January 4, 2006
Railroad society restores old Ann Arbor boxcar and caboose
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
A burst of red behind Brick Wheels, the Railroad Historical Society of Northwest Michigan's boxcar and caboose brighten up the landscape.
Sitting on state tracks, the two Ann Arbor cars are a testament to the bygone days of railroad primacy. For decades until shortly after World War II, the line bustled with freight and passengers between Toledo, Ann Arbor and destinations across Lake Michigan. The train linked towns in Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula via car ferries with Elberta.
"The Ann Arbor line is famous in Michigan," said George Gregory, president of the society. "It had more lake miles than railroad track."
Members of the 20-year-old society have been slowly restoring the caboose and boxcar since they purchased them in 1988, recently completing the historically-accurate exterior paint job. They bought the caboose, which was built in 1952, for $100 and the 40-foot boxcar for $1 from the city of Elberta. The cars had been parked and abandoned in Frankfort for decades.
Getting their new purchases to Traverse City 17 years ago required some creative thinking and hard work as well as cooperation from the Tuscola and Saginaw Bay Railroad, which operated those tracks. The company sent a special train to haul the cars to Traverse City, the last train out of that area Gregory said.
"They had to move dumpsters and cars and go down the day before to clean it up because the tracks hadn't been used in a while," noted Gregory.
The Railroad Historical Society hopes to hold tours of the caboose by summer if they can complete the interior restoration of the caboose. They want to give people a glimpse into railroad history when brakemen and conductors rode and lived behind the long freight trains.
This caboose includes two sleeping bunks/sofas, under which are coal bins storing fuel for the stove, which was used both for heat and cooking. The caboose also has a table, storage area, sink, small water tank, small bathroom and an elevated observation area.
This observation area was used for more than watching the passing scenery. The brakeman or conductor could watch and visually inspect the train as it went around curves.
"They could look for hot boxes because in the old days when they had old friction bearings on the trucks they quite often would get to burning off the steel axles and could cause an accident," said Dave Miller, a board member of the Railroad Historical Society. "The bearings would get red hot and it would start smoking so if somebody was observant they could watch and if they saw any smoke they could stop the train."
Miller, who grew up in Elkhart, Ind., a railroad town, has always loved trains. Retiring to the area five years ago, he joined the society and its quest to restore the boxcar and caboose. Using his CAD/CAM skills, he helped recreate the distinctive Ann Arbor Railroad logo and lettering. The society notes that only six Ann Arbor boxcars had the distinctive "Ferry in the Fog" logo.
Volunteers have also been repairing some smoke damage that happened in a fire in a previous storage location in Traverse City. Their to do list to get the caboose ready for the public includes scraping, sanding and painting the interior. They are also on the lookout for more coal to fuel the wood stove as they have slowly used up that in the caboose's bins.
"There are a number of Ann Arbor cabooses scattered around, but ours is in the best condition," Gregory said. "Others have been altered, their windows welded shut."