In another lively thread my friend and fellow PTM member Art mentioned some rolling stock that could possibly leave Pennsylvania Trolley Museum under the right circumstances. I'll expound a bit on one of them, since I had a part in bringing it to PTM in the first place.

NYO&W caboose 8323, home-built in 1916, was sold in 1953 to Unity Railways, a short coal hauler near Pittsburgh. It carried the number 53A there. (Unity numbered things by year of acquisition and they'd already bought a new EMD SW8 in 1953, and it carried number 53 of course.) When Unity folded as an independent operation in 1965 the caboose and several motorcars were donated to PTM.

Some time later a resourceful PTM member changed 53A to broad gauge. This was easily done within the existing truck frames since PTC sweeper wheelsets fit in those frames without modification except to widen the brake beams.

On the PTM broad gauge trolley line, 53A served as "Santa's Caboose" during our annual Santa Trolley event. That changed a few years ago and now the caboose is stored in PTM's Trolley Display Building. Nice dry storage, which every wooden car deserves.

Caboose 53A is somewhat outside PTM's mission statement, but there has been no rush to dispose of it. If some other organization were to offer the car indoor storage, there is a chance PTM would consider a sale or trade for the car. The original standard gauge wheelsets would be part of the deal.

Contact PTM's Executive Director Scott Becker at 724-228-9256 should you wish to discuss the future of caboose 53A. A photo of it can be seen on the museum's website at www.pa-trolley.org under the "trolley collection" tab.

I see a roster listing but not a photo.........

Oops, sorry, but no photo on PTM roster website page.