What to do with an old caboose?

This is a good example of a reporter generated story. I covered the West Hanover Township supervisors for several months one summer and behind the township building was this rusting caboose. I wondered what the heck it was doing there, so I asked and this is the result.

BY ALAN FOSTER
The Patriot-News

The caboose. Drawn by elementary school children everywhere. The object of pulp fiction, and depression era lore. The vehicle dedicated to the crew of industrial America on the move. All pleasant images, but what do you do when the cabooses’ time is through?

West Hanover Township has such a problem. A decade ago it acquired a caboose from the now defunct Pennsylvania Railroad and, after much fanfare, it is still there. The display got some help from Rep. Ron Marsico when he used some of his WAM (Walkin’ Around Money) aka. Legislative initiative grant (also now defunct) to build a display, a sign, deck and later repaint the rusting shell.

From the outside it looks pretty good, a deep maroon with sharp white letters proudly stating its origin. The inside is another story. It has become a haven for bees and spiders, and the child size holes in the floor would make a personal injury attorney drool.

Looking at the galley and table with small benches, and closets do make you wonder where this caboose has been. How many quick naps it accommodated. How many poker games took place on payday and all the stories that floated in the room. It really is history. It really is a piece of Americana.

As is the case with most municipal projects it comes down to choices and money, but more that is the lack of a shared vision. Most members of the Parks and recreation board would rather have a community center than spend more on the old caboose.

This past summer the Board of Supervisors decided enough time had passed and it was time to say goodbye to the landmark, and instructed Township Manager Michael Rimer to explore numerous options for disposal. The top of the list is to sell it or E-bay it. “My mission is to find a good home for it. We don’t want to scrap it,” Rimer said.

“Our township pledged we would take care of this vehicle. If we turn our backs on it, it would be a real shame,” Eric Bugaile said. Bugaile is a member of the West Hanover Parks and Recreation board and was instrumental in acquiring the caboose back in the early 90s. He wants it used as a “static display” and not discarded. “There is not much maintenance and it does not hurt anything by sitting there,” he said. He is concerned that no one on the current board shares the dream of those who brought the car to the Township in the first place. As recently as 2002 Bugaile prepared an options plan for the board that detailed almost 30 different uses for the car that included everything from a place for birthday parties to a concession stand.

The fate of the caboose behind the township building is still uncertain. It may reside where it is for a while, it may end up somewhere else. It may end up as part of a frame on the 2006 cars that GM produces.

Rimer summed up the experiment this way, “It was the little caboose that could, but just didn’t.”