Caboose In Use! - at KOA

Caboose In Use! Previously out-of-work train car gets a new life in recreation campground Caboose In Use! Previously out-of-work train car gets a new life in recreation campground

(NORTH BEND, OR) (October 28, 2008) – If only we could all retire in such grand fashion! A condemned, gutted, 1929 Santa Fe railroad caboose found a new life on October 16, when it was installed on the Oregon Dunes KOA Kampground in North Bend, Oregon. There, after refurbishing, it will soon become a new café, complete with interior kitchen and outdoor deck, for the convenience and pleasure of the campground’s guests.

“This is exactly what we were looking for. We didn’t want a caboose that was totally complete. This one had been gutted out, so we didn’t feel we were tearing something historical apart,” says campground owner Fritz Gross. “This one was used on freight trains traveling between Chicago and California. The crews and conductors would live in it while they were traveling.”


The antique caboose was shipped by rail to Hauser, Oregon from Fairfield, California. Once there, a large crane and a lot of man power was needed to move the caboose and it’s wheels onto two flatbed trucks, in order to truck it into place on the campground.


This is the second caboose that Gross - who has a passion for “all things railroad-related” -has added to the campground. He also tinkers with old tractors and military vehicles.


Campers staying at the Oregon Dunes KOA Kampground will be able to enjoy refreshments in and around the antique caboose soon.


The Kampgrounds of America Kampground is a private campground on the southern Oregon coast with ATV/ORV access to the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. For more information, please contact the campground at:

Oregon Dunes KOA
68632 Hwy 101 - Mile Marker 229
North Bend, OR 97459

Information: (541) 756-4851
Fax: (541)756-8838