Rock Island caboose 17883 being lifted onto a truck on April 14, 2003 just west of Little Rock. All photos by Michael Hibblen
My family bought and moved a vintage Rock Island Railroad caboose in 2003, which was placed on my parents’ property just west of Little Rock, Arkansas. Caboose 17883, built in 1930, was among the first group of steel-sheathed cabooses for the railroad. It was in service for 50 years — an office on rails at the end of countless freight trains — until the Rock Island was shut down in 1980.
Like much of the railroad’s equipment, the caboose was then sold, but would sit neglected and deteriorating for the next 23 years. After moving it to their home near Perryville, my parents replaced the roof and ripped out much of the rotting wood interior. At a certain point, having a home on a large piece of land got to be too much for my aging parents, who sold the land — including the caboose — about four years later.
The subsequent owner had a wonderful appreciation for this unique piece of history and, after years of labor, eventually completed the goal of turning it into a fully-furnished guesthouse. In 2023, it was opened as an airbnb available for rent, with details available at this website (accessed March 23, 2023). Below are photos of I took, mostly featuring the caboose being moved.
I first came across 17883 in December 2002. I had seen on a list of “captive” Rock Island cabooses that one was listed near my parents’ house and decided to try and find it while visiting Arkansas for the holidays. It took about an hour of driving around to finally locate the caboose because no address was given, only that it was near Pinnacle Mountain State Park. But when I did find it, it was an amazing site. While it was clearly in terrible shape, it was a beautiful old caboose, similar to so many I had seen as a kid. It wasn’t directly along railroad tracks, but in a yard beside a house about a mile or so from the Rock Island’s former main line.
This is how I found the caboose with its red paint faded on the side that was more exposed to sunlight.
This side of the caboose was shielded by the shadow of trees, so it still showed a rich red from its final paint job.
There had been a Rock Island herald on the cupola, perhaps taken off when the caboose was sold by the railroad.
One of two crumbling desks on opposite corners inside the caboose with chairs that had cushions on metal frames bolted to the floor.
I knocked on the door of the adjacent house, but no one answered. On a lark, which was an absurd fantasy that I never expected would pan out, I decided to see if the person living there would be interested in selling the caboose since it didn’t seem to be appreciated.
With no name, only an address, I wrote a short letter to inquire. It ended up being good timing because I got a call from the owner a few weeks later. He said his family would be moving in a few months and had been trying to figure out what to do with the caboose. After speaking with my parents, we offered $1,500 for the caboose if we could find a way to move it, which the owner accepted. The caboose had apparently been acquired by a previous owner of the property as trustees of the Rock Island were liquidating all assets after the railroad was shut down in 1980.
Then began the challenge of determining the logistics of how to move the roughly 30-ton caboose about 20 miles. The owner, who worked for the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department, recommended Dick Mooney Crane Rentals, which frequently did work for the state. After several weeks of telephone calls and discussions with the company about how much it would cost and all the possible variables and problems, we finally decided to move forward with the project. We also did as much research as possible about people who had done similar projects with cabooses.
One side of the cupola where conductors and brakemen would watch the train.
A bench where crew members could stretch out and rest. Behind it is the oil heater, which could also be used for cooking.
The toilet, which would literally dump waste on the tracks below.
The caboose could have easily housed severals railroad workers at a time. Of course being built in 1930, it was designed for the days of large crews operating steam trains with conductors, brakemen, firemen and engineers capable of traveling long distances. Cabooses also often housed workers for days at a time.
Joe “Buzzy” Rook of Little Rock started with the Rock Island in 1951, eventually becoming a brakeman, then worked his way up to conductor. In a 2003 interview with me, he spoke about his first assignment as a brakeman being in Malvern where he and other employees would have to stay for several days at a time. After taking a local out of Little Rock, which would tie up at Malvern, he would then spend a few days there switching out cars.
“When I worked at Malvern — when I got forced assigned — when I first went to work, we stayed on the caboose. There wasn’t this driving back and forth like they do now, but we slept on a caboose,” Rook said. Up to six people could stay on a caboose, putting down cushions when it was time to rest.
“That was before we had fans; no electricity. And they had a little building down there at Malvern that they used to service the engines and we had an old water hose, a big old thick water hose, and we’d fix that thing over a board and go in there and take a shower. It was cold, but you could take a shower,” he said.
A gauge by one of the desks monitored the pressure for the air brakes.
Rook estimated that he got by in those days spending about $12 a week on food. He took every opportunity to catch passenger trains on the Rock Island or Missouri Pacific, which he had a pass for, to get home to Little Rock and his family. In later years as a conductor, Rook said, “I always enjoyed riding in those cabooses. Like going to Memphis and all, back when the track was real good, the caboose rode good.”
He noted amenities on-board added to the comfort. “You could carry your lunch, keep it in the ice box, or if you wanted to put some Cokes in there or whatever, and you could sit up in that cupola and eat your lunch if you wanted to while you were running; made it pretty nice.”
Rook noted the heater also featured a place to cook and make coffee. “I carried a big old pot and I’d put water in that thing and I’d get that water boiling and I’d open a can of beans or something like that and stick that can down in that boiling water and leave it long enough for it to get hot and that way I didn’t have to mess up a skillet or something like that.”
Rook, whose daughter I grew up with, came out to watch as we moved the caboose in 2003. He couldn’t remember anything about the caboose by its number, but is sure he must have ridden in it at one time or another.
Former Rock Island conductor Joe Rook (left) talking with my dad Skip Hibblen in advance of the move.
A design of the 1930 caboose after being modernized in its later years.
In the days leading up to moving the caboose, all surrounding trees and limbs had to be cut down. Here is the caboose on the morning of April 14, 2003, ready to be moved.
Crews first removed the steps from each end of the caboose. They also used a torch to cut off the generator, which provided power, and other items that hung underneath the floorboard. That was because the body of the caboose needed to sit flat on a trailer.
A television photographer for KTHV filmed the first day of the move for a report that aired that night.
With beams in place on both ends of the caboose, workers prepare to lift the body up from the wheels.
With beams in place, the crew signals a crane operator to begin lifting up the caboose.
I was amazed at how effortlessly the body came up from its trucks and seemed to float through the air.
With some guidance from the crew, the caboose was swung around to a waiting trailer.
With incredible precision, the crew lowered it onto a low-boy trailer. This kind of trailer was needed, we were told, since the caboose was tall enough that it could snag power lines.
At the time, I was working for CBS News Radio in Miami, Florida and told Little Rock CBS affiliate KTHV, channel 11 about the project. This report aired in the 6 p.m. newscast on April 14, 2003.
Then we removed the rails, which we were going to need at my parents’ house. We did not use the rotted wooden ties because my parents had put a bed of new ties in place.
Here I am pulling spikes out of the rails, which we would need, along with the plates that held rails in place.
The crew had to use the torch to cut the heads off some spikes wouldn’t come out of the wood. With the heavy steel rails free, the crane was used to help left them onto the trailer that would also carry the wheels.
With everything in place, the caravan began the 20 mile drive to my parent’s. Note the worker standing on top of the caboose. Whenever they traveled through areas with power lines directly overhead, they had someone on top of the caboose to make sure it was not snagging any lines.
Once they got out on to Highway 10, this wasn’t a problem because the lines are mostly on the side of the highway, or much higher than they had to worry about. I drove ahead to catch the incredible site of the caboose on the scenic highway.
Traveling a careful 35 to 45 miles an hour, the caravan did back up traffic.
It was stunning to see the caboose heading west on Highway 10, here with Pinnacle Mountain in the background. The Rock Island’s main line heading west toward Oklahoma went near this area and there is at least one great vintage black and white photo of a Rock Island passenger train with the familiar shape of Pinnacle Mountain in the background.
After turning off the highway, the lead truck of the caravan had a pole placed on the front bumper at about the same height of the caboose to check for any potential snags from trees or power lines.
The truck carrying the caboose just before turning into my parent’s driveway.
Our first real jam came when they tried to turn the first curve of my parents’ rather sharp driveway. That sort of brought things to a grinding half until a tractor was used to pull the trailer loose.
My parents had leveled the ground in advance and had new ties in place, which the rails were placed on.
The crane placed the wheels on the rails, then the caboose was lifted up.
It took a few tries for the crane to get the caboose body properly positioned onto the trucks.
Crew members had to climb underneath the caboose several times during the repeated attempts to get it in position.
The view from the cab of the crane as its operator helps position the caboose.
Finally, amazingly, the move was safely completed and the caboose here sits ready to begin renovations. I’ve got to hand it to Dick Moony Crane Service, it cost quite a bit, but their workers seemed prepared for anything and they got the job done.
As I noted above, four years later my parents sold the property with the caboose on it. In 2017 a steel roof was put on it and a new floor was laid. I’m amazed and thankfully that someone finally completed by project my family had begun.
This page was revised on March 23, 2023.
