1866 (?) - Boxcar Conversions.
These are the standard boxcar converted to a caboose with the addition of a platform on the roof for the brakeman. I have yet to find a clear side view of this type of caboose, but they do show up in the background of a handful of images.
- Caboose #90 in Sacramento
These cars are the precursor to the later CS class cabooses (which were 32' feet long). These cars did not appear until after the transcontinental railroad was completed. The Sacramento Bee reported these cars being built in 1870.
- 30' Caboose on Cape Horn in the 1870s
These cars were patterned after the Pennsylvania Railroad "bobber" caboose. The Sacramento Bee reported these cars were built in 1877 for use over Donner Pass. The shorter cars weighed less when added to the long freight trains going over the summit. Many of these cars remained in service until the early 1900s. A few were sold to shortlines like the McCloud River Railroad and the Pickering Lumber Co. Amazingly, the car sold to the Pickering lasted until the 1930s. It is a shame it didn't get preserved.
- CP 4 wheel caboose with locomotive #1555, mid-1890s.