Saturday, June 9, 2007

Lives In Same Caboose 35 Years

1920

Old "O370" Is "Home" to Freight Conductor

PERRY, Iowa — Railroad men and other humans with a love for their homes will appreciate this story, a tale of how Conductor L. C. Newell of the middle division of the Milwaukee Railroad has for thirty-five years made his home while on the road in one caboose, the O370.

That one caboose could withstand the knocking about it gets for so long a period is something worth remembering. And to have the same conductor all these years is another story.

Sometimes, for short periods, it has happened that Conductor Newell would be compelled to get along with some other "tail cracker" to his trains and when it did happen he was always lost and unhappy. Just recently the O370 has been in the shops for some minor repairs and Conductor Newell's delight when it was returned was plainly apparent.

Conductor Newell has had this caboose since 1885, so long, in fact, that he looks upon it with an air of proprietorship that is understandable and permissible. It was in January, 1885, thirty-five years ago, that Conductor Newell was transferred from the Eastern to the Middle division and he was permitted to take the caboose with him. As he has been on a regular way freight and has worked steadily, he has made many thousands of miles journey in that caboose.

The O370 has been his home practically all these years, for it is fitted with bunks and it has always been customary for the crew to occupy it nights when away from home, and the walls have undergone at times a certain fanciful decoration that makes it home-like and inviting to railroad men.

Once the caboose, after leaving the shops, was sent to another division, but as soon as Superintendent of Transportation Whipple, who is a personal friend of Mr. Newell, heard of it, he promptly had the old O370 returned to Conductor Newell and his crew.

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