It looks to be stock. Wausau Insurance, whose corporate logo is the Wausau
(MILW) depot (model available from Walthers), built a replica of the depot as a
reception center at its Westwood Conference Center on the hill above US 51/
I-39 (rather than try to move the original, which they donated to a nonprofit),
and for flavor installed a track outside with the CB&Q caboose (probably the
only one they could get at the time) and a velocipede. Wausau Insurance has
been purchased and repurchased, now being owned by Liberty Mutual (though it
maintains its identity). There have been several rumors in the railfan
community that they were looking for a buyer for the velocipede, and might even
gift the caboose to someone who would remove it. I was inside (8-10 years ago)
and it was in nice shape. No telling, though, what time has done to it. Just
this week the news announced that a new company would be coming into Wausau
with a telephone sales center at the Westwood Center. No mention was made of
the reception center or caboose.
Serious inquiries might call Wausau Insurance Co. and talk to their
facilities person, though I am not totally sure the Westwood Center still
belongs to them. My hesitation to do so myself is that my call would only be
for curiosity, not actual interest, and a waste of their time.
One of the lists described moving a caboose, which can be relatively low
tech. I have one, which was moved from the railhead 5 miles away by a house
mover. He jacked up the body (one end at a time) with air jacks and put it on
blocks, rolling out the trucks. These he placed one at a time on a trailer
using the front blade hydraulics of a dozer, and hauled them to the site. The
first he placed on a short length of track I had built. Then he placed house
mover dollies (like dual wheels of a semi) under each end, the back attached to
an I-beam to provide tripod-like stability. The front dolly had a trailer
tongue, and they towed the entire thing with a heavy-duty pickup. At the site
the caboose body was positioned with one end over the track (jacked up to clear
the truck) and the truck rolled under. The body was lowered onto the truck.
Then the body was rolled (on the one truck at one end and the tongued dolly at
the other) into position above the track and blocked up, and the remaininmg
truck was stuffed under the end and into position and the body lowered. Air
jacks and a bulldozer were the only technological equipment. Not pretty (kind
of like watching sausage being made), and I was always wondering if I would end
up with the caboose body on its side in my driveway (I made sure the cars were
out, just in case).
I would think the CB&Q caboose might be moved in much the same way, or with
longitudinal beams placed under it and loaded on a flatbed/semi. Some
difficulty might be incurred at the site, as it seems to be blocked by the
reception center building, with a slope down to the freeway on the other side.
But house movers deal with things like this. Road construction and routing
changes in the area are slightly isolating Westwood Center, which might require
running over city streets before arriving at a freeway. That is often the
costly part of moving something if wires need to be disconnected and
reconnected for the move. In mine, there was only one time a wire was close.
The mover got out of his truck and used a long forked stuck to push it up, so
the cupola could pass under.
I hope, if this caboose is endangered, somebody can rescue it. Tom Burg
---- Original Message -----
From: rrhistorian
To: CBQ@yahoogroups.com
Sent: 9/9/2006 9:30:37 AM
Subject: [CBQ] Re: cbq cabooses
Hello all,
Does anybody here have more information about the current condition of
this waycar and how much it has been modified since leaving railroad
service.
The BRHS site has the following information about the car:
13783 NE-9
http://www.burlingtonroute.com/rosters/remain/equipmnt/waycar.htm
Many thanks,
Tom Cornillie
> ____________ _________ _________ __
>
>
> Sent: Wednesday, September 06, 2006 5:32 PM
> To: CBQ@yahoogroups. com
> Subject: RE: [CBQ] cbq cabooses
>
> George: The Wausau Insurance Company, Wausau, WI (now owned by Liberty
> Mutual) has a full-sized CB&Q caboose by their training center
that you
> might look at. Rumor is they are looking to sell it. Cupola-style with
> the passenger-like trucks (I'm clearly not a CB&Q caboose expert);
nice
> inside with two walkover (reversible) seats in the cupolas. You could
> take your own measurements. Tom Burg
>
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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