Historic Restoration Saves a Rare Wabash Railroad Caboose | Part 1

The iconic caboose was the home away from home for railroad crews in the 19th and 20th Centuries and project manager DJ DePanicis takes us on a walkthrough of our efforts to rebuild historic Wabash caboose no. 2543 in the 21st Century. To donate and volunteer, visit fortwaynerailroad.org/donate.
Featuring original music by DJ DePanicis
Historic footage and photographs courtesy of
A/V Geeks Archive avgeeks.com/
Green Frog Productions www.greenfrog.com/
Greg Mitchell
Trackside
Victor Baird
Will Woodward
#Wabash #Restoration #Caboose

[@fortwaynerailroad]

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[@GeorgeSmith-bm4rz]

So great to witness a refurbishment of such a historically Cabos

[@louislamonte334]

I'm thrilled that this was saved & restored!!

[@trainstorm1225]

Thank you guys so much for preserving history. This is incredible.

[@eblair12]

Thank You So Much for this video .. Nice restoration.. I have a Caboose in my yard just like this one.. I have never taken on the challenge of a total restoration.. The person I purchased it from 30 years ago, told me it was Built in 1898. You have taught me what to expect.. Thank You again..

[@kyleridder3930]

I am surprised at how much carpentry work went into a caboose. I never knew that. Nice.

[@gullreefclub]

I hope thar during this restoration that detailed drawings are made so that someone in the future could possibly build one as a mini house, workshop, tool shed, or a caboose to ride the rails

[@alcopower5710]

gullreefclub .......outstanding idea.

[@patrickwebb7311]

She'll look amazing behind 534. Excellent work, and thank you for the look behind the scenes.

[@Jamersonde]

I've been helping off and on, as time allows me to.

[@patrickwebb7311]

@@Jamersonde Hey that's great! Thanks for helping with the volunteering efforts.

[@manga12]

@@patrickwebb7311 as have I thats my fat butt in the blue checkered shirt in the background getting ready to needle scale but they told me to hold off while they were filming the video while they were moving the tender in as you see them moving the loco out to the right at 4:57, we come from diverse backgrounds, dj here thats hosting he is a music teacher/ musician by trade, kelly the vice president who is filming this he runs a media production company, he is also one of the people working on the head waters junction project, me I work retail, and do woodwork with my dad also at home, I have worked on the caboose as well though mostly on the metal stuff the tie rods, cutting the boards that make up the beam for the floor I belive when we did that 2 years back or for a caboose it might be this one or it could be the one car we are also working on, I also helped take paint off the safety railings that were to be repainted for the ends by the doors of the caboose. as for the walbash if you wonder where it was it was right off the side of the old general electric works just off downtown you can still see the depression where the turntable was and the three bays of the roundhouse are the flat bits of cement off to the side by the trees on the south end of the main building off broadway I think, they look like just two parking spots of cement but that was according to the aerial maps where the roundhouse stalls were, I belive I have a video of it its not much to look at but shows the spots where the walbash roundhouse was as for the machine shops and loco shops that was directly across the street in the empty lot and for the trains to get to the elevation it had a ramp comming off the yard behind the general electric building with a water tank and coaling tower off to the side, it was no where near the size of the altoona of the west that the pennsy had in fort wayne but it was not too far like three streets over from the pennsy shops and the bass foundy that was on the east end of that which was the largest railcar wheel foundry in the world in the turn of the 20th century with 8 cupalos for melting iron for the wheels, and they also casted railcar frames and axles there as well as stationary steam engines and wood working machines like saws at bass but now its all but a memory, though st frances university uses john basses summer home as their admin building and have faithfully restored it with a few modern conveniances one can schedual a tour there or go during a week leading up to christmas when they have all kind of local buisnesses and groups decorate the rooms with trees its neat.

[@jeffgrier8488]

Great video, you folks are doing a wonderful job preserving railroad history.

[@PlanetMojo]

Thank you folks for your wonderful work!

[@RocketStephen618]

I'm super Excited!

[@charlesbard2331]

Don't forget the follow the flag logo with Wabash flag.. it would be a nice touch you paint it at the end... at least I think it would...

[@terryengland1880]

Greetings and congrats on the fine work you are doing across the pond restoring your caboose, we at Shillingstone Station in Dorset UK are restoring a brake van (our version of the caboose, but not so grand). Its interesting seeing how you are tackling the problems which are very much similar to ours. Our main problem rests with what type of wood should we use so any advice from you my give us some ideas this end. Anyway happy Christmas and new year hope to see more of your progress and the finished job

[@alcopower5710]

Thank you all for the amazing work you do. Historical preservation is so important

[@corpnut2906]

There is a wooden caboose in portland Oregon I would love to try and save but I was told it's not for sale and its falling apart at Malarkey roofing. I hate seeing her like this. good video and I love what your doing

[@scooter2kool173]

Speaking of preserving history what ever happened to Jim the classic loco that was donated to you folks from Louis Dreyfus Claypool IN?

[@fabio40]

Where is the other wooden Wabash caboose you referred to? I know of one well preserved Wabash wooden caboose in Canada.

[@overpoweredsteamproduction513]

Me: plays Minecraft during the corona virus *RAILROAD FANS*:

[@henryshaw2697]

Good luck I've got my own headaces including the gov

[@lordpeekaboo]

How are the rafters built?

[@hsmallwood40]

Nice work I'm doing the same thing to a passenger car Right down the road from you at headwaters Junction maintenance Facility. You should check out a few videos I have posted on KZbin on my progress

[@venusalien5153]

2:21 At that point, it's not even a restoration, it's a refurbishing. If you take away everything that made the caboose and upkept its age, and then replacing all of that. It may as well be a new, different, caboose.

[@venusalien5153]

10:35 _ONLY_ 1,000 USD!? I don't believe that! The price of all of that new lumber, alone, should be driving into the multiple's of thousands of USD. Now add the prices of both saw milling and custom carving. Now that bill is racking up higher and higher. Then add transportation of the materials from one location to another. I'm suspicious of you that you didn't say 10 thousand, _AT LEAST_ .

[@tommyhunter1817]

I do not understand why people let stuff just go to crap like that.