We moved our 1916 WP668 caboose today from the
Golden Gate Railroad Museum
at Hunter’s Point in San Francisco to San Jose. The day started
at 7 a.m. with cutting off the battery box and a pulley for
the generator that extended too far down. Then, South Bay Crane &
Rigging lifted the caboose by crane from its trucks onto a low boy.
The trucks and a set of rail track were lifted onto a second flatbed.
Julie was our crane operator – she and the other crew (Dennis, Mark,
John, and the others) seemed to be having a great time.
At about 11 a.m., the low boy truck started driving south, followed
by the crane, a smaller truck, and the flatbed truck carrying the
remaining parts. I followed the low boy and got lots of photos of
WP668 passing under bridges as low as 14 feet, 10 inches. It was
exciting and fun to be following our own caboose down highway 101.
Once we arrived at the lot where it will be stored for several months,
the process was reversed. Here is a picture of WP668 just after it
was lifted from the low boy and before it came to rest:
Once everything was unloaded, John and some
Silicon Valley Lines
model train club members boarded up
the windows and put a tarp over the top and called it a day. We are
still sorting all of the pictures and will post more soon.
Image by John Plocher (Copyright 2006)
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