Tuesday, February 17, 2009 11:23 AM ESTBy PAUL POST, The Saratogian
GREENFIELD —
Tony Bucca is on the right track, he just needs more people to get on board.The Greenfield resident is leading efforts to restore the 1920s-era caboose at Kings Station Historical Park, at the corner of Route 9N and Porter Corners Road.Tonight at 7 he’ll give a presentation to Greenfield Historical Society about work done to date, what’s left and how people can get involved."The caboose has been completely refurbished," Bucca said.
During the past two years, he and other volunteers stripped off old exterior siding, some of it scorched in a fiery 2006 crash that claimed the life of a local man who ran off the road and struck the caboose. Now the outside has a shiny new surface and custom-made gutters to prevent water damage, and all the iron work has a fresh coat of paint.Next, he wants to spruce up the interior where conductors and other railroadmen lived and worked.“A caboose was really like a rolling office,” Bucca said. “They had a coal stove. They would do all their cooking in there, get in out of the weather.”Such cars were always attached to the end of freight trains. From there, conductors could keep an eye out for problems the engineer couldn’t see from the locomotive. The most common situation was smoking hot boxes, a compartment on train wheels where bearings were housed. Boxes were packed with waste cotton material and soaked with oil to lubricate bearings as wheels turned.Occasionally, material would wear out and have to be replaced, so the conductor would signal the engineer to bring the train to a halt.“That was one of the more important functions of the caboose,” Bucca said.By the 1940s and 50s, roller bearings came into use that eliminated the smoking hot box problem. As time went by, hand-held radios came into use so cabooses weren’t needed anymore.The town of Greenfield purchased its caboose from Delaware & Hudson Railway in 1988 for $1. It had been idled on an old rail spur in Corinth and was brought to its current location on a large flat-bed truck.Bucca has taken painstaking efforts to make sure restoration efforts are historically accurate. From Cooperstown and Charlotte Valley Railroad records, he found old stencils to see how exterior lettering was done. That’s one of the jobs he’ll be working on this year.In addition to the caboose, volunteers are also turning the old Kings Station into a museum. The depot was originally located a short distance away, right along the tracks, but was moved to its current site some years ago.Town Historian Mary DeMarco has already created a rail-themed display inside the old ticket office. Future plans call for converting the freight office into a small museum highlighting things such as Greenfield’s agricultural and logging history.The line, opened in 1885, was first known as the Adirondack Railway and carried passengers from Saratoga Springs to North Creek. From there, they would travel by stage and boat to vacation destinations such as old hotels and Adirondack Great Camps, the summer homes of America’s Gilded Age rich and famous.The D&H purchased the line in 1901. During World War II, it was extended north to Tahawus where ilmenite ore was mined to make titanium for military purposes.Most recently, Upper Hudson River Railroad has been using the line as a tourist attraction. Currently, trains run from North Creek to Corinth; it’s hoped, with proper improvements, that they’ll eventually reach Saratoga Springs.Bucca would like to see trains stop in Greenfield, giving passengers a chance to see the caboose and old depot. He’s even chairing a group named Citizens Restoring Our Caboose at Kings Station (CROCKS).A self-employed freelance photographer, he’s an avid model railroader and publishes a hobby newsletter that reaches 400 people from Syracuse to Massachusetts. If someone needs a favor, Bucca will usually lend a hand. If not, he always has a good excuse.“I’ve got to go work on my caboose,” he says, smiling.
During the past two years, he and other volunteers stripped off old exterior siding, some of it scorched in a fiery 2006 crash that claimed the life of a local man who ran off the road and struck the caboose. Now the outside has a shiny new surface and custom-made gutters to prevent water damage, and all the iron work has a fresh coat of paint.Next, he wants to spruce up the interior where conductors and other railroadmen lived and worked.“A caboose was really like a rolling office,” Bucca said. “They had a coal stove. They would do all their cooking in there, get in out of the weather.”Such cars were always attached to the end of freight trains. From there, conductors could keep an eye out for problems the engineer couldn’t see from the locomotive. The most common situation was smoking hot boxes, a compartment on train wheels where bearings were housed. Boxes were packed with waste cotton material and soaked with oil to lubricate bearings as wheels turned.Occasionally, material would wear out and have to be replaced, so the conductor would signal the engineer to bring the train to a halt.“That was one of the more important functions of the caboose,” Bucca said.By the 1940s and 50s, roller bearings came into use that eliminated the smoking hot box problem. As time went by, hand-held radios came into use so cabooses weren’t needed anymore.The town of Greenfield purchased its caboose from Delaware & Hudson Railway in 1988 for $1. It had been idled on an old rail spur in Corinth and was brought to its current location on a large flat-bed truck.Bucca has taken painstaking efforts to make sure restoration efforts are historically accurate. From Cooperstown and Charlotte Valley Railroad records, he found old stencils to see how exterior lettering was done. That’s one of the jobs he’ll be working on this year.In addition to the caboose, volunteers are also turning the old Kings Station into a museum. The depot was originally located a short distance away, right along the tracks, but was moved to its current site some years ago.Town Historian Mary DeMarco has already created a rail-themed display inside the old ticket office. Future plans call for converting the freight office into a small museum highlighting things such as Greenfield’s agricultural and logging history.The line, opened in 1885, was first known as the Adirondack Railway and carried passengers from Saratoga Springs to North Creek. From there, they would travel by stage and boat to vacation destinations such as old hotels and Adirondack Great Camps, the summer homes of America’s Gilded Age rich and famous.The D&H purchased the line in 1901. During World War II, it was extended north to Tahawus where ilmenite ore was mined to make titanium for military purposes.Most recently, Upper Hudson River Railroad has been using the line as a tourist attraction. Currently, trains run from North Creek to Corinth; it’s hoped, with proper improvements, that they’ll eventually reach Saratoga Springs.Bucca would like to see trains stop in Greenfield, giving passengers a chance to see the caboose and old depot. He’s even chairing a group named Citizens Restoring Our Caboose at Kings Station (CROCKS).A self-employed freelance photographer, he’s an avid model railroader and publishes a hobby newsletter that reaches 400 people from Syracuse to Massachusetts. If someone needs a favor, Bucca will usually lend a hand. If not, he always has a good excuse.“I’ve got to go work on my caboose,” he says, smiling.
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