A
Piece of History In
1930, the Rock Island built their first steel cabooses, numbered 17850 to 17899.
The cabooses were rebuilt in 1954-55 with the most notable change being the removal
of some of the five windows on each side. | |
The
only offset-cupola steel cabooses on the Rock Island, they were often seen
in service on through freights until newer cabooses bumped them to local assignments
in the 1970s.
After the
Rock Island shutdown in 1980, caboose #17869 was purchased by the Regional Transportation
Authority (RTA) for use on work trains and assigned the reporting marks and number
“NIRC 2002”. The NIRC (Northeastern Illinois Regional Commuter Rail
Corporation) was the government-created company that operated the commuter rail
service for the RTA on the former Rock Island and Milwaukee Road lines out of
Chicago after both railroads went into bankruptcy.
 | #17869
was sometimes used on work trains, but spent most of the time sitting in railroad
yards, exposed to the weather and leaving it as a target for vandals. It was deemed
surplus and in 1995, NIRC retired caboose #17869. |
#17869
was acquired by the Tinley Park-Park District and placed
on display at the Jaycee Grove picnic area at 16801 South 80th Avenue in Tinley
Park, Illinois. It was painted bright red with incorrectly-styled lettering and
the NIRC reporting marks -- a scheme that it never wore in regular service on
the Rock Island or the NIRC.
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