I'm trying to come up with a heating system for Wilmington & Western's B&O I5d caboose C-2013. Presently we have nothing. I'm interested in finding out what people have used recently to provide caboose heat. We're staying away from coal stoves due to the dirt and extra work associated with coal and ash. our other two cabooses have kerosene stoves to kerosene would be ideal. Can anyone point me towards something or possibly have a stove for donation, trade, or sale?

How about this: A small gas burner (utilizing propane) placed in the stove at the original grate height. I have seen very effective gas burner conversions of large "station stoves", and see no reason the concept wouldn't be effective in a caboose. Control would be through a standard (modern) gas valve with spark pilot ignition, flame-proving circuitry, etc.

Much cleaner and easier than dealing with coal, and much less messy than an oil stove. Those things smell, and have their own pain-in-the-neck problems.

Caboose stoves are radiant heaters, regardless of the fuel.

Howard P.

Good concept, except the 2013 doesn't have a stove in it. For many years, it was the " Summer Caboose"for this very reason and the C-2042 was the "winter caboose" since it still retained its stove.

So they first need to get a stove....or some form of heat.

I assume that you're familiar with Vogelzang wood stoves which still require some maintenance but are cleaner than coal. They make a pot belly stove but the price has nearly doubled in recent years.

Look for a Vapor Caban oil stove. Thousands of these were in just about all modern cabooses, and in bunk cars, etc. They use diesel fuel.

This fall I replaced a kerosene stove in one of our cabooses that was complete rotted out due to not having a stack installed for several years. We had an original coal burning caboose stove that was stashed away in a corner of the museum.

The coal stove heats our small caboose very nicely but you do have to keep an eye on it. Also building and maintaining a coal fire is not a skill that most young adults (and a few older ones) posses. Fortunately we run a push pull operation so on the return trips the brakeman can maintain the stove.

It is not quite as dirty as one might imagine. I use bagged anthracite coal from a farm store, as we don't use much I don't need a truck load. I would not recommend using a coal stove in a caboose that you have paying passengers in, but for crew it is fine.

Three important questions:
1 Do you have power on this caboose. If so, what is it (110v, 220v or low voltage DC power).
2 Are you looking for something to replace and look the part of an original stove?
3 Do you have a fuel preference?

We are in the process of setting up one of ours with a 50k btu rv heater. Using propane, and either 12vdc or 110 vac (the unit switches automatically but defaults to 110 when available) it is a small self contained, forced air unit that will mount inside an existing cabinet next to the original coal stove. We will run ducts through the wall and the exhaust is a small plate mounted through an exterior wall. We have a large propane tank that will be mounted to the frame. Ours is not done, so I can't give you actual performance, but the guy that I know who repairs RVS said it would work the best and be reliable under mobile conditions. He heated a large fifth wheel from about 10 degrees to 70 in under 10 min. I know a caboose has more steel to heat and less insulation, but I was impressed.

Back when I hired out on the Lehigh Valley Railroad the road hacks all had oil stoves. They smelled awful of kerosene. They frequently leaked oil on the floors and were not appealing for any cooking. The yard and transfer crumb boxes all had coal stoves. They didn't stink and they provided some of the best meals I ever ate!
Putting a foil wrapped potato on the bed of coals would give you a perfectly baked potato by lunch time.
You can't do that with a kerosene stove.
Keith

Our N&W caboose 518409 has it's original coal stove as heat and is used on all our run days at VMT. It is a very popular car in the consist, especially in the winter. Passengers love the historic ambiance of the car. We frequently leave a pot of coffee bubbling on the stove just to add to the atmosphere. I can't see what the problem is with using a coal stove, the "hassles" are minor compared to other stuff we normally deal with

man, running a coal stove is fun. And the coal smoke smells better. Paying passengers? show them the operation of the coal stove and have one or some kid(s) help. Its like IRM having one of the kids blow the streetcar horn, they get a kick out of it, show them what the ole time railroad did. Tell the passengers you have an operating real coal stove. And its hot... but you can have some free coffee from it...8-D
Atmoshphere...man...propane heater...boring....

Aside from that some oil burner design, NOT kerosene, you can buy specialty oils that have fragrance, but maybe for ambiance, get some toy train smoke oil thats coal scented and throw it in the oil...I think your regular hardware stores or big box stores or whomever sell lamp oil like this.

The W&W doesn't not sell these cabs for standard passenger tickets, but rather chartred children's birthday parties, 20-25 kids and adults in a Caboose.

So popular are they that the often run 2- 3 cabs each trip - every time a train runs. Kinda hard to interpret the history of a coal stove with 20 kids who are more interested in the cake and getting a seat up in the cupola, than the history. The adults usually have their hands full managing the food and party favor distribution to care about the stove....not to mention that when these cars need to be heated, there usually is a man with a white beard and a red suit that also has the kids attention span.

The C-2042 has/had a kero burning stove that you can cook on, just not in... the Erie cab has a Kero stove but its not big enough to cook on....again, not that that part matters.

For the C-2013, I think the simpler the heating, the better....specially around kids...lots of kids.

We have been weighing out the options and I'm not for or against any single option but am leaning towards simpler. Safety is, of course, the first thing. But as junior said, most of the time the type of business involves putting 20 kids inside with presents and cake. We have to find some sort of balance between everything being as historically accurate and functionality to keep the bills paid. The caboose parties have definitely paid a lot of bills over the last 50 years.

Thank you all for your input. We'll figure something out very soon. Next on our list is to renovate (not restore) our former Erie caboose C-149.

"The caboose parties have defiantly paid a lot of bills over the last 50 years."


Were they really that angry over paying those bills?

The simplest solution is the traditional fuel oil fired caboose stove. The railroads already figured it out, no need to reinvent the wheel. Designed to last, and to stay burning regardless of the lurches and jerks of rolling down the track.

If anyone knows where to find one please let me know.