St. Joseph & Grand Island caboose 48 was built in 1908. Records from that period are scarce, but it appears the car was built in July of 1908, had a steel underframe applied in October 1927, and was retired in October 1949. No. 48 is long for a caboose at 40 feet over the platforms. For whatever reason, upon retirement, the caboose was shipped to Denver, Colorado for scrapping and its wood body sold to a gravel company in Boulder County, Colorado who used it as an office in their gravel pit. The car next ended up at Winslow Crane in Denver who used it as a yard office until 1984, when it was given to the Forney Transportation Museum in Denver. At the Forney Museum, No. 48 was used as a storage shed by the Platte Valley Trolley until March of 1999.
Back in 1998, the idea took root in my head that it would not only be fun, but perhaps possible, to acquire a caboose and place it in our backyard. The house we were then living in (in Niwot, Colorado) had plenty of room in the back for such a venture …
