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Pulaski outlines caboose restoration with $9,300 budget, Moose Lodge donation and museum grant
Summary
Parks manager Nate Repass presented a plan to repaint and stabilize the depot caboose, preserve historical lettering, replace damaged windows, add signage and a bike repair stand; community groups pledged about 46% of the roughly $9,300 project cost.
Nate Repass, Pulaski’s parks and trails manager, told the council the town has a fully scoped plan to restore the depot caboose, targeting a completion and public debut around the July 4 celebrations.
Repass described the work as a combination of contractor-supported and in-house labor: surface preparation with a biodegradable walnut-shell media to limit contamination, a Sherwin-Williams single-component primer and Acrolon polyester epoxy topcoat (two coats per color), selective sandblasting, and window replacement with shatter-resistant polycarbonate. He said the project includes historical signage coordinated with the Norfolk and Western Historical Society and modest hand-painting of trim areas by volunteers.
Repass presented a revised total project budget of about $9,300—markedly lower than an earlier Norfolk & Western Historical Society estimate near $40,000—attributing the reduction to in-house labor and donated materials. He said the local Moose Lodge pledged $2,800 to fully fund paint consumables and that a museum grant (described as covering signage and a bike repair rack costing roughly $1,600) will pay for additional project elements, leaving the town responsible for the remaining ~54%.
The manager said the town will contain and recover walnut-shell blast media, avoid removing all paint to limit dust and waste, and protect the truck assemblies on the caboose by not sandblasting the undercarriage. Repass said the town plans to reseal and stabilize interior wood as a later phase after exterior preservation is complete.
Council members praised the fundraising and volunteered support; one councilor noted it was ‘‘pretty impressive’’ to reduce an early estimate to a fully funded, community-backed plan. Repass invited council participation in July brush-up efforts and said staff would order paints and schedule work with weather constraints in mind.
The council received the presentation; no formal vote was required for the informational update, but donations were presented to the town on-site.
