Throwback Thursday - A Rare Bird

Everyone else in the group was fixated on the 4726 when I photographed CP 437451 at Windsor in August of 1978.  I knew there was something different about this van, but didn't realize how rare it was until I read Manny Jacob's book in 2019.

By Peter Mumby.

I recently finished reading the Morning Sun book "Canadian Pacific Caboose Color Guide" by Manny Jacob.  This is a veritable treasure trove of photos and data for anyone who has ever evinced an interest in the tail end of CP freight trains.  In one section of the book Manny describes the 50 streamlined cabooses built in 1953.  Three of these vans were scrapped by 1966, and 45 were rebuilt in 1968/69 with wide vision cupolas.  This left only two cars, specifically 437442 and 437451, to be repainted in the multimark scheme with their streamlined cupolas intact.  437451 was in transfer service in Windsor, Ontario when I encountered it in August of 1978.

It is not often that you get to photograph both sides of a particular piece of rolling stock, so both these photos have pride of place in my slide collection.