Perched next to the Aspen Market on Davis Avenue in McCall is a yellow train caboose on a short segment of railroad tracks.
The 24-ton caboose was placed by crane onto the tracks last year after being trucked to McCall from Iowa. Now, Aspen Market owner Dave Holland is remodeling the caboose into a tiny home.
Once remodeled, the caboose will contain a 460-square-foot one-bedroom studio apartment. Holland then plans to build a second tiny home on the site that will resemble a railroad depot. The development is called Railroad Junction.
“I’ve got a contractor working on a canopy and deck and handrails and all that stuff. Once he’s complete, then we can start on the inside,” Holland said. “We hope it turns out real cute.”
The remodel could be complete by the end of this year, but Holland said he is not in a rush. He plans to rent the apartments as long-term rentals, but did not rule out the possibility of short-term renting them.
Idaho Northern Railroad connection
The lot containing Railroad Junction is part of an abandoned spur track of the former Idaho Northern Railroad, which ran from Nampa to McCall along the North Fork Payette River. The abandoned spur track has been evident during excavation.
“We keep finding these railroad spikes and we found a couple of railroad ties in the ground rotting away,” Holland said. “It was surely there.”
Holland does not know much about the caboose’s history, but googled the serial number painted on it and found it was once part of the Great Circus Parade. This 1982 photo shows the caboose in Chicago with decorative circus carriages that had just arrived from Baraboo, Wisconsin, for a Memorial Day Parade.
It is unknown if the caboose was used in recent years. Holland bought it from a train car broker in Iowa after coming up with the idea to convert a train car into a tiny home.
“People say, ‘well, you must be nuts about trains,’” Holland said. “Nah, not really. They’re just a cool part of the history of our country I think.”
