Former caboose leaving home, to become a home

NORTH CANAAN — It didn’t take long for the old caboose at the north end of Canaan Union Station to be snapped up — and, not surprisingly, by someone who intends to restore it.
 
On Jan. 15, it was hoisted by crane and hauled away on two flatbed trailers, one for the car and the other for the heavy steel-wheel assemblies. It was taken to Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire. New owner Tom Crawford supervised the move, which was done with the help of the specialized movers he trusts to truck it to his Meredith, N.H.,  home.
 
The process took the entire morning, in part because the rail spur between the spot the caboose has occupied for decades and the parking lot where it would be loaded was needed several times by Housatonic Railroad to hook up a string of cars. 
 
The move got a lot of attention, and not a little criticism from those who were disheartened to see a piece of railroad and local history lost.
 
At least it is not going for scrap metal. There were a couple of bidders who wanted to do just that when last October, the Connecticut Railroad Historical Association (CRHA) offered the red-and-yellow caboose free to anyone willing to pay to have it hauled away. 
 
The final phase of the rebuilding and renovation of Canaan Union Station, partially destroyed by an October 2001 fire, is finally about to begin. The effort by nonprofit owner CRHA includes a goal of restoring the exterior to look as much as possible as it did back in its day. Construction was completed in 1872, and it is believed to have been the longest continuously operating Union depot in the country. 
 
Contributing to the decision to get rid of the rusting caboose were issues of space and the cost of a much needed restoration. 
 
Knowing it is destined for a good home and grandchildren who will surely make memories there is a consolation. 
 
The plan is to restore it into essentially what it was used for:sleeping quarters. Train crews could nap on bunks, and store personal items in lockers. This caboose was configured to sleep five.
 
Crawford said he and his wife, Diane, will retire next year from their hot tub business. They already gave up the family home to live full time in what was their vacation home. Of course, family and friends love to visit them on the lake, and they look forward to hosting them.
 
“It’s only two bedrooms, just an old lakeside cabin built around 1903. We talked about renovating, but it would almost be easier to knock it down and rebuild.”
 
Growing up, Crawford said he always had trains, and never lost his love for them. Their three acres offered lots of options, and they let themselves be inspired. The lake area is big on vintage rail, including scenic tours on the Hobo Railroad right in Meredith. Crawford started looking. 
 
The North Canaan caboose was free. Not a surprise. Neither was the $7,500 to $8,000 estimate for moving it.
 
The old caboose, built about the same time as Crawford’s cabin, will sit next to a planned 3-bay garage with two bedrooms above it. The exterior will be finished in the style of a train station, with overhanging eaves and two-tone paint. 
 
The Crawfords, by the way, welcomed their second grandchild, a baby girl, on Jan. 12. 
 
Mike Miles, who operates Miles Marine Transport with his dad, was confident the trip would be a good one. The low-slung flatbeds would allow for underpass clearance. Beyond that, all they needed were oversized load permits. 
 
“Most of what we do involves moving boats around at the lake, but jobs like this keep things interesting,” Miles said. 
 
Exactly how long the caboose has been there is up for debate. There was lots of talk about it. Sometime in the late 1980s, there was another caboose there that burned when an electrical transformer in the ground beneath it exploded.
 
When reached in Florida, Caroline Smedick, widow of former CRHA president Earle Smedick, said she did not recall when the caboose settled in at the depot. However, she turned over a wealth of records kept by her husband that will eventually be curated for the railroad museum planned as part of the renovation.
 

The move attracted “railroad people” who were likely the original networkers. Bill Curtiss watched as John Jacquier used a torch to cut off various metal pieces protruding from the bottom of the caboose. 

Curtiss owns one of the Maine Central cabooses that was retired here. He found it in Wolcott, Conn. It now resides, fully restored, at his Simsbury home, where he and his wife use it as a hobby studio.

Click here for another photo.
 

This article (online and in the Jan. 23 Lakeville Journal) originally identified one of the men who helped prepare the caboose for its trip to New Hampshire as John Perotti when in fact it was John Jacquier. The correction has been made; The Journal regrets the error.

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