County of marker: Cooper County
Location of marker: 1st St., Morgan St. & Spring St., in front of depot, Boonville
Built: 1912
Architectural Style: Mission/Spanish Colonial Revival
Marker Erected by: Missouri Department of Natural Resources & Katy Trail State Park
Marker Text:
End of the Line
It has been said that a train without a caboose is like a sentence without a period. Kay Caboose #134, built by the Darby Corp. in Kansas City, served the Missouri Kansas Texas Railroad (known as the MKT or Katy) as a typical end car 1968 to 1988. The caboose also known as a "crumby" served as a sheltered vantage point from which train-men could keep watch on the cars ahead, but also where they could fix a part and do paperwork, and catch a few ours sleep. It was the temporary office and home of the freight conductor and rear brakeman.
Caboose is a nautical term of Dutch origin that means "ship's galley." This "galley' with it's makeshift crow's nest (called a cupola), was an essential part of trains as early as the 1840s. Modern technology began to replace the duties of the brakeman and watchman in the 1980s, and today, cabooses are rarely used for more than exhibitions. This decline led to a number of cabooses being scrapped, sold or donated to museums, communities and private individuals. Along or near Katy Trail State Park, cabooses can be seen in Clinton, Windsor, Sedalia, Boonville, New Franklin, Hartsberg, Marthasville, and St. Charles.
The last freight train to leave Boonville on Katy tracks was Oct, 14, 1986. Caboose #134 was acquired by the Union Pacific Railroad along with other holdings of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad in 1988. Train enthusiast and members of the Boonville community arraigned for the acquisition of this caboose in 1997. Together, they re-laid the track in front of the depot, relocated the caboose, and with the help of inmates of Boonville Correctional Center, sanded and repainted it.
Today, Caboose #134 serves as the Boonville Katy Caboose Railroad Museum, which exhibits artifacts and photographs of railroading in the local area. For tours and current hours of operation, visit the Boonville Chamber of Commerce office located adjacent to the caboose at the north end of the depot.