So now that you know we bought a caboose, let’s talk logistics. We both work for railroads, but never had to move rail equipment by truck. Why couldn’t we move caboosy by rail? Well… 1. she wasn’t on a railroad (just a little piece of track for staging) and 2. she is old… really old.. and would need a complete safety overhaul to get even close to modern standards.

We have learned more about cranes, trailers, and route planning then we ever thought we would in our lives. There were also some delays from Hurricane Ida and heavy rain from Tropical Storm Nicholas along the way. Nevertheless, we headed to Pattonsburg, Missouri in mid September to get our girl.

We can safely say Pattonsburg is one of the NICEST towns in America. Did they know we were coming? Oh folks… they knew we were coming. We had called the Mayor about 15 times ahead of the big day. They knew and they were ready. The Mayor was onsite to greet us (along with a group of residents) who were both sad and happy to see the caboose go. It was staged in a field in the middle of town, where they are hoping to build a community center. Some people thought it was an eyesore, some partied in it (see pictures of the interior below), and some loved it as a town landmark and the prime Senior picture spot. It had mixed reviews but everyone was so positive and kind about The Juicy Caboosy concept, including the high school football coach (GO PANTHERS).

We got there about 9 am (its an hour and a bit outside of Kansas City) and Paul’s crane team from Brooner Crane was already set up. Our biggest worry of the day was fitting the caboose on the flat bed truck in a way that met height standards for the drive. There is a max height on trucks you have to be under to avoid underpasses accidents, power lines, etc. If you are over, you have to reroute and re-evaluate. To get the height where it needed to be, we had to weld off the stairs, air brake cylinder, and other parts so it would sit flat. We put all those miscellaneous parts in the caboose for use on the other side (TBD whether we re-attach or make some funky scuplture, furniture, who knows…. we will poll y’all for opinions).

Next enter Jimmy. Jimmy is the crane operator and a YouTube celeb (see video above). People are OBSESSED with watching him lift and move all sorts of things. Ya’ll- if you go to the channel, prepare to invest some serious time. It is addictive. Jimmy picked that baby up and swung her around slowly (it was a windy day) before setting the caboose exactly in the right position on the flat bed. He made it look easy. That’s a pro for ya. Important to note was that the wheels weren’t actually attached. The weight of the caboose kept them in place . We were hoping to bring them along but there wasn’t space on the truck. I know- we don’t want to talk about it. The wheels and the track it sat on went to scrap in time for the town’s famous Auto Show. After letting us have a turn on the crane, the team made sure the caboose was secure on the flat bed and the job was done! It takes a village ya’ll!

We finished the morning with a hand breaded tenderloin sandwich with Paul at the Old Memories Cafe. Every diner in there knew we were the caboose girls and were so welcoming. We are hoping Pattonsburg comes down for the opening next year as they left such an impression on us. It’s nice to know our caboosy came from such a kind home and is going to the Hospitality state. Ya’ll see how the railroad brings people together? Tear. Yes, we had a margarita or two that night to celebrate. Yes, it was the best day ever. Is there a lot of work ahead? For sure, but our baby is now home in Mississippi!

For the foamers in the crowd (rail enthusiasts for folks who don’t know the term, officially meet the caboosy):