
Cabooses off to new homes
By Loretta Cozart
The two cabooses that were at the depot from February 1, 1977, to August 21, 2024, were sold to new owners and moved last week after the city council approved the sale earlier this year.
Bids were accepted until 3 p.m. on June 28. Mickey Simmons and Tom Carlton were awarded the bid individually, each receiving one caboose.
Mickey Simmons of Simmons Structural Movers, Inc., of 2138 Wesson Road in Shelby, moved the first caboose last Wednesday. Tom Calton of All Rail, Inc., located at 289 Calton Hill Road in Rutherfordton, subsequently took ownership and moved the second caboose. In their proposals to the city, both expressed their intentions to convert the cabooses into Airbnb-type rentals.
Despite popular belief, the cabooses have not been a part of Kings Mountain’s history throughout their lives, or even served this area when they rain on the tracks. Both were in service near Raleigh until they were decommissioned.
On February 17, 1977, businessman Haywood Lynch presented to the city a vintage red caboose he bought on Dec. 22, 1976, from Southern Railway System, Washington, D. C., for the historical museum at the Old Depot. A report by Kings Mountain Herald’s newspaperwoman Lib Stewart shared the rationale behind bringing the cabooses to Kings Mountain.
The 100,000-pound retired Northern-Southern bay-window-type red metal caboose cost four cents per pound, $4,000, and is being renovated by Mr. Lynch at cost of about $2,000 before the formal presentation to the city and dedication rites at which Mr. Lynch will hang a plaque bearing the names of 20 local employees of Southern Railroad during its long history in Kings Mountain while formally presenting the caboose appropriately inscribed Kings Mountain No. 383 on the side track at the station.
Mr. Lynch got the idea after the city acquired the old depot to purchase the caboose because he admitted, “l like trains and Kings Mountain and decided to put the two together.” He contacted Mayor John Henry Moss, who was elated at the news, and then wrote William F. Geeslin, Assistant Vice President of Southern Railway System, Washington, D. C., expressing his desire to buy a caboose as a means of “doing something in a tangible way to show appreciation to the Kings Mountain employees of the railroad and for the really great contribution Southern Railway has made to the growth and prosperity of the entire community over the years.”
It wasn’t long before the caboose arrived, delivered free of charge by Southern Railway, and Mr. Lynch happily presented his check for $4,000.
The 20 Kings Mountain citizens who were employees of the Southern Railway System include Cline Barber, clerk; Leo L. Benson, station agent; W. L. Fortune, section foreman; J. E. Herndon, former mayor and claims adjustor; Capt. Henry Jones, conductor; Mrs. Jean Ware LeGrand, hostess; George Modena, station agent; Mrs. Thelma Watkins Moorhead, station agent and operator; W. Manly Moorhead, clerk; Capt. Henry Moss, conductor, Capt. O. C. O’Farrell, conductor, Capt. B. M. Ormand, conductor; Tom A. Pollock, clerk; Joe H. Thomson, former mayor and station agent; T. F. Throneburg, Pullman car conductor; A. U. Tindall, section foreman; J. E. Turner, station agent; Howard S. Ware, fireman, Leonard Ware, machine operator, and Capt. B. Willeford, conductor.
Mrs. Moorhead is probably one of Southern Railway’s first women station agents and operators and credits much of her experience to her husband’s good training and record with the company. “I absorbed a lot from living with a railroad man,” said Mrs. Moorhead of the late Mr. Moorhead. And, she admits fondly, “If I ever had a rival for his affections, it was Southern Railroad.”
Regarding Mr. Lynch, Lib Stewart shared, “He’s got the welcome mat out to everyone to see the pretty red caboose at the Old Depot as a reminder of “the good ole days of the railroad” in Kings Mountain.
According to the Norfolk & Southern Historical Society, the two cabooses have been identified as “Norfolk Southern 383 and 388, steel bay window cabooses.” It is unclear why Mr. Lynch indicated that 383 is appropriate for Kings Mountain.
Interestingly, the Norfolk Southern 387 bay window caboose is now at the Spencer Train Museum’s Roundhouse. That caboose was built from an old boxcar by the NS Railway in 1937. Some railroads converted their old thirty-six-foot boxcars into cabooses for use by the train crew. The sides were stripped to the frame; in this case, new sides and bay windows were fashioned so the crew could watch over the train en route. Large windows allow easy visibility when going through curves. Depending on the decade, these cabooses were painted either a boxcar red or gray. That caboose, only one number older than our Norfolk Southern 388, was donated to the Town of Spencer in 1976 and later to the State of North Carolina in 1986. It was restored in the last gray paint scheme with red stripes to match the NS diesel 1616 and is displayed in the Robert Julian Roundhouse.
Over time, the interiors of both cabooses were converted into offices, and the Kings Mountain Chamber of Commerce kept offices there for many years. If you would like to see the original state of those two cabooses, visit the Spencer Train Museum and admire the many trains that ran on the Southern Railway tracks during its history. Kings Mountain and Grover were two of their many stops along the route to Atlanta.
The two cabooses that were at the depot from February 1, 1977, to August 21, 2024, were sold to new owners and moved last week after the city council approved the sale earlier this year.
Bids were accepted until 3 p.m. on June 28. Mickey Simmons and Tom Carlton were awarded the bid individually, each receiving one caboose.
Mickey Simmons of Simmons Structural Movers, Inc., of 2138 Wesson Road in Shelby, moved the first caboose last Wednesday. Tom Calton of All Rail, Inc., located at 289 Calton Hill Road in Rutherfordton, subsequently took ownership and moved the second caboose. In their proposals to the city, both expressed their intentions to convert the cabooses into Airbnb-type rentals.
Despite popular belief, the cabooses have not been a part of Kings Mountain’s history throughout their lives, or even served this area when they rain on the tracks. Both were in service near Raleigh until they were decommissioned.
On February 17, 1977, businessman Haywood Lynch presented to the city a vintage red caboose he bought on Dec. 22, 1976, from Southern Railway System, Washington, D. C., for the historical museum at the Old Depot. A report by Kings Mountain Herald’s newspaperwoman Lib Stewart shared the rationale behind bringing the cabooses to Kings Mountain.
The 100,000-pound retired Northern-Southern bay-window-type red metal caboose cost four cents per pound, $4,000, and is being renovated by Mr. Lynch at cost of about $2,000 before the formal presentation to the city and dedication rites at which Mr. Lynch will hang a plaque bearing the names of 20 local employees of Southern Railroad during its long history in Kings Mountain while formally presenting the caboose appropriately inscribed Kings Mountain No. 383 on the side track at the station.
Mr. Lynch got the idea after the city acquired the old depot to purchase the caboose because he admitted, “l like trains and Kings Mountain and decided to put the two together.” He contacted Mayor John Henry Moss, who was elated at the news, and then wrote William F. Geeslin, Assistant Vice President of Southern Railway System, Washington, D. C., expressing his desire to buy a caboose as a means of “doing something in a tangible way to show appreciation to the Kings Mountain employees of the railroad and for the really great contribution Southern Railway has made to the growth and prosperity of the entire community over the years.”
It wasn’t long before the caboose arrived, delivered free of charge by Southern Railway, and Mr. Lynch happily presented his check for $4,000.
The 20 Kings Mountain citizens who were employees of the Southern Railway System include Cline Barber, clerk; Leo L. Benson, station agent; W. L. Fortune, section foreman; J. E. Herndon, former mayor and claims adjustor; Capt. Henry Jones, conductor; Mrs. Jean Ware LeGrand, hostess; George Modena, station agent; Mrs. Thelma Watkins Moorhead, station agent and operator; W. Manly Moorhead, clerk; Capt. Henry Moss, conductor, Capt. O. C. O’Farrell, conductor, Capt. B. M. Ormand, conductor; Tom A. Pollock, clerk; Joe H. Thomson, former mayor and station agent; T. F. Throneburg, Pullman car conductor; A. U. Tindall, section foreman; J. E. Turner, station agent; Howard S. Ware, fireman, Leonard Ware, machine operator, and Capt. B. Willeford, conductor.
Mrs. Moorhead is probably one of Southern Railway’s first women station agents and operators and credits much of her experience to her husband’s good training and record with the company. “I absorbed a lot from living with a railroad man,” said Mrs. Moorhead of the late Mr. Moorhead. And, she admits fondly, “If I ever had a rival for his affections, it was Southern Railroad.”
Regarding Mr. Lynch, Lib Stewart shared, “He’s got the welcome mat out to everyone to see the pretty red caboose at the Old Depot as a reminder of “the good ole days of the railroad” in Kings Mountain.
According to the Norfolk & Southern Historical Society, the two cabooses have been identified as “Norfolk Southern 383 and 388, steel bay window cabooses.” It is unclear why Mr. Lynch indicated that 383 is appropriate for Kings Mountain.
Interestingly, the Norfolk Southern 387 bay window caboose is now at the Spencer Train Museum’s Roundhouse. That caboose was built from an old boxcar by the NS Railway in 1937. Some railroads converted their old thirty-six-foot boxcars into cabooses for use by the train crew. The sides were stripped to the frame; in this case, new sides and bay windows were fashioned so the crew could watch over the train en route. Large windows allow easy visibility when going through curves. Depending on the decade, these cabooses were painted either a boxcar red or gray. That caboose, only one number older than our Norfolk Southern 388, was donated to the Town of Spencer in 1976 and later to the State of North Carolina in 1986. It was restored in the last gray paint scheme with red stripes to match the NS diesel 1616 and is displayed in the Robert Julian Roundhouse.
Over time, the interiors of both cabooses were converted into offices, and the Kings Mountain Chamber of Commerce kept offices there for many years. If you would like to see the original state of those two cabooses, visit the Spencer Train Museum and admire the many trains that ran on the Southern Railway tracks during its history. Kings Mountain and Grover were two of their many stops along the route to Atlanta.