Progress continues to be made on a caboose restoration project in Lehighton.

The effort recently received a boost, courtesy of a donation from a local bank.

“We would like to give special thanks to Jim Thorpe Neighborhood Bank for their generous donation of $500 to go toward the restoration of the caboose,” said Bambi Elsasser, community operations director, Lehighton Downtown Initiative.

Elsasser said LDI is selling raffle tickets to help fund the restoration of the caboose, which is located along Sgt. Stanley Hoffman Boulevard.

She said individuals could win a vacation of their choice up to $6,000 by purchasing a ticket.

Elsasser said tickets may be purchased at the Lehighton Downtown Farmers Market, The Styling Zone, Home Comfort Solutions, The Boatyard or from an LDI member.

The drawing will be held at Hometown Vintage Christmas.

“We would appreciate your support, as our goal is to have the caboose painted by the end of the year,” Elsasser said.

The caboose was donated to Lehighton in November 2022, transported using cranes and two large trucks. A section of track was installed near the pavilion for the car.

The LDI is leading the refurbishment of the caboose.

Last month, the LDI held a Railroad Day in conjunction with the Lehighton Downtown Farmers Market to show people the plans for the caboose, which will begin with repainting.

The cost to paint the caboose will be about $25,000. The LDI received a $5,000 matching grant from the Pocono Mountain Visitors Bureau; that means the organization has to raise $5,000 as the match, plus the rest of the money for the project.

In December 2023, a dedication of the Lehigh Valley Railroad caboose was held at the Lehighton D & L Trailhead.

The Carbon Chamber and Economic Development Corporation previously received a grant to do a landscaping project.

It took two years for the chamber to secure the funding to purchase the caboose from the Reading & Northern Railroad. There were anonymous donors who helped fund the acquisition.

From that point, it was a matter of going through the process of the Lehighton Water Authority, which owns that portion of the property; receiving approval from Lehighton Borough; and scheduling the trucks, trucking company, crane, Jim Thorpe Police Department and Lehighton Police Department so the caboose could be delivered.

Volunteers placed the ties on the track. The Lehighton Borough Public Works Department, with supervisor Kris Kunkle, pushed down the crushed stone and bed itself.

The railroad donated the track and had it delivered to the site.

Volunteers have cleaned up the inside of the caboose to secure it from the elements.

Kathy Henderson, former director of the Carbon Chamber and Economic Development Corporation, previously said the next step was to finalize the landscaping plan, and from there, focus on the outside to have it sanded, prepped and painted to be restored to as close to its original condition as possible.

At that point, she said the plan would be to install historic markers and storyboards detailing railroading in Lehighton and Carbon County, including old photographs of the train station that used to be in that area, and then signs identifying the volunteers, donors, companies and everyone who had a hand in putting it there and restoring it.

Contacted recently, Elsasser said the next step is having the caboose sanded, prepped and painted this fall.

Landscaping and interior work would then take place next year, she said. Eventually, interior work will be done, with some landscaping planned around the caboose.

The LDI will hold a bingo and a basket raffle on Nov. 2 at the Orioles Community Center.

For more information to help financially with the caboose, or to volunteer with the restoration process, call 610-509-6465.