After twenty years of existance as a simple historical society; with publications and annual dinners. The Northwestern Pacific Railroad Historical Society has restored to operation the NWP #13 wooden caboose.

The car needed an assortment of repaiirs to the body which had last been used as a pizza restaurant. With the usual damage to the inside and little maintaince for the rest of the caboose.

The society converted the trucks to roller bearings and it is now displayed and occasionally operated at the Roots of Motive Power (a timber heritage museum) in Willits, California.

Their next project pertty much fell into their lap when the Golden Gate Railroad Museum had to move to a new location and had to dispose of a number of pieces of equipment.

The Petaluma & Santa Rosa #1 was in terrible condition when the Golden Gate Museum found it sitting on the ground in San Carlos, California.

The caboose came to the Dieselized Interurban in the late 1930s and operated until about 1959.

Previously it had been Southern Pacific #732 built in 1899 at Sacramento by the SP shops.

The Society volunteers have been working on the caboose at Petaluma, California for the past couple of years. Not only has the car gotten frame repairs and a new side sill, it will have a complete new cupola by the time the work is finshed. Plus new doors and window sash throughout.

The Society purchased a pair of 1890s trucks from a museum in Washington State, on which they are now rebuilding the wooden parts.

I do not have any connection with the Society; but I have been reading their newsletters and I have to say they are doing some good preservation work.

In other NWP news the region north of San Francisco is massively congested with only one state Highway 101 available for the ever increasing population.

Last fall after several tries the funding went through to start some form of passanger service on the old railroad right of way. Most likely it will be Diesel hauled commuter cars; but Diesel powered llight rail has also been talked about.

Historically the ferries left from Sausalito; now they leave from Larkspar. But what a joy to be able to ride a train to a ferry into San Francisco again for the first time since 1941!

Ted Miles