The caboose move took place on Tuesday the 28th of October. We built wood panel tracks with steel angle 'rails' to move it from its location in the town park to the Town shop a block away. The panel tracks were necessary just to get it from the park, beyond the Town hall. The Town has fiber optics buried under the road between the Town hall and the the fire house, so they directed that in that area we needed something to prevent any risk of damage to the fiber optics. Once past that point, the caboose was simply pulled by a pickup truck driven by Nicholas Valdez(who during the entire operation used proper whistle signals with the horn of his truck, including the grade crossing at the intersection)
On the dirt road the flanges of the wheels left a trail in the road of a mere half inch in depth, thus its rolling on the road was of little consequence to the road, and the flanges were completely unscathed by the operation. The bearings were removed beforehand and the 1006 rode on wooden blocks with a generous amount of grease applied. This was done since we've not had the opportunity to properly clean the axle surfaces, and we did not want to take the risk of possible oxidation damaging the babbit surface of the bearings, which have been found to be in excellent condition. A front end loader was kept aft of the caboose the entire time as a precaution should the chain pulling the caboose fail.
The 1006 now rests inside the Silver Plume Town shop. And with her securely under a roof for the first time since at least the 1930's we can begin an in depth assessment of it's material condition. we have some logistical matters to settle before we begin actual work such as insurance to cover the volunteers, as well as matters of preparing for fundraising. What's important for the moment is that the 1006 is in a secure location and will not have to brave another harsh winter this year in the mountains.
The individuals who participated in the move were Will Gant, Justin Kardas, Benjamin Fearn, Nicholas Valdez, Micah Rodgers, James Patterson, and Michael Fry.
A thanks to all who partook in this first operation of the Colorado and Southern Railway Society.
