Caboose in 1973

Keith's colorful story is: Old news. I have a copy of this photograph taken from Marshfield News Herald negatives. I sent you a copy of this a loooonnnggg time ago. But, seeing as to how you are showing signs of early Alzhiemers, I guess I can make this muddy as hell: There is more to this story than the caboose fire. The fire on the caboose is actually the end of the story. The photograph is taken at the Peach Avenue Crossing, where the Nekoosa Line sawed between the Farmer's cooperative feed mill (out of sight behind the caboose) and the Farmer's Coop Fertilzer Plant (out of sight behind the photographer). If you look closely, you'll see the nose of MFD Engine # 1, the 1959 Open-cab Seagrave Fire Apparatus just to the right of the fire fighter spraying the caboose. I'm surprised you don't recognize anything in this photo, remembering that you, yourself, shot many photos of WC here and all the buildings I've just mentioned were extant when you shot here.

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. . . . Here's my (Bruce's) very crude map of Marshfield.
. . . . . You can search the mess of tracks in detail on the MSR 1980 USGS Marshfield maps on the web. I put the link at the bottom of this page

Notice under the caboose, you'll see it's sitting over a switch. That is the Beltline Switch to the Marshfield yard, which came off at Peach Avenue and wound its way to join the Yard lead near the area where Weyerhaeuser's Log Yard was on the western end of their property. Now, on to how this came to be: As I said, there is more to this than the caboose fire. This was March of 1973 if memory serves, I think it was a Thursday Morning around 7:00 a.m. The night before, # 27, the Marshfield-bound local from Nekoosa, was on their way home and tie-up time. They were about two hours behind the C&NW train from Fond du Lac. At the US Highway 10 crossing southeast of Marshfield, #27 struck and killed a 16-year-old motorist. 27 came to a halt at Highway 10, and awaited rescue personel. Problem was, #27 was very close to their hours of service, and ended up dying at Highway 10 while stuck under the investigation. Rather than call a dogcatch crew, #27 was left unattended at Highway 10. Since there was no prospect of a C&NW Westbound from Fond du Lac coming up behind # 27's dead train, everyone involved decided to leave #27 right where it sat until the next morning, when the 6:55 a.m. Yard Crew went to work to pull #27 in and yard it. The Thursday morning in question, the Yard Crew gets driven out to #27's train, along with Loco & Car Foreman, the late Don Ingrahm. Don had to inspect the train before it could be allowed to move, which he did. In so doing, Don thought he'd get a leg up on his work and get the stove stoked up with a fire so the caboose would be warm when #26 backed up the Main Line later on and there wouldn't be any complaints from the Conductor and Rear Brakeman about a 'Cold Caboose'. Don left, gave his OK to move the train, and the yard crew commenced bringing in #27 from the night before. As far as I know, only the Yard Engine Engineer and Fireman were aboard the train. The Switch Foreman (the Late Ted Bratton) and his two switchmen rode back to town in the auto they went out with, and Ted stationed his second-in-command switchman at the Peach Avenue crossing; as far as what I was told, the idea was to push #27 up the Beltline and into the yard, since the Nighttime Yard Engine had a significant amount of # 26's Train for that day standing on the main line. So, when this move was made, there was NO ONE riding the caboose. Several people stuck on the EAST side for #27 coming at the East Fourth Street crossing in front of Weyerhaeuser saw the caboose go rocking over the crossing with FLAMES licking this large hole in the car's side. The story has it that a motorist sped to the Fire Department and reported this to the men on duty that morning, who, in turn, called the Soo Line for 'confirmation'. About that time, the Switchman at the Beltline Switch was watching the train giving car counts to the Engineer as the rear end got closer to the Beltline Switch. The Switchman noticed there was 'an awful lot of smoke back there' trailing the train up to Peach Avenue. Just as the car hove into view, complete with flames licking the hole in the side ever wider, there comes a call over the radio, 'Marshfield Depot callin' the Yard Engine. Say........we have a report from the local Fire Department that number twenty seven's caboose is on fire. Can you confirm that?' Ted Bratton responded with, 'Whaat?' The Switchman at the Beltline Switch responded with, 'Marshfield Depot, report is right. There's a heck of a Fire coming out of the side of the caboose. This is a definite hot foot! Bring yer weiners and marshmallows.'

. . . . . We all thank you for the history. .

Return to the previous page, Marshfield Fire Dept

Link to MSR MAPS (was Terraserver maps)
I like them because some are old maps and some tracks are still shown that are now abandonned.

Link back to my index page, Bruce's RailRoad Pictures