--- In cpsig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, PBBowers <4everwaiting@...> wrote:
Thanks John,
Looking at the plans of these cars show how flimsy the construction
of these bay windows were and the unnatural position the employees
had to sit in. Did the article give any suggestion of how many vans
were built/converted to combo bay/cupola status?
Peter
At 10:35 AM 06/03/2012, you wrote:
There is a letter about these CPR cabooses printed on page 328 of
Volume 75 of Railway Age. Written by V.T. Boughton of New York.
Boughton writes the CPR abandoned these side-bay window cabooses
"after many months of trial" and after an order by the board of
railway commissioners "after there had been several accidents in
which men sitting in the bays had been injured in side-swipes or by
objects protruding from passing trains". Also the bays were so
close to the track the view was obscured by swirling dust and snow
cloud. The bays were too close to side of the train to make it
possible to observe the train except on curves in one direction. The
bays required the observer to sit in an unnatural position for long
periods of time. The cupola was better such that when the window
view was obscured by snow the trainman can put his head out
occasionally to get a fairly good look at the train.
John Riddell
