Our Story

I grew up in San Jose, CA, and my Grandparents lived in Atascadero, CA, approximately 200 miles south. We visited frequently, which meant I was treated to a three hour drive paralleling SP's coast line. I have many fond memories of bloody nose geeps, beet gondolas, SP "Golden Pig Service" TOFC trailers, and of course bay window cabooses. When the end was near for cabooses I was grief-struck. I tried in vain to convince my Grandfather to put one on his property. Now, it wasn't that my Grandpa, a railroad veteran himself, wanted to deprive me of my heart's desire, but he was a practical man who understandably didn't feel the same love for a 30 ton piece of yard art. However, he did take me to a piece of property a short distance away from his house where there, among the trees, was the 1353. I made my Dad drive me by the caboose at least one time every visit from that point forward.

Fast forward 20 years or so. I ended up settling in Paso Robles, a town a few miles north of Atascadero. I shared my plan, and the 1353, with Chantel on our first anniversary while we were driving home from dinner. Little did I know, the next day she went door to door to try and find the owner of the caboose. For the next two months she was trying to get him to sell her the caboose. I go to the same barber that I used to go to with my Grandpa, right around the corner from his house, and the caboose. Every haircut day, I'd drive by the caboose just to check on it. I always figured if it came for sale, I'd find a way to purchase it. Once we bought our current house, which sits on an acre, I knew we actually had room for a caboose. One day on my way home from my hair cut I drove by the caboose and notice that the lot that the caboose sat on was for sale. I called my wife and our realtor to try and get up close to the caboose. That is when my wife had to come clean and tell me that she was in the process of buying the caboose for me. So on September 19, 2007 we brought our caboose home.

Moving it was complicated by local tree ordinances (you have to love California regulations). The ordinance prevented trimming more than 25% of the tree canopy which covered the caboose. As a result, we couldn't use a crane to lift it from above. Instead, I hired a house moving company who raised the car from below, and slid it sideways onto a low boy trailer (For only about 3x the cost of a crane).

The caboose is currently on cribbing at our house with the trucks set beside it, on a section of track. I know that we will move it one more time following restoration, so I didn't go to the trouble of placing it back on its trucks. An added bonus is that it's lower to the ground, allowing easier exterior restoration.