On Track To A Country Retreat
Caboose underwent careful and historically acurate restoration
Text by Carrie Belt
Photography by Darl Bickel
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| Above: The caboose was moved from Maryland to its current home in Charles City County.
At right: Chesapeake & Ohio memorabilia decorate the interior. |
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Thirty-five miles east of Richmond down Route 5, just past Haupt's Country Store and about a half mile down a red dirt road leading into the heart of Mapsico Tree Farm, sits caboose number 903104 atop a short bed of railroad tracks.
With running water and a fully livable interior, the caboose "on tracks to nowhere" is a curiosity, notes Farrar "Doc" Howard, who with his wife, Jeannette, outfitted the caboose to make it a one-of-a-kind living quarters.
For some, the caboose is a retreat — without television, Internet, phone, or even a radio.
For others, the caboose is a mystery — planted in the middle of a forest on the edge of a 30-acre manmade lake.
The Howards, who also own the 600-acre award-winning Mapsico Tree Farm, purchased the caboose in 1989 in Cumberland, Md. Built in 1968, the unit was one of only 100 made by International Car.
THE MOVE AND REBIRTH OF A CABOOSE
In order to get the nearly 60,000-pound caboose from Maryland to its current home in Charles City County, the Howards shipped the car via rail to the nearest railroad tracks in Providence Forge. From there, the couple relied on friends and family to devise a transportation solution to move the caboose nearly 20 miles to its resting place on the tree farm.
A family friend laid the short bed of railroad tracks on top of which the caboose was carefully mounted.
The bright marigold car, still with its original exterior paint, then rested on the tree farm for nearly 15 years before the Howards could find a contractor capable of performing the work necessary to turn the car into a home. "We looked and looked but couldn't find anyone who could do the work," says Bruce Howard, the youngest of Doc and Jeannette's six children.
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| Above: The interior of the caboose has been spiffed up and includes beds and fully functioning kitchen and bath. Below: A manmade lake and abundant wildlife enhance the caboose-visiting experience. |
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"We needed someone who could work with quarter-inch diamondplate steel, install air conditioning, do the plumbing and electrical, and design it." In walked Gus and Susan Brucker, a contracting guru and artist with an eye for historical preservation, who happened to live across the street from Bruce and his wife, Betty, in New Kent County. "Gus can do anything when it comes to construction," says Betty.
"He and Susan came up with ideas for the interior and presented them to us." Susan researched proper paint colors, too. The team found vintage train menus, postcards, prints, and memorabilia featuring Chessie the kitten, the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad mascot.
While forming ideas for the layout of the interior, the Bruckers cleaned layers of soot from the walls, floors, and ceiling of the car. They sanded and patched steel walls and fixtures, installed a fully functional kitchen and bath, rehabilitated the original thick wood floors, installed plumbing, cut special-sized mattress pads, and repainted every surface, being sure to retrace the original stenciled lettering.
A REVITALIZING RETREAT
After the caboose renovations were complete, the Howards looked for a way to share their piece of paradise.
The couple, who first met in high school, decided to use the vacation home, in part, as a retreat for married couples, calling it "Caboose ICU — Recovery Unit." Married couples wishing to renew their bond by spending a weekend alone in the caboose can stay from Friday to Sunday without paying a fee.
"We have dedicated the caboose with the mission of revitalizing the spiritual and physical conditions of its visitors," the Howards say. "We hope and pray that the opportunity to escape the stress and pressure of the outside world will heal and refresh fatigued bodies and frayed spirits."
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