Landmark Woodbridge caboose has new home in Toronto

Woodbridge Agricultural Society volunteers sought to preserve railway relic

Yorkregion.com
Sept. 14, 2015
By Adam Martin-Robbins

The bright red, wooden caboose that served as a landmark along Hwy. 27 in Woodbridge for decades has been restored to its former glory and is now on display at its new home in downtown Toronto.

The Canadian National Railway (CNR) caboose - or van as they’re called by railroad enthusiasts - that once belonged to Jim Pickett and stood sentry at the entrance to Pickett’s Nurseries and Garden Supplies, on the west side of Hwy. 27 south of Rutherford Road, was donated to the Toronto Railway Historical Association late last year.

Local real estate developer John Di Poce, who now owns the Pickett property, agreed to donate it after volunteers from the Woodbridge Agricultural Society approached a representative from his company about preserving the caboose, believed to date back to the 1920s, rather than demolishing it to clear the way for a new FedEx distribution centre.

The caboose was restored by a team of more than 30 volunteers from the Toronto Railway Historical Association and has been repainted in brilliant orange with CNR’s green maple leaf logo, bearing the words Serves All Canada, emblazoned on both sides.

The local railway relic now on display in Roundhouse Park (255 Bremner Blvd.), more specifically on patio track six outside the roundhouse.

“It is wonderful to see a part of the great Woodbridge railway history persevered for future generations to enjoy,” said John Schell, second vice president for the Woodbridge Agricultural Society, Woodbridge Fall Fair. “The Woodbridge Agricultural Society is very happy to have had a small part in seeing the caboose from Pickett’s Farm restored and put on display for the whole GTA to appreciate. A big thanks to the Toronto Historical Railway Association for agreeing to take on the restoration project and for the display of the newly restored CNR Van 79144 down at the Toronto Railway Museum in Roundhouse Park.”