We arrived at Caboose Falls with tools and gloves—ready for a day of work. But our plans were quickly switched onto a different track.
Heavy rains over the past week had transformed the ravine, turning our planned workday into an impromptu field study. By noon, we had become amateur archaeologists cataloging artifacts: a dust cap buried along the CSX ditch, a frozen padlock in the old P&LE roadbed, even a hazmat placard lurking near the treeline. But, it was Aurelius who found the most puzzling relic of all, mysterious rotting timbers—strange, grooved planks half-buried in the falls, whispering of a utilitarian past lost to time.
The weekend’s detour turned into the perfect homeschool lesson, though we hadn’t planned it. History wasn’t in a textbook that day; it was in our muddy hands beneath our boots, demanding that we ask questions.
Sometimes, the best education comes when you put down the plans and let the land—and the railroad—take the lead.
Uncovering a little Hidden History
This weekend’s trackside explorations turned up four gritty but fascinating artifacts—each with a connection to the business of American freight railroading and Caboose Falls.
Green Line Dust Cap
Buried in a ditch beside the CSX tracks, this grime-coated dust cap likely tumbled from a freight car long ago. With a cracked latch—half-submerged in mud—it has endured years (or decades?) of storms, and the vibrations of passing trains.
American Lock Co. Padlock
Rusted stiff, its shackle frozen open, this padlock is a time capsule. The markings—“American Lock Comp”—date it to pre-2004, and though we can’t tie it definitively to the P&LE, its design mirrors locks still used by CSX today. Was it dropped by a Maintenance of Way crew? Tossed aside by a frustrated conductor? Either way, its secrets are locked away.
1075 Placard
Another find was a UN 1075 hazmat placard, still surprisingly vivid. Made of that same tough, flexible plastic you’d see on political yard signs, it once warned of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) rolling down the rails. How many miles did it travel before landing here?
Wooden Remnants
While hiking the recently reshaped falls (thanks to heavy rains), we spotted something unexpected: fragments of lumber, wedged under rocks and debris. The wood is soft from years of burial, but the nails still clinging to it tell us this was once assembled—something purposeful.
One piece (pictured above) has a precise, unnatural groove—clearly part of a design, but for what? A tool? A structural piece of old infrastructure? The falls have hidden their secrets well—but we’re digging deeper. We’ll return with tools and cameras to uncover more. Stay tuned for updates.
We came to Caboose Falls to work on history—to scrape away rust, to steady washed out trails, to preserve what time had worn down. But history, it seems, had other plans. It found us and took us on an unexpected adventure. That’s the magic of this place—just when you think you’re here to fix something, you realize you’re really here to listen.
Weekend in Focus: What our Cameras Captured
