Copper Range Railroad Caboose #5 - Katy, TX
Posted by: 
WalksfarTX
N 29° 47.176 W 095° 49.283
15R E 227246 N 3298440
Depot and wood caboose were moved to this location in 2005.
Waymark Code: WMZMBM
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 11/30/2018
Views: 4
Wikipedia"The Copper Range Railroad was a former U.S. Class I railroad that operated from 1899 to 1972 in the western Upper Peninsula of the state of Michigan. The Copper Range Railroad operated until October 27, 1972; it was dismantled soon after."
Katy Fulshear Lifestyles & Homes
" The caboose was actually never part of the MKT line. It was built by the Russell Snowplow Company for the Pittsburgh Shawmut and Northern Railroad in 1910. The Copper Range Railroad bought the caboose for $2,177 in 1913. It remained in service on the Keweenaw Peninsula, the northernmost part of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, until 1970.
In 1972 the caboose was sold to a private party and it was documented in the Daily Mining Gazette that the new owner planned to convert it for use as a backyard guest house. Thankfully, that conversion was never completed and the caboose became the property of the George Foundation in 1980. The Katy Heritage Society acquired the caboose in 1986 to park beside the restored MKT Depot.
The caboose was painted to resemble one from the MKT Railroad and parked at the northeast corner of Avenue D and Franz Road. In 2005 the city of Katy acquired land near the original depot location and the caboose and the MKT Depot were moved once again to create Railroad Park at 5615 First Street.
For many years the number 17 was painted on Katy’s caboose, though no one could remember why that number was chosen. When the caboose was repainted in 2010, the Katy Heritage Society changed it to 79, because 1979 was the year the group was founded to save the MKT Depot."