Caboose Won't Vamoose

Rick Martinez, the chairman of the board of Keep Santa Fe Beautiful, is in the midst of working out an agreement with the city that would keep a much-coveted caboose in Santa Fe for the next 25 years.

It's a sudden turn in events, considering the old caboose that sits at the corner of St. Francis Drive and Cerrillos Road was put up for sale a month ago for $17,000. But within days of the announcement by its owner, Santa Fe Southern Railway, people pitched in enough money to buy it, and Martinez managed to get the sellers to reduce the asking price to $14,000.

Martinez was instrumental in spiffing up the treasured icon a few years ago and now tells SFR that he's waiting to hear back from the city any day now on the agreement.

But he says he's confident that the stars will align and the caboose will stay in the City Different; it just might not be at its current location. The city is making plans to dig a tunnel beneath St. Francis at the spot for a pedestrian and bike underpass.

"The hard part is over, which was raising the money to keep it here," says Martinez, who spearheaded the fundraising effort. And while he was doing all this, the railway reported that an interested buyer was waiting in the wings.

Thankfully, a local man who is a member of the Texas Historical Society and who had sentimental ties to the industry pitched in $8,500, sealing the fate of the caboose, which, it turns out, will not vamoose. A handful of other donors came up with the rest of the sale price.

While particulars surrounding the history of the rail car are a bit vague, this much is certain: It's a Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad steel caboose from the late 1940s or early '50s.

This much more is certain: It's an artifact that has blended in with the landscape, and Martinez now hopes that it has many more years to go.

Like the end of a birthday song, "and many more."

The entire affair is an optimistic case study on how fast bureaucracy can move when it concerns the preservation of something so cherished, and it also is a demonstration of how one man, namely Martinez, changed the landscape by making sure it did not change at all.

How? By merely showing up at a City Council meeting and speaking his piece during public comments.

It's also proof of how important homegrown folks like Martinez are to the community. He grew  up in Santa Fe and knows it well and cares about it even more, the tenets of an effective neighborhood activist.

But he gives all glory to those who opened their wallets in a time of need.

"There's nothing more amazing when people come together for a common cause, especially when that cause is having pride in their city," he says.

Santa Fe Reporter