Caboose Arrives in Potlatch

A piece of history rolled into Potlatch today as Wasankari Construction safely transported a vintage WI&M Railway caboose from Farmington, Washington to its new home next to the Potlatch depot. The bright red cargo arrived around 11:30 am.

According to HPG Historian Tom Burg, the caboose was built by the Northern Pacific Railway in 1909, and sold in 1955 to the Washington, Idaho and Montana Railway, along with another caboose. These replaced WIM cabooses X-1 and X-2, which were retired, and the newly acquired cabooses were painted yellow and lettered in black as X-4 and X-5. In 1962, the Milwaukee Road took over the WIM ownership, and the X-5 was subsequently painted orange with black lettering to match the Milwaukee Road locomotive colors. Both cabooses went into retirement in 1969, with the X-4 becoming a cabin on Lake Coeur d'Alene. The X-5 went to Gene and Connie Rambo's where Connie used it for her ceramics hobby.

Following posts will follow, telling more about the caboose and the move....