Willow Glen Resident

Cover Story

Photograph by Vicki Thompson

Homeward Bound: Willow Glen family members (from left) John Plocher, Paul Dickinson Goodman, Kathy Dickinson and Jessica Dickinson Goodman stand on the rear of their caboose that will be and accessory unit in the back yard.

Home Depot

Willow Glen family purchases 30-ton caboose

By Mayra Flores De Marcotte

It's 1945 and a train chugs along through the countryside. As it approaches the train platform, the massive engine slows to a stop like a weary traveler and lets out a gasp.

As the last passengers collect their bags, the railroaders get to work.

"Car knockers" or "car toads" hop from train to train, inspecting underneath each car, checking wheels and knocking them with their tools. A dull sound means the wheel is in need of replacement, but if the wheel "sings," the railroader moves on to the next.

Since the early 1980s, however, these sounds, along with the railroaders' home on wheels, the caboose, have all but disappeared. The exception lies in those defunct "glory wagons" that individuals across the country have purchased and converted into living museums on private property.

Train buffs John Plocher and Katy Dickinson of Willow Glen are part of the crew; in January 2006 they purchased a 91-year-old Western Pacific Feather River Railway caboose. And just like the railroad's post-war-era glory days, the wheels "sing" for them.

"It was a beautiful sound," says Plocher, who discovered the hidden music when power-washing the wheels of the old caboose.

The couple's search for an authentic caboose began in 2005.

"You just get the bug," Plocher says. "Everything is a complete unknown. Can you find a caboose? Will it fit in the yard? What kinds of permits do we need?"

The couple found a few cars for sale on eBay and at some railroad museums, but one caboose in particular caught their eye.

"The Golden Gate Railroad Museum's lease was up, so it had about 30 cars for sale." Plocher says.

The museum lost its lease with the Hunters Point Shipyard and began selling off its excess assets, including the Western Pacific caboose.

Initially, the museum wanted to sell the couple a pair of cabooses, but Plocher and Dickinson only wanted one.

"The sellers weren't interested in the money, but in what we were going to do with the caboose," Plocher says.

He told the sellers the family planned to refurbish the caboose and give it a home in their back yard.

The museum had the Western Pacific caboose for sale, which was offered to the couple. When the offer came in, Plocher was on a business trip in Russia, but that didn't prevent him from making a bid. He paid less than $10,000 for the car.

The couple purchased the 1916 caboose from the Golden Gate Railroad Museum in 2006. It would be the gem in their growing collection of train paraphernalia.

"We were very pleased to get a local railway car," Dickinson says. "It's incredibly well made and has strong historic ties to San Jose."

The caboose, originally built as a wooden boxcar, was transformed into a caboose during World War II. The side doors were knocked out and a bay window was added. The caboose became part of the railroad line that traversed through California and connected to another railroad to form a transcontinental line in Utah.

"It had been out of service since 1977 with absolutely no care or love," Dickinson says. "Thirty years later, it's still in great condition."

New home

The caboose was about to embark on a new adventure--moving from San Francisco to San Jose.

"This caboose is part of Northern California history," Dickinson says. "Now it is coming home."

Moving a 30-ton nonfunctioning train caboose, however, was no easy task.

The initial move required two semitrucks, one for the 28-ton box and the other for the 5 1/2-ton wheels and trucks. As word of mouth spread among the crew of movers and crane operators, the relocation of the caboose began to stir up excitement.

"There were guys in their 60s that came out of retirement to move our caboose," Dickinson says.

Before the caravan of train equipment could be transported on Highway 101, the group needed to check clearances and obtain a permit for transport.

"We cleared the bridges by 4 inches," Dickinson says.

By the end of the day, the ancient caboose had made its final journey from San Francisco to San Jose without its wheels ever touching rails.

It was set down in a local storage area, where it lived for 13 months until the couple prepared their yard and received the required permits to bring the caboose home.

The couple went to work and with the help of their children, Jessica and Paul Dickinson Goodman, installed 50 feet of historic railroad track in the back yard. The finishing touches to the nostalgic picture eventually will include an old-fashioned railroad platform and railroad signs.

"It's the epitome of gonzo modeling," Plocher says. "I'm into model trains as well."

Plocher says placing life-size rails in the yard was a natural progression. It began with a train around a Christmas tree, which over time took over the laundry room and then the garage. When it got too big, he built a second garage for railroad models.

It all led to the ultimate model setup in the back yard.

The family says moving the caboose turned out to be the easy part. It was the next phase that proved to be a bit tricky.

The couple planned to house the caboose as an accessory building in their back yard and began the permitting process with the city.

"We've been working with the city since April 2006 to figure out all the things that need to be done," Plocher says. "It's a complex problem. It's not a round hole. The city doesn't know what rules apply, but they're well-meaning people and think it's cool."

The couple received the final approval for their project from the San Jose planning director on Feb. 21 and the caboose moved in on May 11.

The caboose began its journey long before it settled in Willow Glen.

According to the Western Pacific Railroad Historical Society website, the Northern California railroad was formed in 1903, and was designed to run from San Francisco eastward through the canyons of the Feather River and Beckwourth Pass and on to Salt Lake City. The railway had branches that served the cities of San Jose, Alameda, Berkeley, Richmond, Fresno, Chico and Prattsville.

Salvaging history

Plocher and Dickinson's particular caboose, the WP 668 NE and part of the line's series of trains numbered 644-668, was built as a wooden boxcar in 1916.

These boxcars were prone to crumbling in train wrecks and catching on fire, Plocher says, making them hard to find.

The boxcar escaped this common fate when it was converted into a caboose in 1943. It became a regular fixture on the line until 1977 when the caboose, like so many other from its era, was decommission as technology and transportation needs changed.

Cabooses were originally designed to be an observation point for the train conductor and railroaders. Until the 1980s, all trains were required to have cabooses attached at the end of the train. One of the technologies that changed this was the flashing rear end device or "fred."

Along with functioning as an office for the conductor, the caboose also housed an air-brake gauge and emergency-brake valve. This and other technologies eliminated the need for a traditional caboose.

As for the fate of the Willow Glen caboose, Dickinson says, "We're not really sure what happened next, but we do know that it was in Sacramento when it was decommissioned and stayed there until it was acquired by the Golden Gate Railroad Museum."

The family will now remodel the car, add a fresh coat of paint and build a proper model railroad station for its new surroundings. Once completed, the couple plans to host a christening party for the caboose they named Kate Hall after William Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew. Thomas the Tank Engine would be proud.