August 15, 2010
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Update on the rusty ol' caboose
Some of you may remember this old rusty caboose I posted about back in May. They were getting ready to put it on display at the Catlettsburg train depot.
I found a picture of it in it's original location online. It had been abandoned on some property owned by Marathon Petroleum for over two decades!
Nasty!
Took these about two months ago. It was cleaning up pretty well!
They started painting her last week. Decided on red rather than the traditional C&O blue. Near the end of the caboose era, C&O had repainted most cabooses still in service red, but this one never made it back to the carshops in Wurtland, Ky for repaint before cabooses were phased out entirely.
Stopped by the bank on the way home yesterday and saw they have her almost finished. Still a lot of little detail work to be done, but it's looking pretty good.
You've came a long way, baby!
They say they're going to use it as a small museum for local historical artifacts, so they installed a heat pump for climate control.
Looks right at home down there at the end of the depot's apron!
Great job, guys.
The C&O was a large part of my life in my younger days. My grandfather worked as a carpenter for the C&O all his life, as did my dad for quite awhile in the late 1940's and 50's.
If you're wondering why the railroad needed carpenters, you're probably pretty young. Back in the 'old days' most freight was carried on the railroads in wooden gondolas and boxcars, and C&O's were built right here at the Wurtland carshops. The kind the hobo's used to ride the rails on back in the dust bowl days. You don't see many of them any more, most railcars are made with steel and aluminium these days.
The C&O is responsible for my family even being here in Northeastern Kentucky. Originally from Richmond Va, when the Great Depression hit, the C&O closed it's Richmond carshop and told my grandfather if he wanted to continue working for them he had a job waiting for him at the Wurtland, Ky carshop, part of the Russell Railyard, at that time the largest independently owned railyard in the world. So he packed up the family and moved west. Dad's two older brothers moved back to Richmond later, but dad and his younger sister stayed here with Grampa Ferguson. I'm glad he did. I've enjoyed living here in Ky, with the Ohio River on one side of me and the railroad tracks on the other. It's home to me. Always has been and always will be.
And I can't even imagine living life and not being a University of Kentucky Wildcat fan!
Comments (74)
@buddly47 - Well, looks like somebody important (ahem, looks to heavens) is a Hoosier fan and ain't listenin'. lol
@MythRider - They're repainting the inside, and sure enough, the stove is still there. In good condition, too!
@angi1972 - Thanks, Angi!
@sweet_sinceritee - I was kinda hoping they repaint it the original blue, for some reason! lol
Nice to see the before and after pictures? The exterior restoration looks good. What was needed inside? New flooring, new ladders and benches? Was the stove still there?
Malcolm
@History_Nut - @ANVRSADDAY - @MidwesternShenanigansIN - @AMethodToMyMadness - @Unstoppable_Inner_Strength - @WakeUpLaughing - @WildWomanOfTheWest - @sarahflorida1085 - @grannyinboxers - @bmojsilo - @mcbery - @marigold_mom - @queenof__hearts - Thanks for the comments, guys. Funny thing, my grandfather worked for the railroad all his life and my dad did for a while, but I've never ridden on a train. I need to do that someday!
I am so happy that they restored it,saving a piece of America.
I love railroad history,I guess being born in Reading PA (Reading Railroad) had something to do with that,I have been near trains for many years.
@buddly47 - @SamsPeeps - Meeee tooo. I think it looks sorta...hoosier red, don't you, girl?
@buddly47 - ha!
Just think, if your predecessors HAD moved on up, you really could have been my "Uncle Bud".
@SamsPeeps - Thanks, Nessa!
@LoBornlytesThoughtPalace - @WordsandThoughts - If you like trains, you'd love it here. This little Ky town is home to one of the largest railyards in the world.
@heart_beep - Bucks? Hah, never! I bleed UK Blue!
:Looks like a beauty Bud!
Personally, I liked the before shots but the after shots are really great as well! Great job on redoing the caboose.
I just love the before and after on this one. What a pretty thing it is...and a little history to go with it.
I have a thing for trains. It came out wonderful! I love it bright red =]
It looks great.
WOW! Quite a difference! I think red really suits it, too. (Of course, I love red and think it suits most things, so...)
Love the caboose. I've always thought it would be fun to have one in my backyard, not practical, but fun. My husband once did some plumbing for one in Ohio for someone. I don't remember who it was for. I think it was a business of some sort. Loved the pictures.
Men who have a pierced ear are better prepared for marriage - they've experienced pain and bought jewellery.
-- Rita Rudner
Now that is one beautiful restoration job. Great shots and thank you for sharing them.
How neat
.
I tell you~ nothing makes a girl feel better, than a makeover. They've done an excellent job!
I've watched enough old westerns to remember those wooden boxcars.
@buddly47 - Oh yeah I forgot to mention. I went for a ride once in a Erie Lackawanna caboose once when I was a kid. Was only a short distance but it was cool. I sat in the seat that was up in the upper section. You can actually see the top of the whole train up there.
Wow, what a great job on the restoration! Beautiful!
Looks like a lot of work, but the results are worth it.
I was raised near a railroad terminal and loved going there as a kid. This is simply a beautiful caboose. I used to see railroad men looking out the back of them as the train left. It was so much fun to watch.
Lovely photos. Both my father and stepfather were railroad workers at one time in their lives.
That's really cool! They did a wonderful job restoring the caboose, and I love the red color. Great pics!
She's beautiful! We used to ride the caboose back in the early 80s in western Oregon. I miss that.
@ofunlo - Chesapeake and Ohio, John. Now known as CSX in the modern world. I liked C&O better.
That looks beautiful and it fits so perfectly in that setting. Thanks for these great pics Harold! Oh,and forget the Hoosier fans! Go Bucks!
There is something awesome about old trains and the cars that made them.
wow! looks like she's smiling. : )
what does C & O stand for? something and Ohio? Cumberland and Ohio?
j.
@carl51 - I wish you had gotten some pics too, Carl! Those things are so rare now. I hope it was on it's way to be restored and not scrapped!
@hilaw - @ShimmerBodyCream - @windupherskirt - @slmret - @ItsWhatEyeKnow - @Neeka1 -@Babyboomerjill - Hard to believe it's the same caboose, isn't it? They've really done a great job!
@murisopsis - I hope so too, Val. We don't have a real big problem with that around here. We're pretty rural and like it that way.
@sweet_sinceritee - Thanks, T! What's a Hoosier, and why would they have fans?
LOL! Sorry, couldn't resist.
@Mrs.Buddly - THANKS, HON!
I think I'm going to cry-that is beautiful
we have the Santa Fe one in our town
VERY NICE.
Wow, they did a great job with it!
what a transformation ... looks pretty snazzy!! great job you!!
Love the lil' red caboose! Lookin' good!
My family is originally from Virginia/South Carolina too. They moved to Southern Indiana sometime between when she became a state (1816) and the mid 1800's.
Too bad your fam did not meander a little further north. (Must have broken a wagon wheel. heh) You could have been a Hoosier fan!
They did a great job of restoring/painting this caboose -- so great that it almost looks like a toy for now! I love old trains, and they're few and far between these days!
WOW! She is looking good!!
It looks lovely. Red is nice but I like the blue better... I hope the taggers/vandals stay away from it with their spray paint!
How cool is that!
I think the last time I had actually seen a caboose on the end of a train was like way back in the early 70's. I had an Uncle who lived in Rochester, New York area and he was an engineer on one of the Eire Lackawanna Railroad trains. I am not really sure why they did away with cabooses other than possible fuel saving or something. Anyway, that is an era that is gone now.
Nice pictures and they did a really good job in the restorine and painting.
A few months ago out in the parking lot where I work, on one of them heavy ahuling trailers, there was a steam locomotive setting there for a few days. Don't know if it was on its way for restoration or for scrapping. I sure wish that I had taken some pictures of it.
wow. looks like a whole new caboose.
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