WATERBURY--A teen on a mission started making his goal a reality on Thursday.
Orion Newall, 15, purchased a 1930s-era Boston & Maine Boxcar, built by the Standard Steel Car Company, one of the few remaining. He got it for just $1, a unique opportunity he was given by the Naugatuck Railroad, but he was told it needed to be out of the Waterbury rail yard by the end of October.
"I was surfing the internet one day and this ad came up from the railroad that they were getting rid of this boxcar," he explained about how he came across the boxcar, which was set to be scrapped if not moved.
But how could he possibly move the 40-foot long, 44,000-pound train that hadn't been used since at least the 1980s? And at the steep price of $4,000 for shipping?
With the help of others, of course.
"A community came together to move a box car, so very inspiring," Newall said on Thursday at the rail yard, where a group of volunteers were strapping up and rigging the boxcar to be moved to its new location in Woodstock, where Orion lives.
First, Newall raised money with a GoFundMe page -- $3,700 in just a month, or $200 more than he asked for. Then, with some volunteers, they were able to start moving the boxcar this week.
The remainder of the funds, and anything else raised in the future on the campaign, which is still open, will go towards restoration costs.
"The goal of this project is to restore the car to its original condition. The car will one day be put back in service at a local railroad or museum," Newall said on his GoFundMe page.
Click here to follow his progress in moving and restoring the boxcar.
And click here to donate to the cause.
