Caboose gets makeover

Atlanta’s Union Pacific 25602 caboose is one of Cass County’s best public art objects. It resides perfectly next to the building which once was the railroad depot for the caboose. It is now the Atlanta Area Chamber of Commerce.

The red and yellow caboose is more than just pretty. It is an object of interest for adults and children. One wants to touch it, climb on it, see how it works.

Atlanta got its caboose in September of 1988 when Union Pacific donated it to the town. It had been built in 1967 and was of the design type called “Standard Cupola.”

Many towns in Texas have cabooses in their downtown, and most are well kept and interesting. But it would be hard to find one as colorful, impressive and well-displayed as Atlanta’s.

The caboose was once the reason for an Olde Depot Days celebration. Atlanta High School’s DECA Club students came in 1999 to spend a day cleaning up, painting and polishing the caboose.

Just last week, the caboose got an entirely new paint job. It looks brand new.

The caboose came to town at a time when the city council was considering another large acquisition, that is, the purchase of the former U. S. Post Office building nearby for a library. The town had to find $300,000 to be pledged for that project.

“Please help us reach our goal … invest in our children’s future,” the city council told the townspeople.

On the council at the time were Mayor Elston Law, Bogie Price, John Pearce Ellis, City Manager Sydney Davis and City Attorney James Verschoyle Then, in the summer of 1986, the city learned it could acquire the Union Pacific railroad depot building. It was being offered as a gift to the public by Union Pacific.

“I’ll consider if they’ll also give us a caboose,” Mayor Law said at the time. “Atlanta’s history is tied closely to the railroad,” he said, as he submitted papers asking for the caboose. And in time, the caboose came with the building, too.

One of the best part of the caboose’s presence is that young and old can climb all over it and be amazed at how huge and heavy train cars were.

One of today’s questions is why a caboose is no longer the ending of a railroad train. This seems like an oversight, as if the train had gotten away without its tail car.

The main reason is that the caboose was once a railway car to hold train employees. A train then might have as many as five workers around it. In the caboose, they could find coffee and food and nap or rest. The job of communicating with the train engineer from all around the train, inside and out, is now done electronically. No human is needed.

Here’s another curiosity. If you purchase a model train set from a store, it will usually have a caboose. People, it seems, like a caboose.

They are a bit disappointed when there’s not one. That’s why its fun to see that Atlanta has one, and it’s not going away.