O Milw.Rd. N6B Caboose w/Operating Signal Man

Until 1920, the Pennsylvania Railroad was divided into Lines West and
Lines East, with Pittsburgh as the dividing point. To a large extent,
the two operating regions went their separate ways when it came to
equipment design, with cabooses being a case in point. In 1914, as
Lines East was starting to build the all-steel N5 cabin cars (the
Pennsy’s name for a caboose), the frugal Lines West commenced a
rebuilding program to convert its wooden, four-wheeled cabin car fleet
into eight-wheeled, wood-bodied cabooses with steel underframes. The
stimulus for the rebuilding was a 1913 Ohio law that mandated steel
underframes on cabooses used in pusher service – after a number of
older cabin cars had been smashed to bits by the more powerful pushers
that were then coming into service.

The rebuilt cabooses came in two classes. The N6a “Fort
Wayne” type had what later would be called a wide-vision cupola,
extending more than the full width of the car. But because tunnel
clearances on the Panhandle Division between Pittsburgh and Columbus,
Ohio were too tight for the N6a, the N6b was designed with a narrower
cupola with inward-sloping sides and an arched roof. In later years,
crews would nickname the N6b the “Mae West,” in honor of the
voluptuous, narrow-waisted actress.

The practice of rebuilding older cars into N6b’s was subject
to variation. Some cars were created by lengthening one end of a
four-wheeled caboose, resulting in an off-center cupola, while other
rebuilds lengthened both ends of the older car, creating a centered
cupola like our Premier model. In addition, about 200 N6b’s were built
entirely new.

Despite the fact that the Mae West was created for one
division, it became the most numerous cabin car on the Pennsylvania
system, with nearly 1,200 cars built or rebuilt by 1923 – the largest
class of cabooses on any American railroad. After Lines West and Lines
East were combined, many N6b’s drifted east, where their narrower
clearances were a major attribute. In fact, the wider N6a’s were
largely scrapped or converted to N6b dimensions by the 1940s, whereas
the N6b’s soldiered on in Pennsy service into the early 1960s.

Our Pennsylvania versions of the N6b accurately recreate the
dimensions of the Mae West and all of its characteristic details.
Premier N6b’s in other road names feature a flat-top cupola, creating a
model typical of the thousands of wood-bodied, steel underframe
cabooses seen across the country during the steam and early diesel
eras.

MTH Premier O Scale freight cars are the perfect complement
to any manufacturer’s scale proportioned O Gauge locomotives. Whether
you prefer to purchase cars separately or assemble a unit train, MTH
Premier Rolling Stock has the cars for you in a variety of car types
and paint schemes.

This unique caboose includes an operating signal man who
leans out the side of the rear caboose platform with a lighted lantern
to signal the engineer. Activation occurs whenever the transformer
whistle button is pressed