Pssst! ... Hey Kid, Wanna Buy a Caboose?

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Currently, the number in that collection is limited at any one time to three (in addition to his own) because of the size of Bartlebaugh's home siding. The cabooses now occupying the site are already sold but are either being worked on or are waiting to be moved. When they go, Chuck will buy another three for resale . . . providing he can find them.

"Wooden cabooses are rarely used anymore and are becoming harder to locate," Chuck comments. "When I bought my first ones in 1967 they cost me $350 each. Now, because of their growing rarity, I pay $750 to $800 apiece. The money-minded will note that this means the value of the caboose is rapidly increasing."

When Chuck does locate a caboose he takes a couple of retired railroad friends with him to inspect it. "I've found these men to be great guys," he notes. "When it comes to railroad equipment, they really get a lot of pleasure out of helping me check it out.

"Before I purchase a caboose, we look it over and make sure it's in running condition and, if the wheels are badly worn or the wood dry-rotted, I won't buy. When the wheels are squared off or the wood wasting away, the car will vibrate apart on the tracks. A caboose with bad wheels may never even make it to its destination. However, if there's just one bad wheel or only a few boards that need changing, the car is fairly solid and I'll probably take it."

Before Chuck accepts a car, he also makes sure that its brake lines are good and that the trucks (wheels) are OK for interchange (changing from one railroad line to another). Chuck says, "if the caboose was built for one of the old narrow-gauge lines, it won't transfer to the standard-gauge track now used by most railroads. Such a caboose, except under very unusual circumstances, isn't worth buying."

A caboose currently costs Bartlebaugh between $750 and $800 and he sells them to his customers for $1,250. For the $450 or $500 difference, Chuck's buyers purchase both a railroad car and a guarantee that the car will be delivered to a specified site in running condition. If it's impossible to get the caboose to the site, Chuck will return the customer's money in full. And if the car breaks down enroute—no matter where—Bartlebaugh will either refund the money or have the caboose repaired at his expense. "That makes me doubly careful when I buy a caboose," Bartlebaugh says, "and, so far, I've had no trouble delivering the ones I've picked."

Chuck admits that moving a caboose off the railroad tracks and onto a site once presented a problem, both financially and operationally. "In fact," he says, "it was this very problem that prevented me from selling cabooses for a living for more than two years."

Back when he was new at the business of buying and selling railroad cars, Bartlebaugh shipped each caboose by rail to the point nearest the requested site and hired an expensive crew of heavy equipment movers—called riggers—to move the caboose from the tracks to its new location.

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