Traci and I found AT&L 1917 as we were headed home to Oklahoma City after a long day of driving and seeing the sights. We had been to Watonga before, but at that time we were not looking for cabooses!
A few years ago, we had been to the Watonga Cheese Festival (which I highly recommend, by the way). So I knew there were some tracks there, which made me suspect they had a caboose nearby. Sure enough, we found one.
We did not find it where I thought it might be–downtown–but instead we found it on US 270 on the south side of town. It is located in the parking lot of Steve’s Transport, on Clarence Nash Boulevard/US 270.
Steve’s was not open when we got there, but we pulled in and took a look. The caboose is in very good shape, and was actually unlocked. We took some photos, and then got back on our way.
Looking back on it, I think maybe we should not have gone inside. Many of these cabooses are on private property, and should be treated as such. In the future, I don’t mind taking photos when a caboose is in a museum or otherwise on display like this one. However, I think we need to get permission to go inside, or go on private property to take pictures of private ones.
Anyway, I still want to contact Steve’s Transport and see if i can find out the story on AT&L 1917. They got the caboose somehow, and have obviously taken care of it. I wonder what their deal is…
Marc
Date Visited: 7/4/2020
7/28/2020
