The top photo was taken at the Valley Railroad, Essex, CT. At that time #14 was owned by a Mr. and Mrs. Sefert and they used it as their "motel" when they came to the Valley to work/volunteer. They had the hack painted inside in green and white, installed electric lights, cut down one cupola bunk and made a dining table area up there and had the exterior maintained in the dark red paint you see here.
Upon Mr. Sefert's death, the Railroad Museum of Long Island purchased the caboose and moved it to Greenport, restored it to its 1940's livery and dedicating it on 21 September 2002. Great care was taken by Bob "Ducky" Kaelin and Art Christian in researching the historic colors of the LIRR wooden caboose fleet of the 40's. These colors and text were painstakingly applied during the 2000 - 2002 restoration of the car. In 2015 the exterior of #14 was again stripped, primed and painted with two coats of Terra Red exterior oil base paint. This time a successful Eagle Scout Project of Greenport Scout, Connor Whittle and his Troop.
Today #14 is open to visitors and patiently awaits re-letering
August 2015, north elevation
November 2015, south elevation: caboose #14, boxcar #759, JAWS VEE Plow W-83.
