AN AUTHENTIC 1958 RAILROAD CABOOSE
Rock Island 17040 → Chicago & North Western 12575
From its years on America's rails to an extraordinary restoration in Fredericktown, Missouri, this 1958 caboose has a story more than six decades in the making.
Meet the Caboose
Before it became the H&R Caboose Roost, this caboose spent its first life on the railroad. Its documented history connects it to two legendary American railroads: the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad and the Chicago & North Western Railway.
Twin to 17040
BUILT
1958
ORIGINAL RAILROAD
Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad
ROCK ISLAND NUMBER
17040
LATER RAILROAD
Chicago & North Western Railway
CNW NUMBER
12575
CURRENT HOME
Fredericktown, Missouri
TODAY
Preserved and restored as the H&R Caboose Roost
From Rock Island 17040 to CNW 12575
A sister caboose to Rock Island No. 17040, built in 1958 to the same specifications as our RI 17040.
CNW 12575, resting and waiting in Fredericktown, Missouri.
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Chicago & North Western No. 12575, appr. 1982.
Chicago & North Western No. 12575 today, restored to proudly reflect its railroad heritage.
From Rock Island Red to C&NW Yellow
1958 — The Beginning: Rock Island No. 17040
The story of our caboose begins in 1958, when it was built by the International Car Company in Kenton, Ohio, one of the country's leading manufacturers of steel cabooses during the mid-20th century.
Delivered to the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad, better known as the Rock Island, it entered service as Rock Island No. 17040.
No. 17040 was part of the Rock Island's 17000-series steel cupola caboose fleet, acquired as the railroad modernized its equipment and replaced an earlier generation of wooden cabooses.
Built entirely of steel, it was designed for the heavier trains, higher speeds and demanding freight operations of a changing railroad industry.
Sister caboose to 17040
A Working Office at the End of the Train
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A caboose was much more than simply the last car on a freight train. It served as a working office, observation post and home away from home for the train crew.
The elevated center cupola on No. 17040 gave the conductor and rear brakeman a clear view along the train. From those windows, they could watch for shifted loads, dragging equipment, smoke and signs of a hot journal—an overheated wheel bearing that could become a serious hazard.
Inside, the caboose was built for work. Its original arrangement included a conductor's desk for reviewing waybills and completing reports, seating and bunks for the crew, storage lockers, heating equipment and the necessary brake and safety controls.
It was a practical working environment built for railroaders who could spend long hours aboard.
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More Than Two Decades with the Rock Island
From 1958 until the Rock Island ceased operations in 1980, No. 17040 belonged to one of America's most storied railroads.
The Rock Island operated thousands of miles of track across the Midwest and into the South and Southwest, connecting major railroad centers such as Chicago, St. Louis and Kansas City.
Although we continue to research the individual assignments and movements of No. 17040, its more than two decades on the Rock Island placed it within an important period of American freight railroading.
During its early years, No. 17040 wore the red paint and white lettering associated with Rock Island cabooses, including the familiar Rock Island Lines identity. Its appearance evolved as the railroad changed its branding and paint schemes through the 1960s and 1970s.
Then, in 1980, everything changed.
1980 — The Rock Island Comes to an End
After years of financial difficulty and bankruptcy proceedings, the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific ceased operations in 1980 and its railroad assets began to be dispersed.
For Rock Island No. 17040, however, the end of the Rock Island was not the end of its railroad career.
The caboose was acquired by the Chicago & North Western Railway and given a new number:
Rock Island No. 17040 became C&NW No. 12575.
Its time with the C&NW would be relatively short, but it would leave some of the most dramatic physical changes in the caboose's history.
The C&NW Years: No. 12575
A Late-Era Caboose Modernization
The Chicago & North Western was operating in a railroad industry very different from the one No. 17040 had entered in 1958.
Traditional cabooses were becoming increasingly expensive to operate and maintain, and railroads were beginning to modernize their remaining fleets while new technology was making the caboose itself increasingly unnecessary.
C&NW No. 12575 became part of that transition.
December 31, 1981 — Clinton Car Shop
One of the most precise dates we have uncovered in the caboose's history comes from C&NW records:
No. 12575 was released from the C&NW Clinton Car Shop in Clinton, Iowa, on December 31, 1981.
The Clinton facility was an important C&NW repair and rebuilding shop. During this late period, the railroad carried out an extensive caboose modernization program intended to reduce maintenance costs, improve safety and keep the remaining fleet serviceable.
No. 12575 received the characteristic modifications associated with this late C&NW era.
Modernizing No. 12575
During its C&NW years, No. 12575 received several modifications typical of the railroad's late-era caboose modernization program.
The most visible change was to the cupola windows, which were blanked over with solid steel plates to reduce maintenance from broken glass, weather and vandalism. The original roofwalk and end extensions were also removed as railroad safety practices changed.
Mechanical and safety equipment was updated as well, including the air-brake system, trucks, end-platform railings and steps, and rear marker lighting.
These changes helped adapt a caboose built in 1958 for the railroad operations of the early 1980s.
Decades later, during our restoration, windows were returned to the cupola—restoring one of the most recognizable features of its original Rock Island appearance.
From Rock Island Red to “Zito Yellow”
The C&NW gave No. 12575 a dramatically different look, repainting the former red Rock Island caboose in its highly visible Safety Yellow, known to enthusiasts as “Zito Yellow.”
Dark green accents and the familiar red-and-black C&NW “Employee Owned” emblem completed the transformation. In just a few years, Rock Island No. 17040 had taken on an entirely new identity as C&NW No. 12575.
1982 — The End of Its Railroad Career
Even as C&NW modernized its cabooses, the railroad industry was beginning to operate freight trains without them. New End-of-Train devices, along with changing crew practices, were making the traditional staffed caboose obsolete
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C&NW No. 12575 was retired around 1982, shortly after its December 31, 1981 release from the Clinton Car Shop.
After approximately 24 years of railroad service, its working life appeared to be over—but its story was far from finished.
After the Rails
Following its retirement from C&NW service, No. 12575 entered the railroad equipment and resale market.
Records connect the caboose to A&K Railroad Materials, a major railroad materials and salvage company with a facility in Granite City, Illinois. It was also offered for private sale through Ozark Mountain Railcar, a specialty broker of railroad equipment.
While we have not yet confirmed the exact sequence of these events, what we do know is remarkable: at a time when thousands of retired cabooses were being dismantled or scrapped, No. 12575 survived.
For Sale: One 1958 Steel Caboose
The surviving Ozark Mountain Railcar listing gives us a fascinating snapshot of the caboose after its railroad career.
Even after decades of railroad service and a trip through the salvage market, the caboose still retained important pieces of its working past, including its steel construction, original interior arrangement, oil-fired heating equipment and blanked C&NW cupola.
It was no longer Rock Island No. 17040.
It was no longer working as C&NW No. 12575.
It was simply a retired 1958 steel caboose looking for someone willing to give it another life.
And that is exactly what happened.
A SECOND CHANCE
From Granite City to Fredericktown
After its working railroad years came to an end, No. 12575 eventually found its way to Granite City, Illinois, where it waited for its next chapter.
That's where Rick, the caboose's previous owner, enters the story. Rick purchased the caboose and brought it to Fredericktown, Missouri, with plans to restore it and give it new life.
Rick began that restoration, including installing several of the windows, but unfortunately was never able to complete what he had started. Although the interior would later be rebuilt during our restoration, some of the windows Rick installed remain in the caboose today—a lasting piece of his contribution to its preservation.
Years later, the opportunity came for us to continue what Rick had begun, taking a weathered piece of railroad history and carrying his vision forward.
Rick had saved the caboose. Now it was our turn to bring it back to life.
Three Colors. Three Chapters.
From its original Rock Island red, to C&NW's distinctive “Zito Yellow,” and finally to what we affectionately call “H&R Viper Red,” the changing colors of this caboose tell the story of three very different chapters in its life.
When it came time to choose its restored appearance, we wanted the classic look of a traditional red caboose. We chose Viper Red, a Dodge automotive color, for its rich, bold finish—but we also wanted to honor the last railroad our caboose served.
The American flag and C&NW-inspired graphics were intentionally incorporated into the finished design as a tribute to C&NW No. 12575, bringing pieces of its final railroad identity into its new life as the H&R Caboose Roost.
The Story Continues
The railroad years are only part of this caboose's story. Discover how a weathered piece of railroad history became the H&R Caboose Roost—and the people who inspired its name.