The first piece of rolling stock acquired by Tierra Madre Railway and its Mexican sister company, Tren Turísitico del Noroeste, was a wide vision caboose built in 1966 for the Erie Mining Company of Hoyt Lakes, Minnesota. The caboose (EMCO4) was one of four made by International Railway Car Corporation for the mine. The closure of the mine in idled these cars and they set in a cold siding for years. The liquidation of the assets of the mine included the railroad and several of the cabooses (cabeese?) were acquired by IFE Leasing’s Mr. Philip Sheridan, a major private railcar owner in the United States. Car number 4 was brought to the attention of Tierra Madre Railroad President, R. Mitchel Beauchamp by his friend from Imperial Beach, Ed Kravitz, a broker in railroad equipment (among other talents). The car was prepared by the relocation from Minnestoa to Sheridan’s ITAC facility in Madison, Illinois, across the Mississippi River from Saint Louis, Missouri. The caboose left Hoyt Lakes on 12 January 2005 under Sheridan’s reporting mark, MRLX4. It arrived at ITAC on 8 February and was further checked out for its trip west. A rate was quoted by Union Pacific and the car started it journey to its new home. Tracking the car by Dr. John Hoegemeier, a local transportation consultant, through the wonderful UMLER System, it became apparent that this novelty was being enjoyed by Kansas City staff of the railroad on its odessy. A call to UP got it moving again and on 16 April 2005 the caboose arrived in El Centro, California in 110° heat (a dry heat!) The unit was met by the new owner and his wife (she really didn’t believe that he had bought a caboose, so she had to see it for herself). The car was interchanged with Carrizo Gorge Railway which moved it through the famous Carrizo Gorge and to Jacumba. At Jacumba the hastily graffitied reporting mark of Sheridan was removed and the Tierra Madre Railroad reporting marks of TMRX1 repainted with much more attention. With the new name, the car was moved to Campo and with the proper documentation, was brought to Tijuana.

At Tijuana it was placed on the remnant spur of the house track and the task of repainting started by Fausto Ramírez and his helpers. Electrical work was started by Jorge O. Enriquez and a new generator, water tank, radio were installed.

The new color of TRMX1 was a major decision. In Mexico, caboose cars are yellow. But the railroad President’s younger daughter, Nolina, was raised with the concept that a caboose was red…so red is was and it was the brightest red that could be found.

The result of the paint job was so impressive that the President of Carrizo Gorge Railroad requested the car to transit the Gorge for a special inspection trip. Following that trip, with a return during stormy night and several rock falls in the Gorge which narrowly cleared the Caboose’s lower stair step, the unit returned to Jacumba where some metal work was performed at the rail shops of CZRY. After several other moves it arrived back in Tijuana in August 2006.

EMCO4 at its Erie Mining Company siding	Enriquez (l) and Rámirez (r) during re-conditions of TMRX1 at Tijuana Depot
Mitch Beauchamp inspecting his new purchae at El Centro, 15 April 2005 (What a write-off!)	EMCO4 ready for its new life as TMRX1