Hello,
I’m considering purchasing a used caboose to renovate and use as a getaway cabin. I’ve searched online but have not had much luck locating unites for sale. I was hoping someone here could offer advice on how I might proceed.
Thank you,
P.J.
Not sure how serious you are, but people will eventually chime in on the various pitfalls and caveats of buying a caboose.
However, there is also a part 2: Moving the caboose (spoiler alert - it most likely will be by road, not rail).
This thread from a different forum (and a different decade, so bump up the costs) may be informative for you.
Good information in that other thread - read it all.
What comes to mind for me is taking a close look at the planned destination. Can you get the caboose (and crane, if necessary) to that location? Will you have to essentially have to build a road?
The Utica & Mohawk Valley Chapter NRHS just moved an ALCO RSC2 from it’s location at a museum. There is video on YT of the move - look for Adirondack 25. It’s not a caboose, but the process may be enlightening. The locomotive will end up back on it’s wheels and will be moved north about 20 miles.
Also consider the local authorities might make you remove the caboose once you sell the property so that it might not be a one way trip. As localities grow what was acceptable in the past might change and the way they enforce the new rules is when you sell or transfer the property.
I’ll probably be the odd man out here, but have you considered building a replica caboose? You could buy some ties, rails & wheelsets and then build the rest fresh from there up. In addition to the purchasing and buying difficulties, building from scatch eliminates problems you probably hadn’t even thought about like lead based paint and asbestos.
His only real major pitfall is going to be moving and ‘erection’ when he gets it where he wants it. If out in the boonies, consider how it gets there – likely will NOT be on a low-loader, let alone by helicopter. And once there, would it be on a length of track, on its trucks? That’s a specialized piece of construction (that had better be straight and level and stay that way over the years) followed by specialized lifts, likely from both ends.
If on a concrete block or railroad-tie foundation be sure to provide jacking pads to periodically adjust level with shims… sooner or later, you’ll use them.
Domicle by container
They built a “Shipping Container” house near where I live and I got to note the progress each evening as I commuted home from work. The only thing I think it saved in using the containers is that they didn’t have to put siding on the building. But I think the savings were lost in the amount of oxyacetlyine used to cut the windows and doors in the 4 walls and top of one/bottom of another to build the stairway between the two stacked containers. They still had to build a 2x4 frame inside for the exterior walls to be insulated and wired and for attaching drywall.
The value that I can perceive in using Shipping Containers to build a house is the publicity and pseudo-pride in saying “This home is built from Shipping Containers!”.
I don’t even like the “looks” of the style of house it created. I will say that by offsetting the top container toward one end it created a nice roof over the front door and a nice 2nd story balcony on the other end.
The only practical use of containers as houses I ever saw that made sense was an architectural proposal from Buckminster Fuller’s students to make a house that folded up into that form factor, with twistlocks and slides for lifting and sliding transport. You would go blind trying to torch-cut windows and doors; the thing to use (with lots of PPE) is a cutting wheel in something like a die grinder.
The ideal use of the things is as in-situ formwork for house extensions … as basements or foundation storage. These can be neatly arranged on relatively small padwork under the corner castings, to support considerable framing weight. And once, ahem, buried, especially if no nosy neighbors were watching, they make, ahem, reasonably secure chemical facilities well-isolated from habitation.
P.J., There is a bay window style caboose lettered Rock Island in Appleton, WI that is currently for sale. I can get the phone number to call if you’d like. The caboose is located across a street from CN yard trackage. I think it is resting on a short piece of track.
Container Castle
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es8x9S1Q0_w
It may not be everybody’s ‘cup of tea’; but to the builder it is his castle in the woods - with no near neighbors to impress. The individual is doing all the construction with minimal outside help.
A way to spend time.
Something else to keep in mind is that if you take a railcar off its wheels and set it on blocks it is now legally considered a building in most jurisdictions, and you will have to get a building permit for it and make sure it complies with all applicable modern codes (no grandfathering in as it will be a new building).
If you keep it on its wheels on a short piece of track it will still be a railcar, and you will probably be able to avoid a lot of bureaucratic headaches.
While I have never pursued it I have looked at plans for doing just that. They are available online and as I recall can be built without “running gear” or you can get a package that includes something that looks like “running gear”.
Hi PJ, Go to Caboose RFP937.
It’s tough finding a caboose in good condition now. Don’t give up! There are still brokers out there that come across cabooses for sale by private owners.
I thought I’d chime in because a friend of mine owns a caboose. I interviewed him a few years ago. The only differance is he lives right by the railroad tracks, so delivering it wasn’t too hard.
https://northcountrytrains.wordpress.com/2018/09/07/a-tour-of-ian-mackellars-cn-caboose/
Right now https://ozarkmountainrailcar.com/ lists 22 cabooses for sale.
I was thinking of that, in the NY area there were numbers of businesses in less dense areas which would have a caboose by their parking lot entrance to attract passing motorists (I’m thinking of one business on Rte 110 in Farmingdale in particular, used to have one at least up until the 1990s - sorry, I don’t have any images). Possibly was a wave of these in the 1980s when cabooses became more or less deprecated and railroads had sell-offs, but I can’t recall seeing many of these recently - perhaps too valuable as scrap and not as noticible to passing motorists as a bigger sign?
Out of curiosity I went to the Ozark Mountain Railcar 'site and looked at those 22 cabooses. Unfortunately you can’t see the prices unless you open an “account,” which I’m not going to do.
Having worked retail and trade shows I’ve always felt that if you’re proud of your prices put 'em out for people to see, otherwise don’t bother showing up, but that’s just me. (And quite a few others.)
Anyway, I’m wondering if someone wants a getaway place out in the country they might be better off purchasing a “tiny house,” considering the hassles of a caboose purchase and move.
You can look them up on eBay. Have seen a number of them rebuilt into cottage in the woods to backward retreats. Additionally, you can find full size Pullmans and coaches for sale. For shipping, one episode of “Moving Wars” had a wooden Soo line cab moved. It almost didn’t make it due to the age of the wood, but it did. Need cranes at both ends of the trip to load it. Last, a number of December issues of Trains ago, the purchase, movement, and placement on a Rock Mt. location was covered. The cab was an AT&SF and was featured on the cover. Good luck!