By Tesa Strasser
The Press-News
A bit of history has been preserved at 5950 Briggle Ave. in Pike Township. At one time cabooses were the business office and safety center of a freight train. For the most part, they have been replaced by electronic sensors and the wireless communication with the exception of the one mile of track that fringes this 27-acre reclaimed strip pit property owned by Adrian Eskew.
There are six authentic cabooses on this property. Approaching the site from Melscheimer Road visitors are greeted by a bright red 1904 Wheeling and Lake Erie caboose and a crisscross "Oak Hill Crossing" sign. This make-shift playhouse for Eskew's now grown granddaughter sits next to a 35-year-old working wind mill.
Behind this vintage bobber is a workshop where outdated parts are recreated to restore railroad cars.
Nearby there are two 1963 NY Central N7B bay window cabooses. They each have four bunks designed to sleep the train's break man, conductor, fireman and engineer.
One of these cabooses is designated for Boy Scout Troop 203 activities and is owned by Scout Master Rick Wessels. It sets beside a boy scout activity shelter.
Wessels tells a chilling tale of the day that caboose was moved. Donated by Conrail, the daunting feat of transporting it to this site required some creativity. The wind chill was -60 degrees the day it was moved. He and the scouts are sincerely thankful to the friends and family that made it happen.
Also on this property is a 1924 Chesapeake & Ohio caboose. It is one of the last wooden vessels made. It has an ice box, cook stove, coal bunker and was an out house on wheels. When restoring this car, Eskew found a bullet lodged in the frame. "If this caboose could talk, I wonder what stories it could tell," he shared as he showed me the remnant.
There have been some unique uses of this atmospheric setting. Oak Hill hosted the wedding of a Malone College professor. Eskew had the privilege of delivering the bride and the bridal party via train to the ceremony location on his property. A country western music video was filmed at this site several years ago.
Visitors have come to enjoy the historic richness of Oak Hill Crossing from as far as Ireland. On a trip around the property you would ride in a hand-made replica of a Ohio and Western caboose. It would be pulled by a Brookville gas powered engine or an HK Porter fireless boiler. There are only five of the Porter steam engines left in existence. They were used to transport materials through gun powder plants. This particular boiler is a 1923 model from Benton, Arizona.
During this rail trip back in time, riders see a depot and several working rail road crossings complete with lights and moving arms. Patches and other brooder longhorns can be viewed as they graze in the pasture.
Energetic visitors may choose to pump their way around the property using the hand car created by Eskew.
At the owner's private residence the sixth caboose is found. Another 1930 Wheeling and Lake Erie caboose is attached to his home and served as his bedroom for many years.
Both Wheeling and Lake Erie cabooses were retrieved from the nearby Brechbuhler Farm. At one time they housed migrant workers at harvest.
Now retired, Eskew has plenty of time to pursue his caboose passion. He worker as a film projectionist at area theaters and was the greens keeper at nearby Spring Valley Golf Course for many years. That is where he and Wessels met, when Rick was working a summer job as a teenager. Their common appreciation for cabooses sealed the friendship that has lasted 30-plus years.
As the owner of Oak Hill and the CEO of the Orville Rail Heritage Society, Eskew enjoys sharing his hobby with others. School classes, clubs and others are welcome to visit this outdoor caboose museum. To schedule a visit call Eskew at 330-484-1101.
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