If you want to read on what it really takes, go through the Trans DVD of about 10 years ago. There was a issue on the farewell to the caboose. One of the articals was how to buy, move and set up one on properity. The caboose was a former SantFe way-car with the final resting place up in the Rocky Mountains. It detailed the job, pain, planning and worry of site pre-paration, rail laying and re-trucking the caboose. The big expenses were the transport and crane costs.
Can anyone sight the issue in question? I don’t have the DVD collection of Trains to give the reference. Do recall the said caboose was on he cover with a holiday decorations.
As a kid I lived in a small ‘railroad’ town. Local farmer bought one of the railroads cabooses that was heading to the lumber pile (old wooden caboose - lighter than the steel cabooses that replaced it). The farmer had a side line business of ‘house moving’ and decided to use his house moving equipment to move the caboose from the railroad’s property to his own, which was a distance of about 8 miles. As I recollect, the house moving equipment had mechanical failures every mile to mile and a half along the mostly level route.
Everything about the railroad is bigger and heavier than what you think it is. Even a old wooden caboose (with a steel underframe) was pushing 20 tons, even without the trucks - much heavier than it appears as it went by on the end of a train.
Well I have scratched plans to get enough rail to “someday” park a hopper car on land that I don’t own yet. They started pulling up rails tuesday 9-11. I stopped and chatted with one guy. I won’t relay the entire conversation. I think I can work out something so I can buy a section of rail short enough to fit in the bed of my longbed Ranger. Thats all I plan to get for a keepsake unless I can get a switch stand or something else unique. I live just a mile from where they started working. What they are pulling up right now is 80-90 pound rail and not the 60 pound light stuff near where I live.