It's a heck of a way to run a railroad, not to mention a hostelry - eight cabooses and a dining car without a locomotive in sight.

That, though, is just what Olaf Protze has created at the Red Caboose Getaway at Old Coyote Lane and West Sequim Bay Road.

Protze watched while workmen delivered first the newest caboose's wheels and spotted them on rails, upper left. Then a truck delivered the caboose body, painted ConRail blue over the Tuscan red of the "Pennsy" where it started service back East, lower left.

Finally, an operator from Affordable Crane hoisted the body from the truck and lowered it onto the wheels, right.

The "porthole" design of the caboose was unique to the Pennsylvania Railroad, Protze said. Like the other cabooses - "cabin cars" or "crummies" in railroaders' jargon -- the newest caboose will be refitted as a luxury accommodation.

Gazette photos by Jay Cline