Re: History of 'White Hall Lumber' Caboose Oakland CA
Author: OPRRMS
Date: 05-07-2010 - 20:34
It's ex-SP, but I've forgotten its number. If Tony Johnson (former editor of the S.P. Review) sees this, maybe he knows.
The caboose has been there for a long time. It was delivered to White Brothers back when their yard was still operating and had rail access. They received inbound loads of lumber well into the late 1970's or early 1980's. The caboose sits at 90 degrees to where their spur was. White Brothers originally used it as an office. After the yard closed there was a semi-homeless guy living in it who claimed the company allowed him to live there. His name was Bill, but everyone knew him as "Tweaker." Guess why. He was well-known to the Alameda Police Department as they used to pick him up regularly. He had a big friendly dog (named, appropriately enough, "Dog") who would be impounded at the Alameda Animal Shelter whenever Bill was in the clink. Apparently Bill had been at Cal back during the LSD days. He (and Dog) seemed to disappear sometime in the mid-1990's. Around the same time, there was a fire that gutted the interior of the caboose. Maybe Bill's still in it somewhere.