Popular Minneapolis Pizza Caboose Being Relocated To Central Minnesota

A familiar sight for many who enter into or leave North Minneapolis going to or from Northeast Minneapolis is going to be going away in the near future. The Broadway Pizza caboose located at the intersection of West Broadway and West River Road North will be heading to a museum in East Central Minnesota after the restaurant closes.

According to a post from the Gopher State Railway Museum the owners of Broadway Pizza offered up the 1911 caboose to be used by the museum, but unfortunately, they are unable to take the piece of the railroad and cultural history. That, however, doesn't mean the caboose is being destroyed, a museum in East Central Minnesota will be taking the train car to their museum in the next few months.

The history behind the caboose and how it got to where it presently sits is pretty fascinating. Here is just a blurb from the post from the Gopher State Railway Museum about the piece of rail history.

The car was built in 1911 by American Car & Foundry for the Wisconsin Central as car number 99111. It’s a sister car to GSRM’s WC caboose 99114, also built by AC&F in 1911. The car saw service across the WC and Soo system in Wisconsin, eventually being assigned to transfer service at Soo’s Schiller Park yard in Chicago in the late 1960s. Around 1971, it found itself assigned to Superior, WI where it worked until retired in 1974. In 1975, the owner of Broadway Pizza built a new restaurant on Broadway Ave in North Minneapolis between the tracks of the Soo Line and Burlington Northern (former Northern Pacific) Railroads and the Mississippi River. He purchased WC 99111 as a display and billboard for the restaurant at that time. Since 1975, it’s been a North Minneapolis icon. - Gopher State Railway Museum Facebook Post

From the end of the post about the caboose, KSTP-TV reports that the caboose is heading to "the Ironhorse Central Railroad Museum in Chisago City, where the new owner plans to fix it up, and maybe even have it ride the rails once more.

While it's bittersweet to see a business close and to see a community icon like the caboose go, it seems like it is going to go to a place that will treasure it like so many did as they made memories at Broadway Pizza or took senior pictures with the caboose in the background.