THUNDER BAY — It will take volunteers an estimated 40 hours to repair damages to the historic CNR caboose parked at Marina Park.
Someone broke into the caboose Friday night or early Saturday, then broke his way back out again.
Items inside the caboose are of historical value only, and none of them were stolen.
Craig Symington, president of the Thunder Bay Railway Historical Society (TBRHS), calls the incident "terribly disappointing."
The culprit got inside by climbing onto the roof and smashing a window in the cupola, then exited by kicking out the door.
The door sustained severe damage and will require a custom re-build, as it's the caboose's original door, installed in 1928.
Symington said a broken window in the cupola also dates back to the same period.
"The sad thing is, they broke all the mullions [vertical bars between panes of glass] in it. I had stripped all the old paint off it. It's definitely from 1929," he said, explaining that the railway used to stamp identifying numbers on various car parts.\
Symington called the incident "totally senseless," noting that the volunteer group has spent thousands of hours on the restoration.
TBRHS vice-president James Tocker added in a Facebook post that "this really hurt."
Tocker is asking anyone with information about the incident to contact Thunder Bay Police.
Up to this point, there has been no video surveillance on the caboose, but Symington said it will be installed as a result of the break-in.
