Large Scale Central

NEW caboose at Caboose (Hobbies) today?

Received an email last night from the New caboose Hobbies store in Lakewood, CO. The new owner has purchased old Rio Grande #01416 and it will be placed on its permanent track in front of the store this afternoon.

Now that makes an outstanding billboard advertisement for his business, I like it(https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif)

Sweet!

Got this in an email:

Caboose is celebrating its one-year anniversary in the new location and 80 years as one of the country’s premier train stores! From Saturday the 17th through Monday the 26th, we will be celebrating our first year in our new Lakewood location at 10800 W Alameda Ave. by having a customer appreciation sale. We have loved serving the train enthusiast and local communities by keeping the iconic Caboose legacy alive and continuing to be your source for all things model railroading. This year has been a real joy serving all of our customers and growing into the store that we have become, and we would like to pass our appreciation on to you! This week everything will be discounted, and the savings grow as your shopping basket fills:

All purchases under $100.00 receive 5% off.
All purchases $100.00 - $199.99 receive 10% off.
And…
All purchases over $200.00 receive a full 15% off our already low prices!

This sale applies to in-store purchases only, excluding consignment and advanced reservation items. We’re kicking off the event today, Saturday, February 17, 2018, and you can also witness the placement of our new caboose, Rio Grande #01416 on the property! Come on down, see a piece of history relocate, celebrate with us, and help us usher in another momentous year at Caboose!

I wonder how much a Caboose costs these days. Around 1974 cabooses were being offered for $2000 delivered to the closest siding.

The Encinitas Santa Fe station had just been moved about a mile north on Coast Hwy. I tried to get permission to put a caboose on the property, my father was going to finance a Hobby Shop.

The owner of the depot said No and that he was going to do that, but never did…

I wonder why they dropped “Hobbies” from the name?

Maybe they had to pay per letter, and its a cost saving measure. (https://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)

Ray Dunakin said:

I wonder why they dropped “Hobbies” from the name?

May have something to do with new ownership and the relocation of the store, sales agreements can get pretty convoluted sometimes.

Nah, I think it’s the way of the advertising world now. Everything gets shortened up, down to the bare minimum. Short and sweet for maximum impact, supposedly. My railroad is called The St. Francis Consolidated Railroad of the Colorado Rockies. If I hired an ad agency it would be: Francis.

There’s something interesting about this also, and I don’t know if it was deliberate by Kevin Ruble, I’d have to ask him if I see him out there: it’s called Caboose, but everyone automatically fills in the Hobbies part when you think of it and say it. I wonder if that’s part of the intention here. All I know for sure is this Ruble guy seems to be one sharp character.

On one hand they stress keeping the tradition, on the other they changed the name. Everyone has heard of “Caboose Hobbies”, “Caboose” by itself could be anything.

I don’t buy the story yet.

Greg

Yeah, I wonder if the new owner didn’t want to pay for the rights to the old name or something. No big deal either way, just curious.