Donated by private owner in October 2006
Quick Facts:
Model: N7E caboose
Built: October 1969
Builder: International Car Company
Past Owners: Erie Lackawanna, Conrail
Current Owner: The Conrail Historical Society
Current Location: Allentown & Auburn Railroad, Kutztown, PA
The #21165 is the crown jewel in The CRHS's collection. Its donation to us marked The CRHS’s first acquired piece of Conrail equipment.
The #21165 began life as Erie Lackawanna Railroad #C368, part of a group of 20 cabooses built by the International Car Company in 1969. Conveyed to Conrail in 1976, it was painted blue in 1976 and served Conrail until 1984 when it was sidelined in Reading, PA. Eventually sold into private ownership, the #21165 was moved to Sands Point, NY and put on private property. In 2006, the property owner decided to list the caboose on eBay.
After several months with no bids, the owner donated the caboose to The CRHS. It was trucked from Sands Point to Middletown, PA, where it was placed back on live rail at the Middletown & Hummelstown Railroad.
In 2014, the #21165 was moved to the Allentown & Auburn Railroad in Kutztown, PA, where it underwent an exterior cosmetic restoration and has been the recipient of a fresh paint job, making the car look as good as it did when it first rolled out of Conrail's Reading, PA shops in 1976.
Starting in August of 2017, the #21165 has been on lease to the Allentown & Auburn Railroad, where it is frequently used for both excursion trains (which are available for the public to ride) or on freight trains, doing exactly what it was designed to do five decades ago!
On August 30, 2017, the Allentown & Auburn Railroad ran its first freight train for its first regular freight customer. The lading in the covered hopper is clay, which will be trucked from Kutztown to a local industry. Conrail #21165 was used for the four-mile shove move from the interchange in Topton to the siding in Kutztown.
Conrail #21165 sits in Topton, PA shortly after its restoration in the summer of 2014.
CR #21165 brings up the rear of the Ringling Brothers circus train at Allentown, PA on May 3, 1984. (Kermit Geary Jr. photo)
CR #21165 passes Delray Tower in Detroit, MI on the rear of a freight train in October 1976. Note the roofwalk is still in place and the end ladders have not been cut down yet. (Jason Berkner collection)
CR #21165 stored at the deadline in Conrail's Reading, PA yard on December 2, 1984. (Kermit Geary Jr. photo)