Soon, Allen J. Smith will see his hard work pay off.

The New Freedom man has spent years restoring a 68-year-old caboose once owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad. He refurbished the steel, rebuilt the axles and installed a new floor with a drain system he designed to fight rust.

"It's better than new," Smith said.

After sitting idle for more than a decade since the rail line running through New Freedom was shuttered, Smith will be taking the caboose north to Tioga County, where it will serve tourists on the Wellsboro & Corning Railroad.

The caboose -- which the Pennsylvania Railroad called a cabin car -- will be loaded onto a tractor trailer and driven north. The trip was originally expected to take place today, Smith said, but has been delayed until the state can approve a suitable route.

The Pennsylvania Railroad built thousands of cabooses like this from 1941 to the early 1950s, Smith said. They were the first of their kind to be made entirely from steel, built to withstand the impact of more powerful locomotives crashing together.

A conductor and a brakeman rode in the car, using it to monitor the pressure in the entire train's air-brake line. They were equipped for three- and four-day hauls, with beds, an ice box, water tank and a toilet with its own water-treatment system.

The cars handled the impact as designed, but their steel bodies made them prone to rust. Over the years, nearly all have been broken down for scrap metal, Smith said.

"At the most, there's 100 left," he said. "Of them, half are probably so bad they wouldn't be able to rebuild them."

The 54-year-old engineer took an interest in the mechanical elements of railroads. In the 1990s, he worked on the dinner train that went from York to New Freedom and was certified as a conductor. He bought the caboose from Conrail, which was selling it for scrap.

He's enjoyed the restoration work, but what he really wants is to see the caboose moving again. The train line from York to New Freedom would need improvements for trains to run on it, Smith said, and that doesn't seem likely anytime soon.

When he heard the Wellsboro & Corning Railroad was looking for a caboose for its tourist line, he jumped at the chance.

"I'd like to see forests, see lakes, see pastures," Smith said. "See America. You don't see it riding in a plane."

jfrantz@ydr.com; 771-2062

THE CABIN CAR

  • Built: In Altoona in 1941 by the Pennsylvania Railroad.

  • Body: Steel

  • Weight: about 24 tons

  • Water tank: 30 gallons

  • Service: The car likely spent much of its time traveling from Detroit into southern Canada.

    Also of interest

    · The story of another York County caboose - a blue caboose bound for Red Lion.