Since the tragic demise of cabooses on our freight trains, they have been sold in large numbers to all kinds of people and used for many different things. So, what’s the strangest example of a location or use of a caboose that you can think of?
Of course, the obvious answer that comes to mind immediately is being pulled along at the end of a freight train. But do you guys know of any besides that?
I’ll start the ball rolling with a sighting that inspired me to start this topic. On the weekend, I was in Edmonton to catch the Canadian, which I rode to Winnipeg. While driving through an industrial area of Edmonton, I saw an enormous crane at some kind of a steel mill or something. It was the kind where there is a very long beam that the crane moves back and forth along. Anyway, perched up on top of this beam, 100 or more feet in the air, was a bright orange CN caboose! No, I’m not making this up. It isn’t just for decoration, because there were steps on either end of it, so people must obviously go in it. Unfortunetly, it was anything but convienient to get a picture of it and I couldn’t find a picture on the net.
So, what wierd and wild caboose locations and uses can you think of?
I was in Southern Indiana a few years ago on a back road near the town of Popcorn (no, I am not making that up) and saw an old IC caboose being used as a smokehouse for a barbeque joint.
I saw some in the newspaper that were ex PRR, NYC, Conrail, DLW, Erie…some others that were lined up in a chain as a hotel. This caboose hotel is somewere in upstate PA. I forgot were upstate it is located.
There are also several cabooses available to rent as cabins in McCloud,Ca. You can get a package deal and ride the Shasta Sunset dinner train. My family went last summer but I missed out because of work. Bummer because that train may stop running soon.[:(]
Probably the weirdest caboose re-use for me is the McDonald’s in Boulder that has a caboose attached to their building and are using half of it for offices (I think it might their new-hire training facility) and the other half is part of their dual drive-thru that they have set up. From the looks of things they have a small conveyer belt that takes all of the sandwiches and fries over the first lane of the drive-thru out to the caboose for the second drive-thru. Unfortunately I don’t think the store is busy enough any more for the use of two drive-thrus so I think it is used more for storage now more than anything.
In burlington, Mass. there is a restaurant made from several boxcars and a caboose. I forgot the name. Not sure how they got the equipment there because there are no tracks within three or four miles.
there is a caboose off of I-75 in Lima (B&O)used for tourist information.another one around buffalo/niagra falls area(CN) used for a billboard for a carryout.
stay safe
Joe
There is/was a caboose motel in Titusville,Pa.There are quite a few cabooses in NE Ohio,B&O mostly.There is a Wheeling and Lake/N&W caboose at a truckstop south of Canton,Oh that’s a CB shop.