquisition. The Garbely Publishing Company purchased the No. 21292 from Operation Toy Train on May 11, 2022.

GPCo staff made a series of mechanical and other preparations in Kenvil, New Jersey prior to moving the car to the Erie Turntable in Port Jervis, New York, where it arrived on December 11, 2022. Garbely Publishing will use proceeds garnered largely from sales of its definitive book on Conrail cabooses to return the No. 21292 to its 1994 Conrail exterior appearance, complete with the “Conrail Quality” logo. The interior, which is missing many of its original components, will be partially restored and partially remodeled and will be used for both book storage and for special events. It will be displayed at the Erie Turntable in perpetuity as an example of the hundreds of Conrail cabooses that operated through Port Jervis between 1976 and 1999. Through a standing agreement with Operation Toy Train, The Garbely Publishing Company will also donate the use of No. 21292 back to the organization should it ever be needed in the future.