When a Canadian Pacific rail caboose was lifted into place beside the Maple Ridge Museum in 1991, the expectation was it would remain a historic fixture forever.
But 35 years later, due primarily to West Coast weather, the keepsake from 1940s is all but destroyed, would cost in excess of $80,000 to restore, and would crumble to pieces if relocated.
So, bottomline, said museum executive director Shea Henry, “it’s reached the end of the line.”
It will be demolished this week.
“For many years now, it has needed work and attention, and a cover,” she explained. “And for many years, it hasn’t been happening.”
It was built in Montreal in 1944 during the metal shortages of the war, and moved into place in Maple Ridge in 1991 by the Dewdney Alouette Railway Society – most of its members involved in the project now deceased – in partnership with the museum.
Efforts have been afoot for the past decade to save and adequately restore the caboose, elaborated Henry, noting that’s when the first tarp was stretch across the train car.
Trying to find someone able to take on the job took a long time. And in 2022, even though it was given a new roof, it was too late, she explained.
“A lot of damage had already been done. Water was coming in… The walls had deteriorated quite a bit and it suffered a lot of water damage,” said Henry, who has been executive director for six years, and noted “that entire time, I’ve tried everything.”
For some time now, it has no longer been safe for the public and museum staff or heritage volunteers to access, she said.
Even after it was gutted and locked up, Henry said, it’s been a problem. They’ve had a lot of unwanted visitors, forcing her to call police on several occasions to evacuated squatters and firefighters to extinguish blazes.
“It’s simply too much for us, and it’s become a safety hazard,” she added.
So, with no grants available to assist with the extensive and expensive restoration, Henry said the decision was made last fall to say goodbye.
And as part of plans to build a Japanese garden next to the museum making a decision about the fate of the caboose was required sooner than later – before the garden goes in, likely later this year.
“It’s just time to go,” said Henry.
Work crews arrive Monday, and are expected to take about a week to demolish and dispose of the old caboose, as well as the rail tracks it is sitting on, and the two mining carts that accompany it in the south end of the Jim Hadgkiss Park.
Not everything can be preserved, but Henry said the museum will strive to still “preserve the heritage of the railway here in Maple Ridge in many, many ways. A brick-and-mortar artifact is just one of them. That heritage is still everywhere, so we’re still going to celebrate it, just differently now.”