A $12,000 state grant helping restore the Cookeville Depot Museum’s historic Tennessee Central caboose.
Leaks, rotting wood and rust threaten the aging railcar. Cookeville Museum Manager Beth Thompson said the caboose has remained closed to visitors since the COVID pandemic.
“Unfortunately some of the mechanisms that hold the stairs up are rusting away and they have collapsed,” Thompson said, “So it’s really, really important, I mean we’re in the 11th hour trying to get this thing, you know back to where it can be safe enough that people can climb aboard.”
Thompson said museum officials hope the restoration could eventually allow visitors, including children, back inside the railcars through guided tours.
Thompson said the $12,000 will go entirely toward the restoration, with donated supplies and labor helping stretch the grant. Justin Daniels, who owns a sandblasting business, will perform the work and donate some of his time.
Daniels also brings a family connection to the project. His father and grandfather restored the same caboose after the museum acquired it in the 1990s.
“So it’s been a really cool full circle moment for him and we’re so excited to get that caboose,” Thompson said.
Thompson said preparation work could begin during the colder months, but temperatures will determine when crews can repaint the caboose. Thompson said the specialized paint requires warmer overnight temperatures to cure properly.
Thompson said crews will preserve the caboose’s historic appearance, including its original Tennessee Central color and railroad-specific lettering. The project could also include rust mitigation and painting on a cast-iron railroad crossbuck sign and work on the Depot’s orange track car.
“When it was restored in the 1990s it was restored to its original Tennessee Central color and even the font on the lettering is Tennessee Central specific and we will be sure to follow all of those historic guidelines as we go forward,” Thompson said.
Thompson said the award marks the third successful grant through the program for Cookeville’s museums. Previous funding supported restoration of Engine 509 at the Depot and exterior improvements at the Cookeville History Museum.
Thompson said the historic rail equipment remains an important part of the identity of Cookeville’s WestSide.
“You know, you just don’t come upon a full steam engine and caboose,” Thompson said. “It makes such a lovely tableau out there like you said with the Depot building and the Cream City sign.”
The Friends of the Cookeville Depot Museum received the funding through the Tennessee State Museum’s Capital Maintenance and Improvement Grant program.