So what is really that train car’s story?

 By Edward Lundquist | Manor Ink

Livingston Manor, NY – The red caboose outside of town, near Exit 94 on the Quickway, is a sort of town landmark that no one generally notices or knows anything about. It’s kind of an urban myth, just something that’s there, but you don’t know why or what it is for. The caboose is a representation of the bygone days of Livingston Manor, when trains shuttled through the town, carrying people and cargo. Although the Ohio & Western railway no longer exists (it ran from 1868-1957), many people still recognize the name. But the car’s meaning and story is more than many people seem to know.

Here is its story. It was purchased in 1984, as a stand-in, by the Livingston Manor Chamber of Commerce, who own it to this day. The car was actually an Erie Railroad steel caboose, not one from the O&W, and was repainted with the latter’s logo. Historically, cabooses on the O&W line were made of wood, a fact Jeff Otto of the O&W Railway Historical Society in Roscoe acknowledged.

“They represent O&W cabooses, even though the O&W never owned a steel caboose,” he said.

The one we have at the entrance to our town originally served as a place on state land to stop for information and maps for people visiting the Manor, and was originally manned. There were plans at one time to make it a more professional rest stop, with restrooms, but that never happened due to various structural issues.

Shirley Fulton, a longtime town resident and owner of the Wildlife Gift Shop on Main Street, remembers the arrival of the caboose. “Many different people from all over the town banded together to make it a project that would stay for many years,” she said. She and Mary Fried did the landscaping while Mr. Sherwood did the electric. Mr Kelly painted the lettering, and students even joined in to give out information and maps to passersby in their spare time. It was recently repainted as well by our amazing Manor Renaissance club.

Chamber of Commerce president and local shop owner Meg McNeil said, ”In addition to the erection of a new flag pole donated by Marilyn Lusker this year, the Chamber has big plans and funds set aside to continue sprucing up the Caboose. We look forward to installing a new sign, and updating the landscaping and general appearance of the caboose, as well as working to get the signage in the area up-to-date.” This means that the caboose’s life will be renewed, freshened up to make it a bit more welcoming for visitors.

The car’s sister is in the Roscoe O&W Railway Museum, and shares many of the same traits, including being an Erie steel car. Although the rails and trains are gone, the caboose still gets many entering the town to stop, look around, and take pictures. There’s just some air about the caboose that stands as an edifice for our town, what the Catskills were and a little Easter egg of history.