The small town of Alberta is located in the southern region of the U.S. state of Virginia. Yes, the name of the town is Alberta. (Whether it is named after the Canadian province is unknown.) In this small town in the center of the town is a caboose. How is the caboose here? This town has no railroad. Well, the town was once served by two railroads, and there was heavy rail traffic in its heyday. Like many small towns, service declined, and the railroads were forced to abandon the town.
Some of you are saying, “This is nice, but many small towns in the United States of America have declined from the lack of the railroad.”
Even though Alberta, Virginia looks like a ghost town today, the Alberta Caboose reminds everyone about the railroad heritage. The caboose is from the Virginian Railway and sits near the old railroad bed of the Virginian Railway which is now the Tobacco Heritage Trail which runs across the southern region of Virginia as a reminder of how the Virginian Railway and, later, the Norfolk and Western Railway was a big part of the tobacco industry.
What about the caboose itself? As mentioned, it was used by the Virginia Railway. It was donated to the town in memory of Earl Walter Wilkinson. Who is Earl Walter Wilkinson? He was a devoted employee of the Norfolk and Western Railway. Like many cabooses that you once saw on the end of freight trains, it was preserved and put on display.
The Alberta Caboose is located in the Town Square in Alberta, Virginia at 123 First Avenue. It is one block from Virginia Route 136 and minutes from U.S. Route 1 and Interstate 85. There is a small parking lot for parking.
If you ever visit the town of Alberta, Virginia, it may appear to be a ghost town, but it comes alive with the memory of the railroad.
John Cowgill: Stories of the Railroad 
We always ran down to the train tracks by my grandmother’s house to wave to the caboose as it went by. Usually, someone would wave back!
LikeLiked by 2 people