2006 WP668 – Move from San Francisco

WP668 being loaded onto trucks at GGRM in San Francisco for move to San Jose

In February 2006, WP668 was moved by truck from the Golden Gate Railroad Museum (GGRM) in San Francisco to storage in San Jose. The steel strapped wooden top was lifted by crane off of the two steel trucks (wheel sets). The caboose top, missing its roof covering and very heavy because of the recent rain, was put on a lowboy truck. One set of steps and the battery box had to be cut off to make it fit. The two WP668 trucks (weighing about 5 tons each), along with signs, two tracks, spokes, plates, etc. were loaded on a second truck and into the family car.

At the same time, the “hospital train” of historic rolling stock was being loaded to go the Niles Canyon Railway, and the Western Pacific Railroad Museum at Portola. Two of WP668’s sister cabooses, WP646 and SN1642, went with the hospital train to the Portola museum.

The first truck suddenly started driving while the second was being loaded, so Katy Dickinson drove behind it from San Francisco down Highway 101 to San Jose, while John Plocher supervised the loading of the second truck. The moving permit specified that WP668 had to be in the middle lane to go under the lowest bridge on Highway 101, which was 14′ 10″. Katy and John’s insurance company did not require anything special because, after many discussions, it turned out that their home policy covered transport of personal possessions, even extremely large ones!