Northwestern Pacific Railroad
Historical Society
Preserving the heritage of Redwood Empire Railroading

With the brown paint finally on the caboose, with the new doors and windows, and with the caboose now secure from the elements, we took a breather on the November 9th workday.

Not knowing if we would be facing rain or repairs (after the big first storm of the season) we spent most of the day cleaning up the inside of the caboose in preparation for winter work which would confine us to the interior. But the stove has been going, and it does a great job of keeping it toasty inside.

Mike Meyer and Bruce Evans sorted through our supplies and parts and got rid of things we wouldn't be using. We cut up a lot of the scrap wood that was left over from rot repairs and trim replacement and will use it in the stove. Don Brewer did a little scraping on one spot at the right front interior, and Jeff Millerick removed two small steps from the end-rails for cleaning and painting. started plotting what we should do with the doors on the cabinets under the cupola.

The November 23rd workday was another story. We had a great crew of eight nine show up, and got quite a bit of work accomplished.

The concentration of the day (since the weather was nice) was to start scraping the metal on the two platforms. The platforms are all metal-some steel and some iron-and while there are many coats of paint, there are areas where the paint is peeling off and rust showing through.

Mike Millerick, Hugh Metcalf, Don Brewer and started scraping on the B-end, until they were chased to the A-end by Jeff Millerick with his sandblaster. We planned our time, and by the end of the day we had done the first prep on the A-end and primed about half of the B-end. If weather permits, we'll continue this work in December.

While the platform work was going on, Mike Holland put the final two pieces of trim on the inside windows, then started making a materials list for the conductor's desk and the toilet enclosure. We looked at the photos trying to figure out how they had constructed the toilet enclosure, as it had a water tank above and a six-inch radius corner on the outside.

Jim Gray painted the cupola eyebrows and Bruce Evans measured the outside walls for lettering. Then they got a second coat of brown on the right wall. If the weather was as good as this day, we'll try to get the final coat on the left side and the cupola, and install the eyebrows in December.

So with plenty of help, we had a great day and got lots of work done on the outside before it starts raining on us.

As we approach the end of the year, we note that we're not as far along as we'd planned, but we still see that we've done a lot of much needed work this year. After working on the inside over the winter, we should be pretty close to having the caboose done by spring, then it will be a matter of the running gear and mechanical items that will need our attention.

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October was finally the month that Caboose 13 would move from the Millerick yard south of Sebastopol to its new home in Willits. It had been at Millericks for over three years, during which it was lovingly and carefully restored to immaculate condition. But it needed a permanent place to reside, and that place would be the Railroad History Project in the Mendocino County Museum at Willits. Storage and operation there would be overseen by Roots of Motive Power.

After six weeks of searching for a mover and frustration with moving permits, Jeff Millerick finally got Trost Equipment of Baypoint (near Concord) to make the move.

The first week of October, Trost said they wanted to move the caboose the weekend of October 4th and 5th. That date also came and went, but finally on October 8th they said they'd be and make the move on Saturday.

Keep in mind that to this point in time, everyone in the Society and Roots of Motive Power have been following this ordeal and reacting to all the false starts. Roots members were ready to unload the caboose in Willits, and caboose workers were waiting to be there and follow the move. At one point I apologized to our crew about being the boy that cried wolf, since I'd set so many tentative move dates that had fallen apart.

Finally, Trost said they'd be up on Friday, load the caboose, and move to Willits on Saturday. Several people waited much of the day for them to show up (Jeff Millerick, Gary Anderson, Don Cabrall and myself) and finally at 4 p.m. we learned that they were on the way, but had only made it as far as Benicia. We packed up with the plan that we'd get the caboose loaded early Saturday and finally make the trip.

At 7 a.m., our work crew/entourage (Harold Mentzer, Jeff and Don Millerick, Gary Anderson, Lionel Gambill, Don Brewer, Don Cabrall, Wes Brubacher of Roots, and myself) was formed at the Millerick property ready to go. Trost showed up at 8 a.m., and quickly started moving their trailer under the caboose. It was a very tight fit, as the trailer they were using was wider, not being the same one the caboose had come up from Pleasanton on. But they persevered, guided by several ground people, and about 10:30 the caboose was no longer sitting on the ground-for the first time in over three years.

It took another hour and 50 minutes to get the caboose properly positioned and tied down, and a flat tire on the truck changed.

At 12:20, President Harold Mentzer threw the red flag out onto Lone Pine Road, and the caboose left Millericks on its way to Willits. There were tense moments for the first hour, as we carefully negotiated several overpasses with our over-height load. The first came at the Highway 101 undercrossing on Highway 16 when we knocked off the telltale stick that had been put up at the front of the caboose to mark the top of the cupola. We slipped under, but I'll never know how. The clearance was marked 14', 11" on the overpass. We had measured the clearance at 15', 4", and the caboose load we had measured at 15', 3". You couldn't have placed an Arcata and Mad River timetable on top of the cupola-all two pages of it!

We got on Highway 101, and continued to negotiate overpasses through Santa Rosa, sometimes pulling into the fast lane to obtain the greatest clearance, sometimes getting into the median, but always just barely squeaking by. Jeff Millerick and Wes Brubacher went ahead and scouted overpasses with a pole to determine the actual height and the best way to get under, and relayed this information to the truck by radio and cell phone.

Once we got North of Windsor, it was clear sailing (poor choice of words for moving a caboose) until we got to Ukiah. We pulled off at the Perkins Street overpass, which is labeled 15', 0", and figured we could get under by pulling to the median where we'd gain several inches of clearance. Just as we started to pull onto the freeway, and CHP officer also pulled on just in front of us, did the double-take, turned around and came back, and threw up the red board.

Within minutes, it looked like a CHP convention around the caboose. Our entourage stood back as the trucker and his wife tried to explain things. It turns out that the permit had been issued based upon the previous move back in August of 2000. That permit had the height of the load at 14 feet-over height but well under any freeway overpasses. This explains why it was so easy for Trost to get the permit where the other haulers had such difficulty.

So the CHP ordered the load off the freeway, closed the on-ramp, and escorted the caboose over to a lot near their office on Orchard Avenue. After weighing and checking the truck, they said it stays right there until a new permit was issued for the actual dimensions of the load. (I don't think they ever really looked at our caboose and realized what it was.)

Our entourage disbanded, as did the crew at Roots in Willits that had been patiently awaiting our arrival. They had moved the caboose trucks into position, moved the CWR #04 caboose out of the Railroad History Project engine house to make room for our #13, and had the Arcata and Mad River #104 diesel ready to move the caboose once we set it on the tracks.

Due to the holiday weekend, the CalTrans permit office was closed until Tuesday, so there the caboose sat, watched by the Trost's and their worker, who stayed with it every night.

On Sunday, we looked the situation over, and determined that if we moved the caboose ahead five inches on the trailer, we could drop it one inch, and if the trailer axles were spread (an option on this trailer) we could probably drop another two or three inches. This would get us under 15 feet, and we felt we could get a permit to continue to Willits at that height.

Monday, Mark Trost did this work, and we re-measured the caboose at 15 feet. But contact with the permit office said that we needed to be at 14', 9"-an almost impossible task. Chris Baldo, Roots President, had recommended a month prior that we should consider going through the old Masonite plant. So we contacted them, got permission, and had a new route that would avoid the problem overpass.

Tuesday morning, Denise Trost was on the phone with the new load and route information, and also obtained two other permits for the move from local agencies. At 3 p.m., CalTrans faxed the final permit to us and we were on the road.

We meandered through downtown Ukiah and the now-closed Masonite plant, and then hit the freeway at Redwood Valley. The remainder of the 20-mile trip to Willits was uneventful, and we arrived there at 4:50 p.m.

The back end of the caboose was carefully raised by John Bradley running an old Eureka Southern crane, and was cribbed so that we could lift the front end and let the trailer out from underneath. We then moved the caboose trucks under, and #13 was once again sitting on rails, and ready to awe and please for generations to come.

Now that the caboose is at it's new home in Willits, there will be some preparation work before it is officially completed and ready for display. We have handrails to put on the four outside corners and on top of the cupola. The stove flue and stack need to go back on. There's a lot of paint touch-up. And the brake rods need to be attached and the brake system tested.

So we're getting close, and after three years maybe we can be patient for a little while longer. The work crew has done an excellent restoration, and their work will soon be proudly displayed at the new Redwood Empire Railroad History Project in Willits.

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September was to have been the month that the caboose was moved to Roots of Motive Power in Willits. But only parts of it made the trip.

Roots was having their annual Steam Festival Sept. 6 and 7, and we all wanted the caboose to be there showing off. We tried to plan the move with this in mind, and searched for a mover that could do the move in the short two-week time slot we had.

Well, it just didn't work out. We did manage to get a load of small parts (smoke stack, railings, etc.) up by the end of August, and the two caboose trucks made it onto Roots tracks on Sept. 4th.

Jeff Millerick tried several haulers, and we thought we had one in a boat mover with a center-well trailer. But the wheels on the trailer turned out to be too tall to haul the caboose. This hauler also spent a long of time and energy working on the permits for the haul. It turned out that there were weight, height and width restrictions on a piece of Highway 101 between Hopland and Cloverdale that's under construction.

Jeff then went to Von Arx Drayage of Windsor, who had moved our new wheels and axles up from Southern California. They went through the same permit process, and figured they could get the caboose as far as Masonite in Ukiah, but would then have to go around two overpasses, which they couldn't figure out. After a couple of weeks, we kindly said "thanks" and moved on.

Jeff's next contact was with Trost of Bay Point in the Bay Area. They are the movers that originally got the caboose from Pleasanton to Millericks in Sebastopol. They said they'd like to do this move, but were tied up on another job for a couple of weeks.

So that's where we sit at the end of September. We're fairly confident that Trost can and will do the move, probably some time during October.

After going through this frustrating process of trying to move the caboose, we rationalized that this is probably the worst time to try and move a caboose. The summer work is building to a crescendo, and all the truckers and haulers are very busy right now. And moving a caboose (which likely requires special permits) is not as easy as moving a piece of heavy equipment covered by the haulers blanket permit. Come December or January, these same haulers would likely be begging to move the caboose.

Once the caboose does get moved to Willits, there will be some preparation work before it is officially completed and ready for display. We have handrails to put on the four outside corners and on top of the cupola. The stove flue and stack need to go back on. There's a lot of paint touch-up. And the brake rods need to be attached and the brake system tested.

So we're getting close, and after three years maybe we can be patient for a little longer. The work crew has done an excellent restoration, and their work will soon be proudly displayed at the new Redwood Empire Railroad History Project in Willits.

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August was the wrap-up month for the caboose restoration at Millericks south of Sebastopol. And it was a busy month. We put in a total of 144 hours-the busiest month we've had during the restoration project.

Much of the time was spent applying the rest of the grab bars and handrails. Mike Meyer stuck with this project, assisted by Gary Anderson. Don Brewer installed the guards on the platform windows.

The cupola floors got a new layer of linoleum, and Hugh Metcalf re-installed the trim. The cupolas also got new seats, backrests and armrests, the manufacture being done by Bruce and Noreen Evans. Hugh installed the armrests, and Mike Holland secured the seats and backrests.

The lettering that had been started back in July was finished on August 23rd thanks to an all-day effort by and . The scaffolding was removed the same day for the last time, and the caboose sat proudly for the first time with its name proudly displayed.

Jeff Millerick spent most of the month collecting, cleaning, painting and installing the last of the truck parts. This included trips to Nevada to secure the much-needed springs and centerplate. By the end of the month, everything was installed and the two trucks were better than new and ready for years of reliable service.

Jeff also re-worked the side bearings under the caboose (on each side of the centerplate to help keep the caboose from wobbling). They had been modified because of the installation of a 36" wheelset at some point that threw the whole caboose into a front-to-rear tilt.

August 23rd was a special day at the caboose, as the Officers and Directors put on a barbecue for the work crew in appreciation for all the work and hours they have given to the restoration. Jim Gray and cooked up some very tasty kabobs and sausage, accompanied by fruits and salads.

It was also touchup day, which saw Donna Holland cleaning windows, and Hugh Metcalf installing coat hooks, the conductors lamp bracket, and a vent screen.

So at the end of the month, the work was done at the Millerick yard, and plans were made to move the caboose to the new Railroad History Project in Willits which adjoins Roots of Motive Power. As of the fourth of September, the caboose trucks were on their way to Willits, but the status of moving the caboose body was still up in the air.

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We're moving into the finishing stages of the caboose restoration project. It's hard to believe that we've been at this for 2-1/2 years! But our progress is showing, and we're getting close to the end.

In July, Don Cabrall got the linoleum on the conductor's desk. (Boy, is that stuff hard to find.) And he mounted the crew desk on the wall in the front compartment.

Don Brewer and Hugh Metcalf started on repairs to the cupola floors. They will get the same linoleum that went on the conductor's desk.

Brewer and Jim Gray went over all the window glass with razor blades and removed all the "extra" paint that accidentally got on them.

and Mike Meyer started putting the grab bars and handrails on, and have run into some problems. Literally! Seems like every time they drilled a hole for a bolt, they ran into metal in the walls. There are tie rods that run vertically from the frame to the top plate of the wall, and these rods are right where the holes for the rails and bars need to go. Plus, they're having to locate some drill bits that are the right size and will go through all the layers in the walls and frame. But they're persistent, and are now starting to get the bars, rails and corner braces on.

Bruce Evans started the lettering on July 12th, and continued on July 26th with the help of Denni Chambers. Russ Clover did a great job laying out the lettering design for us, and had the stencils made back in the mid-west. With the application of the lettering, the caboose really starts to look finished.

We've been searching for all the parts for our two trucks for a year, and have been wondering if this part of the project would ever come together. First it was trying to find axles and 5x9 bearings, with the ultimate conversion to roller bearings. Then it was the springs, which are of different sizes, styles, and of which several are broken.

We have the trucks together now, and springs was the only outstanding issue other than a bad centerplate. During a trip to Nevada late July, Jeff Millerick stopped by the V&T Railroad and found that they had a complete truck exactly the same as ours. So he made a deal, and we now have both the springs and centerplate.

So the trucks can finally get back together, and beat the caboose to its new location.

And the new location for the caboose will be at the new Railroad History Project in Willits. This is a joint venture between Roots of Motive Power and the Mendocino County Museum. The new $1.3 million building was completed and dedicated this year, and has a beautiful two-track engine house where the caboose will be on display.

Both the Roots and NWPRRHS boards have approved the loan of the caboose to Roots and the RERHP. So as soon as we can, we'll start moving things to Willits-first the trucks, then the caboose.

So plan on visiting Willits and seeing the finest NWP wooden caboose on the West Coast.

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June was a great month for the caboose. The Millericks got the two trucks together with our new roller-bearing axles, and the main portion of the paintwork was completed. We now have two coats of green on the inside, and two coats of brown on the outside.

We still have paint finish work to do, but having the bulk of the paint on the outside and inside will let us start putting the finishing touches on the caboose.

All this accomplishment comes only through the continuing efforts of our wonderful work crew. The Millericks put in extra hours on the trucks, and Bruce Evans put in a couple of weekdays trying to stay ahead of the crew with primer work.
So now the fun can begin-putting things back on that really make the caboose look like a caboose.

In addition to the trucks, the Millericks also painted most of the hardware. The grab bars, handrails and ladders are now ready to go back on. Some of the grab bars go inside, and some go outside. The handrails go on the platforms and on top of the cupola.

Also busy in June was Russ Clover. Russ spent around 30 hours researching and designing the lettering for our caboose. He then had the stencils made back in the mid-West. The stencils weren't cheap, but they're on really tough 10 mil. plastic and will hold up for a long time.

The process of applying the lettering should be interesting, but it will also be tedious. We'll need to position the stencils and secure them in place with tape, apply some special lettering paint with a stencil brush, and then come back and fill in the bridges or bars.

Jeff Millerick has been looking high and low for the remaining parts for our trucks. He's trying to collect enough materials to make up four good and matching spring sets. Some of our existing springs are cracked and flattened from years of use. Jeff has located sources for materials, and says he will have the springs ready in the next six weeks.

Jeff is also looking for a centerplate for one of the truck bolsters. We have one centerplate that's in really good condition, but the other one is pretty sad.

On June 28th, Lou Spiros took the brake valve and cylinder apart so that we could get those parts swapped with ones that have been serviced. These parts need to be serviced every four years. When Lou took things apart, he found that the parts were in excellent condition, with the grease still soft. It appears that the caboose brake parts were probably serviced very shortly before it went out of service back in the 70's.

The next few workdays should be interesting. There are a wide variety of tasks that need to be accomplished. We will be doing some things that we may not have tackled before, so some head scratching may be in order. Fitting the corner braces, handrails, marker brackets and that sort of thing could be a challenge as we'll need to find or make bolt holes. Then we'll have to make those old bolts work in those bolt holes.

We will still be doing some painting, but it will be finish work and touch-up. Gary Anderson and got some black paint on the area around the stove, and the stove needs another coat, as does the roof jack and the lamp deflector at the conductor's desk.

We'll need to scrape the extra paint off the window glass throughout the caboose, and go back over the whole thing inside and out and touch up where we slopped over the line a little.

We're getting very close to the completion of the project. Hopefully, we will see the caboose moved to Willits by the end of August. It's going to be a lot of work to make that happen, but we've met all the challenges so far and come out winning.

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May was a good month at the caboose. Much happened, and we got closer to seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

The whole inside of the caboose now has green paint except the cupola area and the floor, thanks to the work of Don Brewer, Gary Anderson and Mike Meyer. The cupola does however have its first coat of white primer, and should be green by the end of June. The floor will be the last thing painted inside.

Mike Holland got the conductor's desk installed, and Don Cabrall followed up with drawers and a door for the desk. Don is designing the drawer pulls which will go on soon. Bruce Evans got the desk primed on May 27th, and also primed the handrails into the cupola.

Outside, Jeff Millerick spray painted the underframe of the caboose, and finished the sandblasting on the A-end platform. This work was followed up with red metal primer on the platform, and a special gray primer on the handrails and brake wheels of both ends.

Perhaps the most exciting news in May was the arrival of our new roller-bearing axle/wheel sets on May 7th. On May 10th, Don and Jeff Millerick got to work modifying the sideframes, and everyone stood around and watched as they slipped one on the new axles to see if the modifications would work. Everything went well, and we're finally on our way to having the truck situation resolved.

Jeff Millerick hauled the truck parts and all the remaining metalwork to a local contractor during the month, and on the last day of the month got everything sandblasted and followed it up with a coat of paint.

Meanwhile, Russ Clover has been working on the lettering design for the caboose, and will get the artwork off to a stencil maker early June. Lettering on the caboose will really make it start looking like its ready for service again.

So work goes well at the caboose. June will be a critical month as many projects need to fall together. In addition to finishing the painting inside, we still need to get the final coat of brown paint on the outside, put grab bars and metalwork back on and do the lettering. But we've got a great crew, and we look forward to having the restoration completed in the next couple of months.

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April was a little short of work crews, so not a great quantity of work got done, but what did get done was significant.

First, there is now "Seafoam green" paint in the conductor's compartment. On April 12th, (while much of the rest of the crew were at the quarterly Board of Directors meeting) Cliff Baumer and got the first coat of green in the back room. This paint matches very closely the original color scheme that was applied by first NWP, and then SP. This first coat will be followed by a final coat when the remainder of the interior has all it prep work and primer.

Getting the green on the conductor's compartment permitted the second major accomplishment-installation of the framework of the conductor's desk. On April 26th, Mike Holland placed the frame in position and got most of it attached to the walls. The top is on, but left loose, so we can install drawer guides and the vent at the rear of the right side.

Work on the faceframe for the desk took place on April 28 and 29 in the home shop of Bruce Evans. Once the faceframe and drawer slides are installed, Don Cabrall will get to work constructing five drawers and a door for the desk.

The third major accomplishment in April was the completion of prep work in the forward compartment. This work had taken a long time, but was necessitated by the poor quality paint that had been applied over the original green paint. But now the entire compartment has at least one coat of primer, and when the second coat of primer is on the left side, we can get the first coat of green on.

Other major issues that were resolved in April had to do with the trucks and the final disposition of the caboose.

At their April 12th quarterly meeting, the Board of Directors decided to upgrade the caboose trucks to roller bearings. While this action will maintain the original appearance, (rollers will be enclosed within the existing bearing housings of the side frames) it will reduce the maintenance requirements and make interchange possible.

Jeff Millerick has been on the phone much of April, and has secured four roller bearing axle/wheel sets, as well as the adapter plates. All materials should be on site early May, and the trucks can start going back together later in the month. Jeff is also arranging for professional sandblasting of all the metalwork, which will save us a great amount of time.

Also at the Board meeting, the Directors decided that the prudent course of action for placement of the caboose upon completion would be to place it at the new Redwood Empire Railroad History Project in Willits-at least on an interim basis. While the Skunk Line will operate limited service between Fort Bragg and Northspur this summer, the stability of the CWR remains in question, and the Board-while supportive-was reluctant to place the caboose with the trustee of a railroad that was in bankruptcy.

So work progresses on the caboose, and we can start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. We still have prep work in the cupola, second coats of paint both inside and outside, the trucks, lettering and much more. But we're looking at the end of June to be mostly completed with the project. While this may turn out to be optimistic, we need to set a goal and keep moving toward that completion date.

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Weather kept the work crew inside the caboose in March, which isn't all bad. We're closing in on completion of the prep work of the walls-both forward and in the conductor's compartment-and should get the final paint on starting in April.

Jeff Millerick did manage to do some sandblasting on the A-end platform, and when we can get out again in good weather, we'll have primer on both platforms.

Don Cabrall found some more rot at the bottom of the left forward cupola wall, and cut in a new piece of plywood to make that go away. Some minor rot was found in the interior wall boards of the forward left side, which was filled in by Cliff Baumer.

Gary Anderson and Mike Meyer tackled the conductor's compartment in March, and now have two coats of primer on the walls and ceiling. In April, we'll put on the first of the "seafoam green" paint that was typical of NWP and SP cabooses.

March 22nd saw a crew of nine at the caboose, so lots of work was accomplished on that day. The second coat of primer got on the conductor's compartment, and Don Brewer and David Lightfoot completed paint removal on the forward left wall. Denni Chambers and Cliff Baumer spent the day up in the cupola starting the scraping and sanding of that area. And Jeff Millerick did some repairs on one of the truck bolsters.

Away from the workdays, Jeff has been researching axles and wheels for our trucks. We had lined up some roller bearing sets, which would have been extra work and money, but have now backed off in favor of the old standard journal bearing axles. After thinking there were none of these still available, we have found a couple of good sources and will have a pair on the property in the next month or so.

As we near the completion of the restoration project, we're looking at where the caboose will reside. We had hoped to have it rolling behind excursion trains on the NWP, but the re-opening of our home line appears to be somewhere in the not too near future at this point. We also started negotiations with the California Western Railroad, but then they went into bankruptcy, and we're reluctant to deal with a situation where the whole railroad is in question, let alone the status of our caboose. We have a back-up plan if nothing else works, which is to place the caboose at the new Redwood Empire Railroad History Project in Willits.

This newly completed $1.3 million building will eventually contain exhibits of railroading and logging, a research library, and an engine house which will display railroad equipment. The engine house is connected to the trackage of Roots of Motive Power, so the caboose could at least have a short ride when it's not on display in the engine house.

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February saw the work on the interior walls continued. On Feb. 8th, the crew of Brewer, Baumer, Metcalf and Millerick got the rear compartment sanded and ready for primer, and got half of the old paint off the forward left wall.

On the 22nd, Mike Meyer did some touch-up work in the conductor's compartment, and started priming. Brewer, Evans, Metcalf, and Anderson tackled the forward wall again and finally got the rest of the old paint off. We started sanding, and will hopefully be ready to start priming in March.

Meanwhile, Don Cabrall has been coming in on weekdays, and has all the doors under the cupola on and ready to for paint. He has also filled in a hole in an interior post of the cupola, and worked on a bit of rot in the lower corner near the icebox.

Don also put on two pieces of two-inch half round trim that Bruce Evans had made in his shop.

Also on the 22nd workday, Jeff Millerick spent half the day sandblasting the rest of the rear platform. Then in the afternoon, the whole crew went out and got a coat of metal primer on the bare metal. That platform is now ready for the final coats of paint, and the crew will move to the forward platform as weather permits.

Bruce Evans has been working with Microphor in Willits to figure out how to place a self-contained toilet where the old straight dump type had been. The toilet itself is not a problem, but the tank that processes the effluent must go under the floorboards and there's not too much room under there.

Jeff Millerick made a trip south to Mojave recently, and located some wheels and axles that may work on our trucks. They are roller bearing, instead of the friction type that we have, so we also need to track down adapters so we can use them in our sideframes. Jeff has been on the phone to Texas trying to locate these adapters.

Jeff has also located a firm that can help us manufacture springs, and also someone who can cast the end clips that the springs sit in. Problem is, the type of steel that we need for the springs is hard to find-the only place with it is back East.

If we can swing this all off, we should be able to get trucks and springs back under the caboose for around $3000.

So all continues to go well for the project. We're still shooting for the middle of the year to have the restoration work completed. Then we'll need to decide where it's going to reside and get it moved.

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The weather in January kept us inside the caboose, but that wasn't all bad. We got a lot of necessary work accomplished, and the stove made it a nice environment to work in.

Our concentration was on doing the prep work on the walls of the conductor's room, and getting primer on the front right interior. We had started priming the front right wall back in December, and we finished up January with two coats of white oil base primer on both the right wall and the right half of the ceiling.

Everything that had been on the left side of the compartment has been moved to the right side, and in the next few workdays, we'll do prep, sanding and priming of the left side.

In the conductor's room, we have removed most of the old paint that wasn't sticking, have filled holes, and started some sanding. In the next month, we should have primer on the whole compartment.

All this preping and priming has been a group effort, with Don Brewer, Bruce Evans, Gary Anderson, Hugh Metcalf, Mike Meyer, and Jeff Millerick taking part in the work.

Meanwhile, Don Cabrall has been working on the doors for the cabinets under the cupola. He has manufactured doors for the small compartments under the upper seats, and is now starting on the three doors for the large lower compartments.

Lou Spiros was at the January 8th workday, and assisted Jeff Millerick in making repairs to the hand brake clevis on the A-end.

We'll probably continue to work on the interior, but if the weather cooperates, we may find ourselves back on the platforms getting the rust and old paint off and priming those areas.

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Anyone who is interested in working on the caboose may let us know through the Society phone, Post Office box, or email NWPRRHS Secretary.

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This page was created on October 20, 2001
and last updated on May 28, 2005