A retired carpenter and his daughter from Iowa have pulled off an epic renovation, turning a scrap train caboose into a luxury Airbnb apartment single-handedly.
Jim Dotzenrod, 65, had already completed the restoration of a barn silo, his first Airbnb rental, named “Silo on the Ridge,” when a family friend saw a 1973 train caboose parked at a metal scrapyard in the spring of 2016. Jim drove the 30 miles to pick it up, keen for another passion project.
Jim had bought a single set of railroad tracks on which to park the caboose, Car No. SOO 124, which set him back $8,000, weighed 52,000 pounds, and measured 8.6 feet by 30 feet.
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