Great Northern Railway: Caboose Restoration

Great Northern Railway: Caboose Restoration. Restoring the Past for the Future. This 25 foot wooden Caboose Car, X549, was one of forty-seven built by the Great Northern Railway at the Waite Park Car Shops in St. Cloud, Minnesota between April 1923 and November 1923 at a cost of approximately $1900.00. Its original number was 90775. The Caboose went through extensive remodeling to its existing layout in the early 1940's. It spent most of its useful life in the Spokane, Washington area. , Caboose X549 served the GNRY until 1967 when it was sold to the Michelson Steel and Supply Company of Everett, WA for scrap. Purchased from the scrap yard, it began its new life in private ownership where it became a play house for some lucky children. It then served in a park in Everett, and as a store and music studio in the Country Village shopping center in Bothell, WA. It was later purchased as - a raffle prize by the City of Tenino. Reconstruction work was begun in February 2020 to remove damaged wood, replace with new, and paint it to match the original color including the GNRY logo. Missing metal parts, interior lamps, a sink and stove were purchased. With the help of local volunteers, the reconstruction work was completed in February 2022. , X549 Specifications , Length of Car Body - 25'-0" , Length over Couplers Faces - 33'-1 1/2" , Width - 9'-8 3/4" , Height - 14'-9" , Weight - 41,000 lbs. , Car Body Construction - Wood , Under Frame Construction - Steel , Lighting Kerosene (Museum converted to LED) , Heating - Coal , Restoration Grants - 2020-2022 , Caboose's Uses , The caboose afforded a train's conductor an office for maintaining paperwork and way bills, and provided a place to keep watch as it proceeded down the line. The conductor made sure to spot problems such as smoke from the an overheated wheel bearings or shifting cargo loads. The safety of brakemen's lives were a big concern as the brakes were set, one car at a time, by hand. Brakemen ran over the tops of cars and had to turn the brake wheels to apply the brakes after the Engineer whistled for them. , After Westinghouse invented the airbrake in 1869, multiple brakemen were no longer needed. The Caboose was removed from - all freight trains by the end of the 1980's and replaced by a flashing rear end device (FRED) and track side monitoring equipment., Captions , (Photo #1) Photo (above) of the X549 caboose in service, circa 1950's. , (Photo #2) X549 Caboose was used as private businesses. , (Photo #3) Caboose just prior to restoration showing damage from time and neglect. , (Photo #4) Photo (above) of the caboose prior to restoration. Much of the wooden structure had to be replaced. It took the volunteers hundreds of hours and loving care to return the caboose back to the one you see today. , (Photo #5) Background of blue prints for the caboose.