Caboose - All Aboard Westcliffe

CABOOSE 0825
D&RGW caboose cars numbered 0800-0899 were built circa 1887-90s with low cupolas,
end platforms, and side doors. The earliest cars were painted yellow ochre when new with
shadowed lettering. The cars were later replaced or rebuilt with tall cupolas and without side
doors and painted mineral red. Information from Jim Eager September 1989 e-mail.
Caboose number 0825 was manufactured by the Peninsular Car Company January 1889.
It was safety upgraded in 1913 and airbrakes added in 1942. The entire body was replaced after
a fire in 1933. The caboose was used on the Westcliffe Railroad Branch because there is a photo
of it and a train wreck close to Westcliffe; date and location unknown. It was to be dismantled in
November 1945.
Charles Templeton, railroad conductor for the Denver Rio & Grand, used Caboose 0825 as his
office for several years before he retired in 1946. Charles discovered his Caboose was going to be retired
also and asked for it to be shipped to Florence Colorado. There with another railroad car he built his
retirement home.
After Mr. Templeton’s death his property changed owners several times and in 1992 the
property was owned by George Draper who was living in Wetmore. By then the vandals had stripped off
all the metal and the bottoms were rotten from setting on the ground as you can see in the photo.
When Mr. Draper donated the caboose and adjoining car to the All Aboard Westcliffe Railroad Museum
both cars were in very bad shape. The cars were located near Florence Colorado.
In March of 1992 five AAW volunteers, Hank Arlt, Carl Heck, Bob Mueller, Herb Weimer and Mel
Porth headed to Florence to retrieve the cars. Coming along with two front end loaders and a flat bed
truck were Jerry, Steve and Kent Seifert from Seifert Enterprise. Mel Porth estimated it cost $600 to
$800 to move the cars to Westcliffe. The cars were stored at Seifert Enterprise until 2000 when the site
work was completed at All Aboard Westcliffe Museum.
The first order of business was to stabilize the caboose by replacing or repairing all of the rotten
sections. While the carpenters were doing this the welders from Canon City were looking at photos,
original caboose drawings and visiting other cabooses of that vintage to correctly fabricate all the
missing metal pieces required from their own metal collection.
While the carpenters and welders were busy other volunteers were looking for a set of standard
gauge trucks to match the caboose in age. As luck would have it; Hank Bruser from Boyce Louisiana was
visiting his brother, Brent, in Westcliffe and overheard the conversation about AAW needing vintage
railroad trucks. Hank knew about the Southern Forest Heritage Museum in Longleaf Louisiana that had
extra trucks. After much communication between the AAW and Southern Forest Museum about the
Huntoon trucks patented in 1917, Southern Forest and the AAW reached an agreement of $1500 for the
railroad trucks based on the scrap metal prices at the time. According to Southern Forest the scrap
metal prices were lower, the year before the cost would have been $3000. On November 27, 2009, AAW
sent the check for $1500 to Southern Forest Museum. It cost $1000 to transport the trucks to Westcliffe.
Many years ago, Jim Colman of Gunnison Colorado, started his railroad salvage business due to
the number of railroad lines being abandoned in the area. Over the years he has been very generous
with supplying AAW with rails, plates and ETC. Mel asked him if he could locate a set of couplers needed
for Caboose 0825. Jim called back informing Mel that 50 years ago he had taken 5 flatcars to his brother,
Miles’ ranch just south of Westcliffe to use as bridges. The flatcars were still stacked on Miles’ ranch and
Mel was able to rescue a set of narrow gauge couplers for the Caboose.
Kenny Patterson guides the coupler into position with his back hoe under the careful guidance
of Mel Porth. It took a lot of modification of the coupler to make it fit the caboose along with a lot of
blocking and jacking. The coupler was attached to the caboose with original bolts that had been
repaired.
Thanks to many dedicated volunteers another part of our history has been preserved for future
generations. Instead of rolling down the track as the conductor’s office, Caboose 0825 now will help
educate our children and possibly be a great place to have a birthday party!!
This story could not of been written if wasn’t for the All Aboard Westcliffe Museum volunteers
keeping all their photos and paper work. A special thanks to Mel and Doris Porth’s excellent memory of
the restoration and their sharing it with me.
John Swartley, author.