AUTHORITIES CATCH WAYWARD CABOOSE

Motorists along Highway 27 said they saw the Melamoose Caboose doing about 80 miles-per-hour Sunday afternoon, being towed by a pickup. Photo by Jon Mayhew/TCS

By Jon Mayhew

VALE -- It's not everyday that Lincoln County Sheriff's deputies are called to catch a caboose on the run.

Sunday afternoon, however, deputies in western Lincoln County chased the Melamoose Caboose down Highway 27 west.

Witnesses tell deputies the caboose -- attached to a pickup truck -- was doing about 80 miles per hour. The witnesses first cited the caboose while in the parking lot of Dollar General in Lincolnton.

Within minutes, reportes came in to the Lincoln County Communications Center that the caboose was heading west.

It took deputies a short time to stop the caboose.

The current owners of the caboose said the homemade caboose was taken from them sometime around Wednesday.

The former caboose owner, however, claims the caboose is his.

Deputies point out there isn't a clearly-titled owner to the caboose, which is rented by organizations for use at festivals and other public gatherings.

The investigation is continuing into the bizzare incident, which ended on Highway 27 west in the parking lot of a United Methodist Church.

Deputies told The Carolina Scoop they planned on storing the 11-foot-plus high caboose until the issue can be resolved.

Meantime, one of the deputies on the scene said it's one of his more unusual calls.

"It's something you don't see going down the road everyday, a caboose," said the deputy.