Downtown Chillicothe — The cabooses on Water Street have bright new paint – and one has a different color. The exterior work is almost done, and now historically accurate.
The work has been anxiously awaited since spring of last year, and may be finished in a couple of weeks if the weather holds out.
That’s what Cindy Stevens, a volunteer for the Chillicothe Railroad Museum, told me when I saw her and her “official painter” Bret Carnes in front of the cabooses.
The 1927 caboose has repaired wooden roofing and sheathing, and the 1975 metal caboose has the authentic paint scheme that the railroad started in 1972.
Next, Stevens says they want to renovate the interior of the metal caboose, which is a display and museum. The wooden caboose is restored to show what it was like to be part of a railroad crew at the time.
She says the cabooses are now on their fall schedule, opened by volunteers on Wednesdays between noon and 4:00 – but tours can be scheduled by request at 740 / 702-7675.
Learn more from my scan of the brochure on the cabooses below, as well as hear Stevens and Carnes in their own words.
Read my story that was at the start of the campaign to repaint (though lacking some of the photos).
