LOUISVILLE, Colo — Taking on a father-son project can be a ton of work. For Travis Ramos and his son Tate, it’s 22-and-a-half tons of work to be exact.
The Ramos family is spearheading efforts to save an out-of-commission caboose from demolition. The 104-year-old train has been a staple at the end of Main Street in downtown Louisville for decades, remaining attached to a defunct restaurant.
Now, the new owners of the property that the train sits on, want it all torn down.
Upon seeing the demolition public notice last month, Travis Ramos reached out to the current property owner to learn more.
“We worked with them,' Travis Ramos said, "and they said 'you can save it as long as you do so before the wrecking crew comes in.'"
With demolition slated for January, Travis Ramos, his sons and members of the community have been working to free the train from its tracks. Ramos said he plans to eventually get a crane to lift the caboose so it can be moved to a new location. There, he plans to restore it, and eventually work with the city to one day bring the revamped train back to downtown Louisville.
“It’s been hard work going under there,” said 7-year-old Tate Ramos. “There’s spiders everywhere, there’s dust, there’s pieces of cement.”
To fund the project, Travis Ramos has created a campaign to collect donations from the community.
“The response has been amazing," he said. "We put out the campaign on Friday, and within about 48 hours we raised about 60% of what we needed from the community coming together.”
>> Learn more about the effort to save the train at thelouisvillecaboose.com
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