The Red Caboose Motel

The Red Caboose Motel, (originally named the Red Caboose Lodge), is a 48-room train motel located near Ronks, Pennsylvania, in Lancaster County,[2] where guests stay in actual railroad cabooses.[3][4][5] The property has been described as a landmark and roadside attraction.[6][7][8][9] It was developed and open in 1970 by Donald M. Denlinger.[10][11]

The Red Caboose Motel
Location in Pennsylvania
General information
LocationLancaster County, Pennsylvania
Address312 Paradise Ln, Ronks, PA 17572[1]
Coordinates40°01′34″N 76°10′07″W
OpeningMay 10, 1970
Technical details
Floor count1
Design and construction
DeveloperDonald M. Denlinger
Other information
Number of rooms48 rooms/38 cabooses
Number of restaurants1
Website
redcaboosemotel.com

History

The Red Caboose Motel was established on May 10, 1970, when Pennsylvania developer and entrepreneur Donald M. Denlinger[11] acquired 19 cabooses that were sold as surplus from the Penn Central Railroad. Denlinger, who only placed the bid $100 below scrap value, did so on the dare of a friend. Denlinger searched far and wide for a property large enough to accommodate the cabooses that was also adjacent to railroad tracks. Many properties were under Amish ownership who would not lease land to a commercial operation such as a motel because they would be rebuked by their church. He eventually came across an English-owned farm located in Ronks, Pennsylvania, along the Strasburg Rail Road.[3] After receiving a substantial loan from a Lancaster-based bank, work on the motel began in January 1970 with the laying of track and utilities. On February, 27, 1970, with the assistance of Strasburg Rail Road Steam Locomotive #31, the cabooses made their final journey from Landisville, Pennsylvania, to their new home, 312 Paradise Lane, Ronks. A Pennsylvania Railroad P-70 railroad coach was acquired from Penn Central’s yard in Holidaysburg, Pennsylvania and brought to the property for use as a Dining Car Restaurant (now Casey Jones’ Restaurant, named after Casey Jones, a notable locomotive engineer).[12][13] A second P-70 coach was added years later along with 19 additional cabooses, a railroad post office car and baggage car.[4] Over the years the Red Caboose Motel has been the home to many events including railroadiana auctions, weekly shindigs in the barn and the Great Train Race in 1980. In 2016, the property was sold to new owners and renovated.[5][14]

Design and location

The motel complex consists of 38 cabooses, a railway post office car, baggage car, farmhouse, barn and two dining cars that serve as a restaurant.[15] The original farmhouse and outbuilding also serve as lodging units. Denlinger’s caboose interiors were particularly memorable. Each caboose was equipped with a non-functioning potbelly stove that had a black & white television inside and a lamp hanging from the articulated stovepipe overhead.[7] Each caboose also had a combination desk / storage bench with hand-painted American eagle on the top. The motel is located near Route 741 and the Strasburg Rail Road, the oldest continuously operating railroad in the western hemisphere.[16]

See also

Sources
  1. Red Caboose Motel's address
  2. "8 Unusual Hotels for Fun, Family-Friendly Unique Stays". Huffpost.
  3. Treese, Lorett (2003). Railroads of Pennsylvania (p.p. 87-89). Stackpole Books. ISBN 9780811748872.
  4. Associated Press News: Caboose motel offers unusual Pennsylvania Dutch venue (By PAUL KUEHNEL, March 26, 2018)
  5. USA Today: Eight retro motels sure to inspire road-trip nostalgia
  6. Butko, Brian and Sarah (2007). Roadside Attractions: Cool Cafés, Souvenir Stands, Route 66 Relics, & Other ... (p. 114). Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-0229-4.
  7. Hinkley, James (2005). The Big Book of Car Culture: The Armchair Guide to Automotive Americana (p. 38). Motorbooks. ISBN 9780760319659.
  8. Unique Hotels: Red Caboose Motel
  9. Only in your state: A Train Restaurant In Pennsylvania, Red Caboose Is A Fun And Unique Place To Dine
  10. Wood, Andrew and Jenny (2004). Motel America A State-by-state Tour Guide to Nostalgic Stopovers (p.84). Collectors Press. ISBN 9781888054910.
  11. LancasterOnline: New owners hope to get Red Caboose rolling faster
  12. "Photos: The Red Caboose Motel is classic Americana in Lancaster County". York Daily Record.
  13. "A Restaurant with a Railroad View". Lancaster County Magazine.
  14. LNP: LNP – NEW OWNERS OF RED CABOOSE MOTEL OPEN BARN UP TO ENTERTAINMENT AND COMMUNITY
  15. LNP: New owners of Red Caboose Motel open barn up to entertainment and community
  16. Strasburg Rail Road Yesterday
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