Here is the caboose a few weeks ago after finishing the lettering on one side.



Photo by Dan Calhoun

Richard Wilkens

Nice car, great job.

BEAUTIFUL shop!!

Howard P.
Shop Foamer, CT

More information on the White River Lumber Company Caboose #001 and it's restoration can be found at http://wrl001.restorations-nrm.com.

Daniel

After looking at those progress photos, I have a few thoughts---

#1, the restoration of that caboose is a miracle! It was brought back from way beyond.

#2, seeing that work and what the starting point was, shows that almost nothing is impossible. (which might be a two-edged sword, as some dumpster candidates might get a new lease on life-- )

#3, small is good-- the caboose is a nice manageable size, not a 75-foot passenger car, and it still took 7 years.

Did the work go faster once the car was in the new shop? Would having the car in the shop right from the beginning of work (if it had exisited then) made progress more rapid?

At any event, this is an amazing job; congrats to the museum and to the people on the project.

Howard P.

Howard,

While the total time is almost 6 years the actual work was done in two stages. The first was the rebuilding of the frame and trucks which was done outside. After the frame was completed we decided to wait until the shop was completed. After the shop went up work continued to finish the caboose. Having the shop from the start would have made a big difference as we lost time trying to work on the weekends when the weather was poor. Luckily our Great Northern baggage car provide dry working space but rather cramped.

In restoring the caboose we tried to save as much of the original material but most of the wood was beyond saving. On the frame we saved two intermediate sills and on the body a fair amount of the framing as well as interior walls were saved.

One item that we have had a lot of comment on is one of the curved side handrails. When we began work this handrail had a kink in it and the initial thought was to remove the kink. Luckily several photos were taken of the caboose around 1947 and just two years after being constructed that handrail was already kinked. So the car has a correct kinked handrail and we are kept busy answering the question "This is a nice restoration but why didn't you fix that bent handrail?"

Richard Wilkens

Sorry, late notice!

White River Lumber Company Caboose 001 has been rehabilitated by volunteers at the Northwest Railway Museum in Snoqualmie and will be at the Snoqualmie Depot for an open house Saturday, May 24, 10 - 5. If you're in the area, make the trip - you won't be disappointed! 38625 SE King Street, Snoqualmie, WA 98065 - www.trainmuseum.org (And regular trains run beginning at 11 AM - ticket sales help support collection care like this caboose project.)