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Make It Easy:  The caboose renovation  |
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Alaska farm girl
True Blue Farmgirl
123 Posts
dorothy
skagway
Alaska
USA
123 Posts |
 Posted - May 21 2006 : 09:32:09 AM
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Here in bush Alaska, dry, spacious,FREE accomodations are not too be passed up. So when I was told I could have an old building,(only need to move it),I got excited! It is 25 ft. long and 14 ft. wide and was built to look like a train car with rounded ceiling on on end. I spent HOURS prying up nails that held down THREE layers of linoleum to find fir flooring underneath! Then I tore pressboard off the walls to find tongue & groove wainscoating!
I am now in the process of moving the building onto our 4 acres and tearing out the too low stuccoed (yuck) ceiling in the kitchen.It will eventually look up into a little loft with a small window. Some folks think I'm nuts and my friends think it'll look cute when done. The roof looks terrible,with gross tar poured on top but the inside is dry. I will keep you informed of the project.It there's a will,there's a way,right!? I also cut out one wall and put in two cute 5 ft long paned windows and that brought light in on the east side for morning sun! Can't wait to put in the finishing touches with all this stuff I've collected over the years! I hope it moves with no glitches!! Trading for homecooked meals!
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Nancy Gartenman
True Blue Farmgirl
9093 Posts
Nancy
West Seneca
New York
USA
9093 Posts |
Posted - May 21 2006 : 10:26:34 AM
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WOW!! Dorothy, are you doing this all yourself? I would love to see a picture of this soon to be home. It sounds so different. you could think of yourself as part of the boxcar children boon series. Is it very far from your land, and who lived in it before? I have a cousin in Anchorage, his wife is a doctor.We were to visit them a few years ago, had a great time and saw lots of beautiful sites. Post some pictures if you can, would love to see how this turns out.
NANCY JO |
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verbina
True Blue Farmgirl
231 Posts
randi
n.j
USA
231 Posts |
Posted - May 21 2006 : 11:59:53 AM
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| Wow dorothy, all my respect to you! thats one hell of a job! RANDI |
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Mumof3
True Blue Farmgirl
3890 Posts
Karin
Ellenwood
GA
USA
3890 Posts |
Posted - May 22 2006 : 08:35:14 AM
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Wow Dorothy! I think you have found your "summer project" for the next few years!! How fun is that going to be? I am envious. I have been asking for a small building to put in the backyard as a little escape for me for years now. You're a lucky girl.
Karin |
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blueroses
True Blue Farmgirl
1323 Posts
Debbie
in the Pandhandle of
Idaho
USA
1323 Posts |
Posted - May 22 2006 : 3:03:17 PM
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Dot,
You did all that work yourself? Put in windows? Wow. I need to hang with more of your do it yourselfer ladies. I have a lot to learn.
"You cannot find peace...by avoiding life."
Virginia Woolfe |
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Amie C.
True Blue Farmgirl
2099 Posts
Finger Lakes Region
NY
2099 Posts |
Posted - May 23 2006 : 1:23:05 PM
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Not to be repetitious, but...Wow, Dorothy!
I've always dreamed of finding some little, old building and moving it to the property my husband's family owns. How are you planning to move it? What kind of foundation are you preparing? Will this be the first building on your land?
I'm dying to hear more...Please continue to update this post as you make progress.
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jpbluesky
True Blue Farmgirl
6066 Posts
Jeannie
Florida
USA
6066 Posts |
Posted - May 23 2006 : 1:49:21 PM
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When it is done, you should notify HGTV for their show on extreme and unusual homes! I would love to see your building! Go girl!
Peace |
Edited by - jpbluesky on May 23 2006 1:49:50 PM |
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Alaska farm girl
True Blue Farmgirl
123 Posts
dorothy
skagway
Alaska
USA
123 Posts |
Posted - Jun 08 2006 : 07:58:27 AM
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Hi All! Well I'm back from the bush,totally exhausted,but did get done some things I wanted to. I do know I DON'T want to pick up a power tool for a o couple of weeks!!!
I had a good friend move the caboose onto our land.It took him 2 days,first day getting it positioned onto the moving dolly.Had 2 retired fellows show up to help.I was scurrying around the building helping to put cribbing under it.Didn't want the guys to think I was a loafer!! Then we had to watch him have a hard time getting it up the encline to the main road.The skids kept getting caught so he had to keep shortening the chains so it would lift higher. My kids Grandpa showed up to help too.He's 82,very spry,and LOVED seeing the caboose preserved! Grandma took pictures! THEN, we all watched with bated breath as Vince CAREFULLY and SLOWLY pulled the building down the road to its new site.
It was positioned on the dolly so well it teeter-tottered!,but Vince just kept the tension on the pull-side just so.People were comin' out of the woodwork to watch the move!
Well then it took a few more days of sawzalling out the ceiling in the kitchen(too low and ugly stucco), so as to see the loft area with a cute little window in the dormer above. THAT was a little unnerving as I had to be upstairs cutting out sections (so I wouldn't fall through the ceiling)! |
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Alaska farm girl
True Blue Farmgirl
123 Posts
dorothy
skagway
Alaska
USA
123 Posts |
Posted - Jun 08 2006 : 08:15:13 AM
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To continue,(Why can't the message space be longer)?! Anyway,I'm almost done! Well, I did poop out with energy and went to another project for a day, so my arms and knees could have a break! I dug 8 foundation holes,( had to go down 2-3 ft. to hit sand! Thats after I erected a rope swing,hammock,tent, and built a fort out of branches from limbing the trees so the boys could have something to do while I dug. Remember if you can dig the holes and put in the posts BEFORE you move a building,thats easier! Anyway,next trip is to get it down on a permanent foundation and then start on the roof as it has some rot. Oh yeah, I had to remove 12 bags of squirrel infested insulation,YUCK! I had goggles on and a mask too but I was told to also wear a scarf over the mask for added protection.All I had was a curtain,boy I wish I had a pic. of that get-up! The bottom line is I am saving a historic place AND saving money!!!!
So... back to planting and fence building.And resting......! |
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Lavender Cottage
True Blue Farmgirl
273 Posts
Ellen
USA
273 Posts |
Posted - Jun 08 2006 : 08:39:11 AM
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Dorothy-this is so great to read. I hope you are resting and rewarding yourself with your favorite treats after all that hard work. It is so wonderful that you are saving a historic place and also saving $. What a project-keep us posted on your progress. :)
Ellen in MI |
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Libbie
Farmgirl Connection Cultivator
3579 Posts
Anne E.
Elsinore
Utah
USA
3579 Posts |
Posted - Jun 08 2006 : 10:24:25 AM
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Wow is right!!! I absolutely can't wait to see this place - Dorothy - do you have any way of posting pictures? Ugh - what a lot of crazy work in the beginning - I'm so impressed with the ingenuity of farmgirls - you have vision AND skills!!!
XOXO, Libbie
"Nothing is worth more than this day." - Goethe |
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Mumof3
True Blue Farmgirl
3890 Posts
Karin
Ellenwood
GA
USA
3890 Posts |
Posted - Jun 08 2006 : 1:05:48 PM
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I am dying to see pictures!! My goodness all that work!!
I am sure that you would be stiff competition with Scarlett as far as original uses for curtains. I would err on the side of the practical myself.
Karin |
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LJRphoto
True Blue Farmgirl
760 Posts
Laura
Hickory Corners
MI
USA
760 Posts |
Posted - Jun 08 2006 : 4:09:22 PM
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Is it possible that it was actually a caboose once? Like it reached the end of the line and that's where it stayed? What a cool project, I'm so impressed with all of your talents. I couldn't even manage to hang some shelving in my closet last summer!
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority." -E. B. White
http://www.betweenthecities.com/blog/ljr/
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Juliekay
True Blue Farmgirl
237 Posts
237 Posts |
Posted - Jun 19 2006 : 7:31:09 PM
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How is the caboose renovation going? We're all dying for pictures and an update.
Julie |
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Terre
True Blue Farmgirl
97 Posts
Indiana
USA
97 Posts |
Posted - Jun 21 2006 : 6:43:49 PM
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Hi! Good luck ---I have always loved trains. There is an engine and caboose on exhibit at the Indianapolis Childrens Museum. You can walk through the caboose so that you can see what it looked like as part of a working train. It has the carsiding that you are talking about. Does your caboose still have its stove? If not, how do you plan to heat it? You sound like a very creative person and DETERMINED  I hope you will really consider putting pictures on the site. What a great "Home" project! Who knows maybe MJF will even write about it in her next book with pictures---then everybody could see it! Hang in there!
Be true in heart. |
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westernhorse51
True Blue Farmgirl
1681 Posts
michele
farmingdale
n.j.
USA
1681 Posts |
Posted - Jun 22 2006 : 05:25:43 AM
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Dorothy that is so cool! God bless you, thats alot of work. Hope to see pictures
she selects wool and flax and works with eager hands Prov.31:13 |
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Alaska farm girl
True Blue Farmgirl
123 Posts
dorothy
skagway
Alaska
USA
123 Posts |
Posted - Jun 22 2006 : 08:38:45 AM
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| Hi, I haven't gotten back to the caboose project yet.I am home for a couple of weeks while DH is gone. Not too much recoup,the soon- to- be- 6 year old wants a fort and I had to finish the fence around the yard.Now to do gates.Also helped out at the show garden for a couple of days.AND started the community garden project.Wasn't going to build compost bins there but the health food store gave us all their rotten produce.Couldn't pass it up so now off to get pallets delivered to build bins.Hands and knees are sore.Garden buddies have offered to go to the bush with me to help work on the caboose project.Will try and talk hubby into buying me a digital camera so I can take pics for you.Oh yes I have a little wood stove in there and hope to get a small propane cook stove.My friend has a beautiful large propane\wood stove to give me to use.Its big though.Need to finish the foundation hole digging and get it down on a permanent foundation,then start on the rotten roof sections. |
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junebug
True Blue Farmgirl
2421 Posts
Sue
West Plains,
Mo.
USA
2421 Posts |
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Buttercup
True Blue Farmgirl
1433 Posts
Talitha
Vermont
USA
1433 Posts |
Posted - Jul 10 2006 : 11:44:26 PM
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This is so neat! I really enjoyed reading your story thus far and I look forward to more updates!! I hope it turned into a wonderful place and I also hope you get a chance to post some pictures so we can enjoy your progress!! Thank you so much for sharing this adventure!
"If we could maintain the wonder of childhood and at the same time grasp the wisdom of age, what wonder,what wisdom,what life would be ours" |
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connio
True Blue Farmgirl
535 Posts
connie
springtown
texas
USA
535 Posts |
Posted - Jul 11 2006 : 11:18:53 AM
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Hey Farm Girls!!!
Wow, Dorothy I am so impressed with all that you are doing! I have no do it yourself type of skills-wish that I knew someone like you.
Good luck with your exciting project.
Connie
Texas Farmgirl
cozycottage |
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Susie Q
True Blue Farmgirl
122 Posts
Susan
So. California
USA
122 Posts |
Posted - Jul 14 2006 : 09:41:21 AM
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| I'd love to see the pictures. Please post some. I to see how people have renovated and decorated unusual spaces. |
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Terre
True Blue Farmgirl
97 Posts
Indiana
USA
97 Posts |
Posted - Oct 09 2006 : 7:29:37 PM
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Hi Alaska Farm Girl! Are you still working on your caboose home?
Be true in heart. |
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frannie
True Blue Farmgirl
2246 Posts
fran
bonham
texas
USA
2246 Posts |
Posted - Oct 10 2006 : 09:30:06 AM
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this is a great project, i think so many people love the caboose. i t sounds like an incredible amount of work, but it sounds like your just the gal to tackle it.
i wish you could post pics!
please continue to keep us posted on your project.
i will have to subscribe to this one!
i wish mj could do a feature in her next magazine about it!
love
fran
(http://farmfolks-frannie.blogspot.com/) |
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Carolinagirl
True Blue Farmgirl
486 Posts
Kim
Rutherfordton
NC
USA
486 Posts |
Posted - Oct 10 2006 : 09:46:01 AM
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At the college I graduated from (University of South Carolina), the train cars are a commodity at the football stadium. They are stationary, yet still on the tracks, and people pay tens of thousands of dollars for them. The cars are fixed up really nice- ready for tailgating those couple of months a year. They are called the cockabooses. (Our mascot is a gamecock.)
I think it's cool that you're fixing one up!
Kim in NC |
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Alaska farm girl
True Blue Farmgirl
123 Posts
dorothy
skagway
Alaska
USA
123 Posts |
Posted - Oct 23 2006 : 12:33:22 PM
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Okay,I am sorry to say,the caboose reno. is no longer.I got it on a foundation and replaced the rotten roof sections and had porches built.But... then the property in my town came up for sale.This place I've been asking the owners to please call me if they were ever interested in selling,well they didn't call till my $ was sunk into this project! I didn't have the $ of course,and mentioned my sadness to a friend at lunch one day and she had the $ to finance it for us.
So then I scrambled to place the caboose(on 4 acres) up for sale to help purchase an old house,barn and creek on 1\2 acre with hopefully the purchase of another acre next door someday. Well,It is done! It was a really hard decision,but because the caboose prop. is so remote and costly to get there,not to mention moving of horse,buying hay and freight charges,I went this route.There is mass clean-up but oh so nice and peaceful.Does anyone want a place in Alaska?If I ever get a digital,will send pics. |
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Terre
True Blue Farmgirl
97 Posts
Indiana
USA
97 Posts |
Posted - Oct 26 2006 : 6:28:18 PM
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Good Luck with your move and your new home. It sounds like it was a hard decision to make---I wish only the best for you and your family. Thank-you for the update. P.S. anywhere in Alaska is remote to me. You must be one hardy woman :) Hope you get the other acre you want to add to someday. DREAM :)
Be true in heart. |
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Make It Easy: The caboose renovation |
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The caboose renovation
