Good Medicine Aboard My Own CABOOSE

(Page 4 of 6)

November/December 1990
By Adolf Hungry Wolf 
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One of the biggest headaches for caboose owners is keeping their roofs from leaking. This is especially true with wooden cars, whose roofs traditionally were covered by strips of canvas and coats of tar. Years of rolling up and down tracks usually leave joints and fittings loose and leaky. But volunteers at the Mid-Continent Railway Museum (North Freedom, Wisconsin have tested two products that should resist leaks for up to 20 years, have high fire-resistance and give a close-to-authentic appearance. One uses a combination of cotton/polyester canvas (a stretchable material waterproofed with a 0.9-mil layer of a brushable, liquid neoprene; the other uses a single-ply synthetic rubber material (EPDM) similar to inner-rube material.

If you buy a railroad car but haven't decided whether or not you'll keep it, don't make major alterations to it, or else it will lose its potential value as a historical piece. Those used as personal dwellings are generally left as unaltered as possible. At the other extreme, railroad cars used for ice-cream stands and other such businesses often have both their side walls removed in order to serve customers, with the rest of the interior heavily rebuilt to accommodate the business run inside. Be sure the railroad car you like suits your intended use before you buy it. They're no easier to get rid of than they are to get! Buying a vintage caboose is both practical and exotic can't thinly of a better vacation home," says one owner. Buying a vintage caboose is both practical and exotic—"I can't think of a vacation home," says one owner.

Steps to Acquire a Railroad Car

Find someone in your area who already owns one, bring them a sack of apples, and ask them to recount their experiences. Also, take a look at their car to get ideas for yourself and make sure you can really live with one.

If your impression is favorable, follow any leads that person gives you. Phone the purchasing agent of the nearest railroad and ask what old cars the company has for sale; you may be offered a good one right on the spot, or you might receive a list of available cars on which you can submit bids. Watch for old cars on railroad sidings and ask a company official about their future. Look in the classified ads of rail-oriented magazines (especially Trains, P.O. Box 1612, Waukesha, WI 53187, which often has cabooses advertised, or visit the nearest railroad museum and talk to its members. Phone large salvage companies as well.

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