Cabooses to be home to priest who had served here
J Stephenson | New Castle News | 8/16/1996
His dream house isn’t a two story brick with a garage and sprawling yard.
This man’s dream house consists of two railroad cabooses which he bought and had placed on his new property in Union Township.
A bright yellow Pennsylvania and Lake Erie Railroad caboose and a deep blue Baltimore and Ohio Railroad caboose were lowered by a crane onto the new tracks off West Washington Street.
The Rev. Edward R. Schleicher, pastor of Holy Rosery Parish in Muse, Washington County, is the man who will stay here probably “10-12 times a year until I retire, then I’d like to stay here all the time.”
The former New Castle priest and administrator served at Holy Cross, St. Margaret and St. Michael churches.
The blue car is where the bathroom, living room, and bedroom are and the yellow car is where the kitchen and dining room are. “They were scrap essentially,” he said. “They had to be steam cleaned on the inside and all the electric was rewired because they originally ran off a generator.”
Each car weighs 65,000 pounds, while the wheels they sit on weigh 20,000, prompting some people to comment, “That’s why you don’t get in front of a train.”
Noting Union Township has been “very gracious and extremely cooperative,” Schleicher said Charles Morrison, a township supervisor, “welcomed me into the community.”
A female bystander watching the activity said that when the first car arrived Tuesday, “tears ran down Ed’s cheeks and it was an emotional time for everyone.”
Kasgro Rail Corp. refurbished the cabooses and Chip Barletto, of the Barletto Equipment Company, transported them to Union Township and helped unload them and place them on the tracks. Jones Excavating and Trenching removed the trees and made a driveway for the trucks and crane to drive down to where the cabooses were placed.
Schleicher was denied access to the Shenango Industrial Park where he originally wanted to put the cars. The area was zoned for industrial use.
Even though the Allegheny and Western Railroad/CSX Real Properties of Baltimore wanted to sell the property, the township’s zoning committee decided to keep the property for industrial use.