We are looking for 3 volunteers to assist us with prepping and painting our Red Caboose located on the Leelanau Trail at Carter Road. The job will probably span multiple days and will tally up quite a few hours this summer. We already have a volunteer project manager and just need 3 assistants. If you are interested in helping, please email Pam at office@traversetrails.org.

Here’s a brief history lesson related to our train caboose: The Leelanau Trail runs along a former rail bed, most recently used by the Leelanau Scenic Railroad. The railroad operated between Greilickville and Northport. Long ago, one of the most important uses of the railroad was providing transportation to and from Traverse City for people who lived in Leelanau County. Our caboose, Red Caboose #2938, has a bed, a bathroom, table and chairs, and a stove. Cabooses were used as a place for eating and sleeping, conductors would use the space to do paperwork and it’s where the train brakeman would “throw switches” to slow down or stop the train. They would also radio information about the train to the engineer up front. Cabooses were painted “boxcar red” for high visibility. After World War II, however, the "little red caboose" started showing up in many different colors. We’d like to restore our caboose to it’s original “boxcar red” this summer!