Description
The Half-Bay Window was a design championed by the New York Central and their successors and was adopted by a handful of other roads. When researching railroads, the "what" happened is often easy to find. The "why" it happened is more often then not an educated guess that is repeated until it becomes common wisdom. The guess for the existence of the Half-Bay Window design was to give the railroad the visibility of the bay window while still clearing low and tight obstructions such as through girder bridges and depot platforms.
In 1999 Conrail was divided with Norfolk Southern receiving 60% of the system and CSX receiving 40%. Dividing certain high traffic terminal areas was impractical so these became Conrail Shared Assets on which both NS and CSX would have access. Just after the split, two former Conrail half-bay window cabooses that were inherited by Norfolk Southern were in need of repainting. They rolled out of Juniata Shops in NS caboose red but with a full set of Conrail logos and lettering. This was a classy gesture especially since NS initially assigned them to operate on Conrail Shared Assets lines.
