Caboose reopens to public

The Burlington caboose located in front of the Greybull Museum is now open.
The caboose was donated to the town of Greybull by Burlington Northern Railroad in 1973 and moved to its present location in 1974. It was initially used to house the Greybull Area Chamber of Commerce.
When the Greybull Museum reopened in 2023, the caboose was in such a bad state that it stayed closed due to safety concerns. A project to “reopen” the caboose was begun in the summer of 2023, a small grant from the Town of Greybull allowed the exterior to be painted to original color. Realizing that there would not be enough money from that grant to complete the project, the Greybull Wyoming Museum Association turned to the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund. Receiving a grant from the trust fund in January, work began on the interior of the caboose and replacement of the roof.
Hours of volunteer labor removed all the articles inside, scraping, sanding, and repair work began. Due to a badly leaking roof, flooring needed repair along with shoring up of the ceiling beams found inside. A tarp was placed over the roof during the winter months to keep water from entering and affecting the repairs going on inside. Due to weather, replacement of the roofing was delayed, once the five layers of old roofing was removed it was discovered that some of the underlayment would need replaced due to weathering over the years. Once completed, a new composite roofing was installed. Along with replacement of the roof, the interior was completely refurbished with new paint and a thorough cleaning completed. Windows were replaced, an ADA compliant ramp was installed, locks replaced with 1900 era locks and a security system was installed.
According to Eddie Johnson, grant coordinator, that “without the help of The Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund, this project would not have been able to be completed. The caboose is a drawing card for our local museum and people have been clamoring to see the inside. Now we will have it open to the public to see the great work that the volunteers have done. Those that have already been inside think that it looks great.”