Back in the day, many-a-caboose provided freight train crew members shelter on long journeys. Always located at the end of the train and relied upon at the end of a hard day’s work, it was a destination for sustenance and relaxation.
In 2019, we renovated our caboose with love — into the Happy Endings Caboose Cafe. Now it’s known well as Canon City’s top breakfast, lunch and happy hour destination. Here, you’ll find the tastiest food and drink, both sweet and savory, and you won’t find our goodies anywhere else in the Royal Gorge Region.
Renovated with love
Humble History
Originally built in 1924 as Caboose 1006 by the Mount Vernon Car Manufacturing Company for the Great Western Railway (GW Railway), it was a working railcar with side doors to load and unload baggage and accommodated up to ten passengers. This small-but-mighty caboose was used until the 1970s for hauling passengers on freight trains.
In 1983, Al and Lynn Dunton purchased Caboose 1006 at auction after the original owner, GW Sugar Company, declared bankruptcy. It was used for three years on GW Railway tourist trains. In 1999, the Royal Gorge Route purchased Caboose 1006, but it wasn’t until 19 years later that it found its new calling as the Happy Endings Caboose Cafe on 3rd Street, between downtown Cañon City and the Arkansas River.
