[By JoAnn R. Walter]
An authentic Lehigh Valley Railroad caboose, which had been housed at the Newark Valley Ray Shaver Depot since 1988, was moved on April 27 to its new home in Manchester, N.Y.
Manchester is located in Ontario County and approximately 90 miles northwest of Newark Valley.
Pictured is the Newark Valley Ray Shaver Depot, and next to it is an authentic Lehigh Valley Railroad caboose. On display since 1988, the caboose recently found a new home in Manchester, N.Y. (JoAnn R. Walter photo)
Gathered at the Depot to watch the process of preparing the caboose for hauling were Newark Valley Historical Society (NVHS) members, several individuals from the community, and Tim Record, representing the Manchester Model Railroad Association.
Railroads stopped using cabooses on freight trains following a ruling by the Federal Railroad Administration in 1982. They were replaced with electronic end-of-train devices, which resulted in cost and labor savings for the railroads, among other benefits.
Looking back, Newark Valley resident Ken Schneider explained that he heard about available cabooses via a magazine article and then made a request to Conrail (the company that acquired the Lehigh Valley Railroad in 1976) to procure a retired caboose. Ken shared that the caboose came from a yard in the Philadelphia area, and Conrail actually transported it to Newark Valley.
A Lehigh Valley Railroad caboose, Number 95019, is being prepared for hauling to its new home at the Manchester Railroad Memorial Park in Manchester, N.Y. (JoAnn R. Walter photo)
At the time, Conrail was working to rid their yards of cabooses, and Ken remarked, “We only paid one dollar for it.”
Depot Director Marcia Kiechle explained that several renovations and repairs on the caboose had been completed over the years. A fresh paint job alone was exceptionally costly. Marcia also mentioned that interest in viewing the caboose had dwindled in more recent years, and that visitors infrequently toured it.
NVHS Board Chair Cheryl Caister noted that, over the years, there had also been concerns about liability, and there was a time or two when the caboose had been vandalized.
Pictured is Ken Schneider, who worked to bring the caboose to Newark Valley in the late 1980’s, via Conrail. (JoAnn R. Walter photo)
NVHS members agreed that it was time to send the caboose to a new home, where its historical heritage would benefit the community it once served.
Caister noted, too, that Ray Shaver, who passed away in 2019, and Bob Frey, a railroad artist from northeast Pennsylvania, were also instrumental with the focus and care of the caboose.
The caboose, Number 95019, and weighing 22 tons plus 400 pounds, was built in Sayre, Pa., in 1942. The Lehigh Valley Railroad (LVRR) housed a classification yard in Manchester, and, according to historians, some 700 railroad employees in a community of just over 1,400 people were employed there. Manchester was a hub for the sorting of freight traveling between Sayre and Buffalo.
Pictured is Tim Record, representing the Manchester Model Railroad Association. Tim described the route the caboose would take to get to its new home at the Manchester Railroad Memorial Park in Manchester, N.Y., approximately 90 miles northwest of Newark Valley. (JoAnn R. Walter photo)
Tim Record explained that the Manchester Railroad Memorial Park, where the caboose will reside, includes another LVRR caboose, along with two boxcars.
The addition of the caboose will enhance the rich railroad history in Manchester, and it will be placed on a display track considered to be the old westbound main line of the LVRR. Caboose Number 95019 saw extensive service in the Lehigh Valley classification yard just west of the Manchester Railroad Memorial Park.
Pictured is the Silk Road trucking company making a wide turn in Newark Valley to travel north. (JoAnn R. Walter photo)
Tim Record had connected with Jim Mead of the Early Owego Antique Center, and it was Mead who was a resource for Record and the Association in finding the caboose in Newark Valley.
A rail equipment trucking company, The Silk Road, out of Hornell, N.Y., transported the caboose from Newark Valley to its new home. The journey had been estimated to take about four hours through Van Etten, Odessa, Trumansburg, Seneca Falls, and other small towns along the way.
Pictured is the Silk Road trucking company hauling the Lehigh Valley Railroad caboose once housed at the Newark Valley Depot. The caboose weighs in at 22 tons plus 400 pounds and was built in Sayre, Pa., in 1942. (JoAnn R. Walter photo)
The Depot remains a significant historical resource in Tioga County. The first official freight train of the Southern Central Railroad pulled into Newark Valley on March 8, 1870. Passenger service started shortly after, and carried train-goers for over 100 years.
Today, the Depot, restored to the 1910 period, contains a variety of railroad artifacts and memorabilia. The Depot is home to an HO scale railroad depicting the northern Tioga County segment of the LVRR. Displays are changed from time to time.
One final look at the Lehigh Valley Railroad caboose as it meanders its way through Newark Valley, with a destination of Manchester, N.Y. The journey was expected to take about four hours. (JoAnn R. Walter photo)
For information about the Depot Museum and the events hosted by the NVHS, such as Depot Friday Nights, visit https://www.nvhistory.org/depot.html#/.
Pictured are Marcia Kiechle, Depot Director, and Bob Frey of Ulster, Pa., a former railroad worker (and who helped with painting and repairs of the Newark Valley caboose). Bob is an artist who creates both large and small scale railroad pieces. Marcia and Bob hold a piece that Bob created of the Number 95019 caboose that found a new home in Manchester, N.Y. Bob’s piece will be available for viewing at the Depot Museum. (Photo credit: Lauren Caister)
To learn more about the Manchester Model Railroad Association, visit https://www.mmra1853.org.
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