The Caboose

The caboose, 999726, was built circa 1937 originally for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad. It was donated to the Grants-Cibola County Chamber of Commerce by BNSF and many years later in 2015, the Chamber passed the caboose on to the City of Grants. It was then moved to this site and renovated. , Reverse Side , History of the Railroad and Grants , Grants and railroads have been inexplicably linked since the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad arrived in 1882. The three Grant brothers Angus, John and Lewis had the contract to build the railroad through Los Alamitos (the name of the first settlement in the area in 1872). For several years the railroad ended here until camps were established to continue the grading work west. More than 4000 men and more than 2000 mules worked the line through Grants as it inched west. The area became known as Grant's Camp and later as Grant's Station and eventually became Grant's. The apostrophe was removed in 1937 and it has been Grants ever since. , The Grant brothers maintained a telegraph at the end of the line for company business. The office soon became the source for local and national news. Stock pens for sheep, and cattle were built by the railroad so local ranchers could ship livestock east. During the hayday of railroads when Grants was a stop and had a depot, Hollywood actors, big name bands and famous athletes stopped off in Grants. In the 1920s the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad became the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe Railroad. Mainly known as the Santa Fe Railroad. In 1994 the ATSF merged with the Burlington Northern to become the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad. Approximately 85 trains go through Grants in a 24 hour period.