WESTLOCK – The dilapidated Northern Alberta Railways (NAR) caboose that’s stood as a silent sentinel at the entrance to Mountie Park for decades, is making one final journey, albeit on the back of a truck, to its new home just east of Namao on Highway 37.
Crews are scheduled to be on site today, Monday, May 8, to load the caboose from its perch on a short stretch of track overlooking Highway 18 for its 81-kilometre journey to the Alberta Railway Museum where it will eventually be used as parts for another caboose.
Town of Westlock community services director Gerry Murphy said they previously looked at spending some money to repair the icon “but the damage is just too extensive” and he even applied for “a neighbourhood enhancement grant” from CN Rail, but it didn’t go anywhere as “they’ll plant trees and pay for other cultural stuff, or if I had a museum, but they don’t have money available to improve cabooses.”
During the 2023 budget process, Murphy said they decided to put some money aside to remove the caboose and send it to scrap, but then came into contact with Ivan Hall at the Alberta Railway Museum who asked if they could have it.
“They need the wheels and the trucks for another caboose. I guess it’s unique in its style as it doesn’t have the very top part and has the bay windows,” Murphy explained. “So, they were thrilled to get it and we’re thrilled that it’s not just going to the scrapyard. It’s outlived its useful life for us really, but it will get a second life at the museum … well, at least parts of it will.”
Murphy said the town will pay the $2,500 to move the caboose to the museum, well below the $10,000 they thought it may have cost them to send it to the scrapyard — before it made its final journey on Monday, town crews disconnected it from power and sewer.
“We’re going to maintain the services that were there in the event we do want to activate it at some point in time. It is a great spot as it is the entrance to our community,” said Murphy.
The caboose has seen its share of vandalism over the last handful of years as on June 2, 2020, Westlock RCMP were called to Mountie Park following a report that a woman was trying to break into it — on scene, police found a woman inside who told them she had been hired to clean it.
“There’s been some intended use of it for sure and that was part of the rationale for boarding it up and screwing plywood to it because we wanted to keep people out of it as it wasn’t safe,” Murphy said. “The corners of the caboose have delaminated, and water is getting in there and the whole structure is not habitable … that’s why we had been looking for a grant, but without getting one, we just wouldn’t have been able to restore it.”
Murphy said it’s yet to be determined what the whole site will look like as they’re still waiting for the “settling of the old Jubilee area and the paving” as “council is looking to activate the site so it’s more than just a parking lot.”
“The Keller Field grandstand structure also needs work and may need to be removed at some point. The Red Lions are looking at some alternatives for storage in that area, so we’re working with them on that,” he added.
