Boston & Maine

Boston and Maine. Caboose #104610. , Boston and Maine caboose # 104610 was built in 1921 by the Laconia Car Works in Laconia, NH. The caboose is a 30' center cupola design constructed of wood on a steel frame. The caboose was one in a series of fifty numbered 104600 to 104649. The 1046 series cabooses were light constructed compared to other cabooses so they were used for short local freights not requiring a push up grades by a helper locomotive. In the late 1950's many of the 1046 series cabooses were converted to all steel or scrapped. The few known survivors are in derelict condition with #104610 being the lone survivor that appears as it was after its last overhaul in the late 1940's., Caboose # 104610 at work at the end of a B&M freight train July 25, 1944, in Wakefield, MA. , Caboose 104610 was purchased from the Boston and Maine Railroad in 1957 by the Hartford Chamber of Commerce to be used as an information center. The caboose was positioned with locomotive "Old 494" behind the Hartford Municipal building now called the Town Hall. The caboose and locomotive deteriorated from years of weather exposure, so eventually both were moved to the current site. The efforts of a volunteer group of railroad enthusiasts, "Friends of the 494", under the direction of the Hartford Parks and Recreation Department cosmetically restored the locomotive and caboose and secured funds for the cover. The cosmetic restoration of caboose 104610 locomotive 494 is still in progress.