Good Medicine Aboard My Own CABOOSE

(Page 3 of 6)

November/December 1990
By Adolf Hungry Wolf 
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An even more unique retreat is the former reefer (refrigerator car owned by Howard's brother and his wife, parked just down the track. To fit in with its railroad museum home, the car's outside remains original—still lettered Bangor & Aroostook 7574—but a modern vacation home has been installed in its interior. Open up the original side doors and you discover a set of glass sliding doors, which look out over the beautiful countryside beyond the railroad yard. For additional lighting, the four ice-hatch doors on the roof have been replaced by skylights.

Another conductor of our acquaintance has assembled a small fleet of cabooses that he's rebuilding for a unique bed-and-breakfast, located near Washington State's popular Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad (where he works part-time). He and his teenaged son are also restoring an old mail car that will feature a model-railroad display.

Caboose-Buying Wisdom From non Denlinger

(who has 40 of them . . . so far)

Buying the caboose is the easiest part. The hard part is moving it and sexing it up.

When you start restoring a car, do it right! Shortcuts will cause sorrow later. In the case of steel cabooses, sand the whole body right down to bare metal and remove all rust. Then apply good rustproofing before the main coats. When you just paint over bad spots, they only get worse.

Don't try to save money by restoring the car yourself, hire a professional. Retired railroad workers are often glad to get a chance to do a little extra work like this; try to find one who worked in the car shops. Otherwise, look for an old conductor; they generally knew how to look after their equipment. Don't forget all the neat anecdotes you'll get in the process! Those are the jewels of caboose life.

Adding wooden interiors to steel-bodied cars helps maintain moisture control. A layer of Styrofoam sprayed on the roof greatly reduces the heating problems that plague solid-steel cars. It'll also cut down on heating bills by a great deal, though it costs a lot and doesn't quite look authentic.

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