In between other life and job responsibilities, John and I are working through
our current list of Caboose To Do items. Yesterday, John put up the ceiling trim
(really basic crown molding) and baseboards inside WP668. The final internal
electrical outlets and switches will run along the top of the baseboards. He
also printed out 8×10″ copies of the four
Historic Photos we have so far of our backyard caboose. I put those along
with some more current pictures in one big frame under glass. We now have all of
our old reference photos in one place so we can check them when making restoration
choices.
Other work still
in progress or planned before WP668 is usable:
- Installing electrical plugs and switches inside
- Installing lights outside
- Building 7 step stairway with banisters and handrails
(includes concrete pad installation) - Anchoring the steps (and tie downs) to the ground
- Step and electrical inspections and sign off
- Recreating the back bay window (includes welding, wood work, paint)
- Installing the metal roof covering
- Painting the inside
- Fixing the base floor inside (1/3 of it is damaged, 2/3 of it is solid)
- Covering the floor inside (probably with linoleum)
I am still looking for more and older photos of WP668. We were recently able to
buy one dated 1973 from
John C. La Rue, Jr. With regard to why we have found four photos of WP668
from 1973-1974 but none so far from 1943-1973, he wrote:
-
[In 1973, WP668] was probably one of the last of its design and would have attracted more attention than ordinary from photographers. It was one of many cabooses converted from boxcars during World War II to make up for a shortage that had developed during the Depression, when most railroads had sold everything for scrap that they could in a desperate attempt to remain solvent. The sudden upsurge of war traffic caught them short of rolling stock, especially cabooses, and because the War Production Board would not allot steel for new cabooses, the railroads grabbed every old boxcar still on wheels and turned it into a caboose.
John C. La Rue, Jr. sells “Black-and-white prints, made to order, of mainly railroad cabooses and nonrevenue equipment of all types, dating from the 1940s on (with a few earlier). There are also some freight cars, a few passenger cars, and many locomotives, mainly steam.”
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