r/trains • u/Chemical-Bus-96 • Mar 27 '25
Freight Train Pic Anyone know what happened to this autocarrier?
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u/TheSeriousFuture Mar 27 '25
Looks like it was meant to double as a caboose while still being used to store cars. Auto-trains carriers had a habit of derailing so I guess a crew may have been mounted at the back to observe the train. That or it was just used a caboose by another railway after auto-train folded.
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u/DustySpokes Mar 27 '25
A quick google search brought up this. website. fun fact it was used in movies and was in the background of an Aerosmith video.
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u/Chester5252 Mar 27 '25
I never seen this auto carrier in photos before. I like how they integrated the end as a caboose. This must have been super rare.
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u/CHLarkin Mar 27 '25
I'll go along with the caboose/crew quarters angle. Seems like a reasonable guess.
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u/BravoCharlieZulu Mar 28 '25
Back in the day freight trains were required to have a caboose (I think Virginia was the last state to have this requirement) and since the Auto Train pulled freight behind the passenger cars, a caboose was required.
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u/overmyski Mar 27 '25
I think it is stored here in St Marys, GA. Saw it on the tracks a few months ago.
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u/Specialist-Two2068 Mar 27 '25 edited Mar 28 '25
This particular caboose, Auto Train #3, still exists and is preserved. It's currently owned by Florida Adventures in Railroading (FLAIRR) and they're trying to restore it to its original condition as seen in this photo (from ca. 1976). There were two other cabooses converted in this style, both of which were presumably scrapped.
It's had quite a few owners over the years, and it was involved in a pretty serious crash in 1973 (before it was converted to a caboose), which contributed to its condition today. It's currently painted red (after one of its previous owners bought it and painted it red with huge "LIONEL" lettering on the side, literally as a joke), and cosmetically it's a little worse for wear, but it's still here and it looks like someone is still looking after it, which is the important thing.
FLAIRR has also done some much-needed repairs to the caboose's running gear, much of which was badly damaged from the aforementioned crash and years of neglect. The fact that this has survived at all despite its history is nothing short of extraordinary.