# Boxcar Cafe- A prototype for Everything??



## Naptowneng (Jun 14, 2010)

Driving through southern Colorado last fall after the C&T MOW photo shoot, I came across this:










Yes, a steel boxcar covered with a layer of tree branches, very rustic..










No longer in business, but looking through the windows, all setup for the "Outpost Cafe", I don't know how long they have been closed. Pretty remote area west of Antonito on the road to Chama

I was unable to see any marking on the boxcar, but likely a D&RGW car considering the location










So if you have an old boxcar and a tree that likes to drop twigs, you are in business










Regards

Jerry


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

Jerry;

I remember a storybook I had as a child about a little trolley named Puddlejumper, that got converted into a café by his motorman after the streetcar line closed down. So that boxcar seems entirely appropriate to me.

Thanks for sharing,
David Meashey


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## David Leech (Dec 9, 2008)

BUT why go through all that effort to hide the fact that it is a boxcar.
Why not just call it the Boxcar Cafe, and every railroad enthusiast that passes would stop and get a cup of coffee!
Well spotted.
All the best,
David Leech, Delta, Canada


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## Ray Dunakin (Jan 6, 2008)

David Leech said:


> BUT why go through all that effort to hide the fact that it is a boxcar.
> Why not just call it the Boxcar Cafe, and every railroad enthusiast that passes would stop and get a cup of coffee!


My thoughts exactly!


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## denray (Jan 5, 2008)

That is very fitting for the location, Thanks for posting Jerry
Dennis


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## Naptowneng (Jun 14, 2010)

Gents, thanks for your comments, yes covering the boxcar with wood was odd, but perhaps the home owners association did not like the look of boxcar red ? (That was a joke, the place was in the middle of nowhere..)

Just another railroad adventure on the road...

Jerry


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## riderdan (Jan 2, 2014)

Naptowneng said:


> Gents, thanks for your comments, yes covering the boxcar with wood was odd, but perhaps the home owners association did not like the look of boxcar red ? (That was a joke, the place was in the middle of nowhere..)
> 
> Just another railroad adventure on the road...
> 
> Jerry


It's pretty neat looking. It would be interesting to see photos of it when it was a working cafe.

I wonder if the owner had the "outpost" theme in mind and the boxcar was just a cheap source of a "building" Whatever the reason, it's a cool find.


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## Ray Dunakin (Jan 6, 2008)

What's really odd is that the wooden facade isn't even attached to the boxcar. It's more like a really, really close fence.


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## David Leech (Dec 9, 2008)

Maybe only having a box of nails, and faced with a steel boxcar, the builder decided that was the only approach!
Of course another theory might be that the railroad had left the boxcar there, and the cafe owner decided to try and hide it and then take possession!
Cheers,
David Leech, Delta, Canada


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## Naptowneng (Jun 14, 2010)

Using Google Maps street view, I found our cafe in March 2008, the "outpost" sign still above it, and to the right, a sign for a recreational ranch of some sort. Cafe, at least in the winter, looks deserted. Both signs are gone now...










Jerry


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

Jerry

Where is it? 

Driving through Colorado for the past 50 years or so I have see a lot of Rio Grande standard gauge box cars on ranches and farms being used as out buildings. They had to have been trucked in, as there is rarely a RR within miles.

Chuck


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## Naptowneng (Jun 14, 2010)

Chuck

About 15 miles west of Antonito on Colorado State Route 17
And yes I have enjoyed finding box cars and cabooses on farms and fields, especially in the San Luis Valley

Jerry


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

That location is 15 miles from the nearest Standard Gauge line, ever. It was brought in by a truck, not left on a siding.

Chuck

Thanks Jerry.


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## Naptowneng (Jun 14, 2010)

No doubt, Chuck....unless it was floated down the Conejos River..

Jerry


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

I think you might have meant up the Conejos River.

Chuck


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