Smithsonian caboose to be restored and become living history with Stewartstown Railroad
A piece of railroad history that was preserved by the Smithsonian has found a home with the Stewartstown Railroad, where it will be lovingly restored after decades sitting at a museum.
What makes the caboose so unique is that the interior is mostly left untouched from its time working on the Monongahela Railway. The coal-hauling short line railroad covered the southwestern part of Pennsylvania and adjacent West Virginia.
According to Mark Koppenhaver, who is spearheading the restoration, the caboose was new in 1949. It was donated to the Smithsonian in 1988, where it was placed on loan to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg. It was recently moved from Strasburg to Stewartstown.
It was determined that a large restoration was needed to the exterior, and the Friends of the Stewartstown Railroad were up for the task. Koppenhaver notes that as part of the process, the Smithsonian artifact wouldn’t be donated to an individual and needed to find a home with a preservation group.
“It’s very original because it came right off the railroad; it was never at a place that would change anything,” Koppenhaver said
The caboose’s furnishings look like they are out of a movie set from the 1940s. The bulletins and placards are still on the walls. There is even a worn hand-written note that says “THIS WAS NOT A BED If you were caught sleeping here you fired!!” The caboose has several long padded benches on two levels that could have been originally built as sleeping bunks.
There is an operating coal stove that came with a filled coal bin, an ice box, a sink, work table and a foldable wood stretcher. The stretcher has the caboose number on it and comes with a wool blanket that is still wrapped in brown paper, like it has never been opened.
Koppenhaver said that the caboose could have also functioned as the front of a trail as it is uniquely equipped with a whistle and the ability for an operator to brake the entire train from the caboose.
Koppenhaver plans to restore the interior over the winter and begin on the exterior next spring. It will eventually be part of the railroad’s passenger experience.
More trains: These kids trade virtual world for a chance to experience railroad history in Stewartstown
When Koppenhaver was asked if he played with trains as a kid he said, “This is the same thing as I did as a kid, just bigger and the price went up a bit.”
To learn more about the Stewartstown Railroad, chartered in 1884, and buy tickets for rides, visit their site stewartstownrailroadco.com.
I have captured life through the lens since 1983, and am currently a visual journalist with the USA Today Network. You can reach me at pkuehnel@ydr.com.
This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Smithsonian caboose, Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, in Stewartstown
