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TRACKSIDE SERIES

• Yaquina Northern Railroad
• Stabbed At Fields
• In Search of Research
• East to Promontory
• Steam and Salt Air
• At Home in Woods
• Anatomy Rumor
• Submerger History Part 1
• Submerger History Part 2
• Along the Yaquina Northern Railroad..
• Bittner Plug Co.

Officers
President - Bill Bain
Vice President- Richard Cullison
Secretary– Mark Seibert
Treasurer- Allan Preece
National Director-Jim Webb
Chapter Historian – Lloyd Palmer
Conductor-Tom Chandler
C.C.B.W—Leonard Freidberg
Time Keeper-Allen Preece
Senior Director-
Webmaster –Misty Lambrecht
Small Engines - Lane Plotner

WOODEN CABOOSE

It seems that just about everyone you talk to about trains, say the caboose is the one of the things they really miss seeing, when a train rolls by. The caboose seems to fire up the imagination of a home on the rails, and visions of places to visit and things to see. We agree, but our vision is a might different, our gem, a 1907 wooden caboose, will be our visitor center and office here at the Railroad Heritage Center. This railcar was built by Southern Pacific at the Sacramento Shops and is numbered #573. This unit was in service until 1965, at which time it was donated to the Toledo Jaycees to be used as a meeting hall and was located on tracks north of the Toledo W & P station. YPRHS acquired the caboose in 1996 an moved it to It’s present location, and the fun began! We were not quite prepared for all the water damage and rot that had occurred over the past thirty some years after its retirement, but not to be deterred, we dove right in. Our object was to restore this piece of history to appear from the outside, as it did when it rolled as a sentinel behind the consists of the Southern Pacific, however, the interior would be restored and updated to be better utilized as an office and info center on our dockside tracks. A brief rundown of what has ensued to date. To our dismay we found the lower walls and timber sills were extensively rotted. At some earlier date, 4x8 panel siding was added in an attempt to stop weather damage, however the window sills were not sealed allowing water to constantly soak the lower walls, thus the extensive rot . The task of replacing these items was decided to be better handled by professional builders and we contracted this work out to a local firm. The contractor also replaced the repaired the interior wall areas that were damaged. Once that was completed, it was time for our intrepid team of volunteers to dig in and tackle the major task of making this very special piece of history come alive again. The first order was to replace all the windows and 1x4 clear fir vertical siding to seal the caboose against any further water damage. After a coat of Caboose Red stain, new platform planking, 4 sets of fabricated steel risers and wood steps, wow, our pride and joy was really starting to look like we really meant business. Next we tackled the cupola, not knowing how far time and water had taken its toll until a partial tear down, we finally resorted to taking it off of the car for a complete reconstruction using the original framing pieces as patterns. Luckily, one of our members is a cabinet maker, so he led us through this very educational exercise of mortise and tendon construction. We were even able to obtain the true dimensional lumber needed to replicate the structure, true to the original. Once all the pieces were fabricated, we assembled the framework on the dock to check the dimensions, then we took the pieces up on the roof to frame up the cupola, install the through rods and base brackets. Happily, thanks to our mentor, everything fit and our caboose was whole again. New built-up roofing was installed, all new windows were patterned and built from the old, new roofing on the lower section was then put down and we were finally snug an weather proof. Then came some finishing touches for the outside, a fresh top to bottom coat of red stain new fabricated hand rails and curved assist side rails, planked roof catwalks, window trim and a fresh coat of black paint on all the railings and trim. Now this is what we were waiting for, we stepped back and looked at ol’ #573. What a beauty, to behold, truly ALIVE AGAIN. The rest of the story is nearing completion The interior work to be finished include, cupola seating and cabinet, galley with built in refrigerator, sink and microwave, restroom, oak wainscoat, antique sconces, carpeting and custom made oak doors. Project completion date target, late 02.