“Bring Her Home” was the theme of the yearlong effort to raise money and purchase 1942 Lehigh Valley Railroad Caboose 95019 and move it to the Manchester Railroad Memorial Park.
Weighing in at 22 tons, the caboose, which was built in Sayre, Pennsylvania, and operated out of Manchester’s rail yard for decades, is a load. It arrived by truck the afternoon of April 27 and was moved into the park on South Main Street early the next morning.
Tim Record, who is among the members of the Manchester Model Railroad Association who helped in this effort, said the caboose most recently sat behind the Newark Valley Depot Museum in Tioga County.
Now, hard-core train enthusiasts, casual rail history buffs and drivers motoring past the park will be able to see the caboose and reflect on the way Manchester once was.
“The caboose is really home,” Record said.
The ‘new’ old Lehigh Valley Railroad caboose in Manchester
Caboose 95019 is painted Cornell red and but for a few scrapes and dents here and there, it looks to be in pretty good shape, according to Doug Parmalee, who is the only living locomotive engineer who worked in the once-thriving Manchester yard.
“This caboose spent a lot of time in the Manchester yard,” said Parmalee, who believes the last he saw it here was in the 1960s.
A Conrail caboose, which was painted to resemble this Lehigh Valley caboose, already is a featured car in the park. It was given the numeric designation 95109 because that’s the caboose Parmalee remembered from his years working on the railroad.
Seeing the newly arrived and true 95019 caboose, Parmalee said, “It’s pretty much like I remembered it.”
After crews inched the caboose into place atop a piece of railroad track, Parmalee was among park visitors who pulled themselves a ladder and peeked inside and saw the past.
Step inside Lehigh Valley Railroad Caboose 95019 in Manchester
Most everything that can be painted inside the caboose is painted green.
The caboose once served as cramped quarters for train workers, whether to sleep, finish up paperwork, to eat or wait out a winter storm. Up top in a cupola, they were able to look out the caboose’s windows and keep an eye out for anything unusual or hazardous that could impact the ride.
They also had access to a small toilet as well as an ice box, a writing desk and other amenities. Many described it as a home away from home for the rail crews.
The kerosene stove will be removed and replaced with an original coal stove, said Manchester Mayor Michael Buttaccio, who is a retired freight carman. While many like Buttaccio are thrilled the caboose is home, the job is only beginning.
“We have a lot of work to do,” Buttaccio said.
Caboose 95019 as a relic of Manchester’s past
Lehigh Valley operated between New York City, Buffalo and Niagara Falls beginning in 1892 and employed thousands in Manchester during its decades of operation until the mid-1970s.
The caboose is a relic of rail history, with only a dozen or so believed to be in existence, and Manchester’s past, as well as a symbol of how times are always changing and what’s commonplace today may see the end of the line tomorrow.
Nowadays, you don’t need a car like this one, Parmalee said.
“Everything is electronic today,” Parmalee said.
Mike Murphy covers Canandaigua and other communities in Ontario County and writes the Eat, Drink and Be Murphy food and drink column. He can be reached at mmurphy@messengerpostmedia.com. Follow him on X at @MPN_MikeMurphy.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Historic 1942 caboose returns to Manchester. See photos
Reporting by Mike Murphy, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
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