A
caboose for the Whistle Stop Library
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[December 26, 2016]
LINCOLN
- Emden resident Ladonna Gass had a vision. She wanted to do
something special for her community and knew exactly what it had to
be. Ladonna thought Emden should have a public library. With her
energy, enthusiasm and focus, she set about to make it happen.
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This story is well-known to the little farming community
surrounded by miles of farm fields northwest of Lincoln.
Ladonna found a building for the library, a former railroad freight
office, and then had it moved to another location a block away from
its original site. The station was a mess with years of trash
accumulated inside. She cleaned it out, connected it to the
electrical grid, and started collecting books. The Whistle Stop
Library in Emden has been a community hit ever since. Ladonna Gass
received the prestigious Illinois’ Studs Terkel Award for community
volunteer service.
But there was one thing missing.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Dec/23/images/ads/current/unitedmethodist_sdadaily_WORSHIP_2016.png) As the book count grew, and odds and ends from the summer programs
stacked up, there was a need for more room. Ladonna Gass’ dream was
to continue with the railroad theme of the library and acquire a
caboose to sit alongside the station library. She looked high and
low and finally came across the two cabooses that were at the
Lincoln passenger station that was about to undergo renovation. She
negotiated with Lincoln and thought a deal had been struck for one
of them to be moved for free to Emden. Then the reality of the
situation became apparent.
Experts from the Monticello Railroad Museum surveyed the two
cabooses in Lincoln and found asbestos insulation in them. Asbestos
remediation and other needs placed a cost of at least $10,000 on
restoring an old rail car to useful condition for the Whistle Stop.
“That was way too much for our little library savings account to
handle,” said Ladonna. What to do?
Enter Ladonna’s brother Ken Harnacke. She mentioned to him that she
needed more room, wanted a caboose to use as storage, but could not
afford one. Ken had been building metal storage sheds for people for
years. “I can build a storage shed to look just like a caboose,” he
said. And that is exactly what he did.
Now if you go to Emden and stop at the Whistle Stop Library, you
will notice a small caboose nestled on the side of the library. It
is a duplicate of an old style caboose that was the final car on
freight trains for many years. It has a cupola and a rear platform
complete with metal rail.
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![](../images/ads/current/LCU_bethany_lda_2016.png)
Now Ladonna Gass has her caboose storage shed
and she couldn’t be happier. But that’s not the end of the
story.
To show off her new acquisition, Ken and Ladonna loaded the shed
on a trailer and pulled it through Emden during a community
parade. One of the visitors to the community saw it and
immediately asked Ken if he could build a storage shed that
looked like a locomotive.
“Sure,” he said. With a grin, he said that he was not looking
for a new line of work converting storage sheds into different
shapes, but would take on one project.
Also, one of Ladonna’s very tall sons dressed up as Abe Lincoln
complete with top hat and posed on the rear of the caboose just
as Mr. Lincoln is depicted to have done when he left Springfield
for the last time to assume the presidency. “We really did not
have enough room for him and his top hat, but you got the idea,”
laughed Ladonna.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Dec/23/images/ads/current/flossies_sda_CHRISTMAS_2016.png)
The Whistle Stop Library in Emden continues to draw community
members and their children every week to browse through stacks
loaded with donated books and magazines.
During the summer, Ladonna creates children’s reading programs,
all with a theme and projects for the kids to do. They are
always full.
And now there is a small caboose alongside the railroad station
library.
One person can make a difference in a community.
[Curtis Fox] |