It is interesting to me how you find reminders of the Golden Age of Railroad transportation in the oddest places. Perhaps they only seem odd to me because 100 years ago railroad tracks meandered into many corners of our nation that are far from any railroad today.
A couple weeks ago, my wife and I attended the CNY-NE district pastors’ retreat at Camp of the Woods near Speculator in the Adirondacks. To my surprise and joy, sitting in a lawn was an old Erie Railroad caboose #04947. On the other side it was labeled Napierville Junction 38. The Napierville Junction Railroad went from Rouse’s Pt. NY to Montreal. This caboose was from the area when cabooses were made of wood and had rounded dome roofs. Beside it was a station freight cart. I looked the caboose up on a hobby website by its Erie number. This one was built in 1929 by Magor Car Company of New Jersey.
Why was it there? From their website, Camp of the Woods offers lodging at a cabin built onto another newer caboose—part of a strategy of offering some unique accommodations. I found a picture on their website. I missed seeing that one but will look for it if I have a chance to visit there again. I suppose the idea of staying in a caboose may have originated back in the days when tourists came to the Adirondacks by railroad rather than by motorcar since Camp of the Woods traces its history back to 1900. Was the now unused caboose on the front lawn an earlier accommodation? Maybe a reader knows.
