La Crosse's Steam Locomotive and Old Time Caboose

For anyone that drives into Downtown La Crosse from the direction of Interstate 90 will see Engine 4000  and Caboose 0359 over at Copeland Park.  At this location, The City of La Crosse has a min-train museum.  You will find an old Control Tower, a Steam Locomotive, and the oldest known Caboose.

La Crosse has a rich history regarding the railroads.  Several rail road companies crossed through this area.  And starting in the 60s, La Crosse wanted to make sure people could be reminded of that connection.

On Saturday, August 29th, I stopped by this display on a whim.  It just so happened that there was going to be an 'Open House' for this little museum and they were just opening when I got there.

I got invited to walk into the caboose and check it out.  I was advised, however, that I could walk up to the engine cab, but since a lot of work was still being done no one was able to go into that part.  There were two engineers that came to answer any questions for visitors.

The best thing about the caboose was I had no expectations.  Walking up to it, the guide told me that this was the oldest known caboose in the country.  Built in 1883 at a factory in Dubuque, IA it had been designed larger than most.  Farmers and Cattlemen would use this to accompany their crops and heard for sale.  Sometimes, farmers would also use this to watch their fields, for the farmers lucky enough to have a train go through their property.








This museum informs that the caboose used to be incredibly important to train operations.  The cupola was where you would watch for any issues with the cars on the train.  The caboose held much of the spare parts needed for each job.  All of the financial books were kept.

This was the home for everyone working on the train.  You had stoves in place for heat and cooking.  The desks and booths became beds.  And the conductor and crew were assigned to the caboose, not the train.


In a sense, you could identify the train more by the caboose than you could by identifying the engine.  If you had a shift change, you saw it done with the change of the caboose.

And during the times everyone was in the box at the same time, it must have been a crowded space.  So the trust required must have made everyone into a sort of family.

 The locomotive was #4000, a Hudson 4-6-4.  It was owned by the CB&Q, otherwise known as Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy (now part of Burlington Northern) Railroad.  This engine was built in 1930 by Baldwin Locomotive Works.  The wheels were 78 Inches and allowed the train to be capable of speeds between 90 and 100 miles per hour.  You can see the Timken brand all over this engine.

La Crosse had it's Grand Crossing terminal and Control Tower.  This location was where people would control the switches for a very wide operating area.  This must have been an amazing set of levers used for the job.

At one time, this control tower would operate the switches all the way out to Tomah, WI and somewhere half way up the Mississippi to the Twin Cities.  But with computer controls, these days, much of Wisconsin and Minnesota are operated out of Minneapolis.