An iconic landmark that sat in Finley River Park for decades has a new home. The Ozark Parks Department Monday moved the red Frisco caboose to the trailhead of the Chadwick Flyer trail at the Ozark Community Center.
Hayden Ponsar, director of Ozark Parks and Recreation, said the Chadwick Flyer Railroad once ran right through the front of Finley River Park. The caboose was donated to the city by Burlington Northern Railroad in 1983, so it's been a longtime piece of Ozark history.
"The beauty of parks is it's intertwined with so many people's story with this community. When you look at Garrison Springs and Finley River Park, the Riverside Inn Park, there are so many stories and history," he said. "And, frankly, there are lifetime moments, memories that were made there. And that caboose is a part of those stories. There are people who took graduation photos, there are kids who played on that caboose growing up. There are all these different memories associated with the caboose. And by protecting it, we're allowing those stories to continue but also allowing the memories to be maintained in a safer, more preserved spot."
Finley River Park is in a floodplain, and Ponsar said the caboose has been flooded up to its rooftop many times. During a significant flood in 2025, the parks department determined that the foundation of the caboose was at risk of being undermined.
"So, as opposed to just repairing it and potentially seeing that same issue with the next flood, we made plans to start moving it to a place that would be safe from floods," he said.
Moving something that weighs 35,000 pounds certainly isn’t easy. Carson-Mitchell, Inc. picked up both the caboose and its wheels (which each weigh 6,500 pounds) with a large crane and lifted them onto flatbed trailers owned by J and L Trucking. They were then moved to the OC, escorted by the Ozark Police Department where the caboose was lifted again and placed onto its wheels.
Ponsar said they’ll do some landscaping around the caboose next and add stairs so the public can climb to the back of it. And one day, when funding is available, he said they’d like to completely restore the caboose and allow the public to once again go inside it.
But for now, it's safe from floodwaters and marks the start of a trail that's still under construction.
"It's a place-making piece as individuals come to that trail for the first time as they launch out on their journey towards Springfield and hopefully one day connecting to Springfield Lake just as the Chadwick Flyer once did," said Ponsar.
