An historic wooden caboose was gutted by fire early Friday morning outside the Phillipsburg Railroad Historians Museum, officials said.

Two railroad cars were damaged in the fire, said town fire Chief Richard Hay, adding that more information would be released later in the day. The blaze was reported just before 4 a.m., Warren County records show.

A town police official said, as far as he knew, no one was hurt.

The Lehigh and Hudson River Railway Caboose No. 16 was built about 1944, Phillipsburg Railroad Historians Inc. President Paul Carpenito said Friday morning. The museum has the largest collection of that railroad's hardware, he added.

The World War II-era caboose was on tracks along with other future restoration projects outside the museum, Carpenito said.

It is "priceless," he said.

"It was one of only six of those cars produced," he said. "... I can't put a value on that car."

It was being used for parts and to take measurements while its "sister" caboose, No. 18, is being restored in the museum. That project will soon be completed and that caboose will be unveiled likely this summer, he said.

The museum is available to the public about nine times a year for seasonal open houses and town events, said Carpenito, who has been president of the group since 1999. But its volunteers meet often to work on and plan various projects, he said.

No. 16 was to be restored and now will be rebuilt, he said, noting the extensive down-to-the-metal damage.

All the restorations will be worked on as "time, money and labor" allow, he said.

The caboose was the end car on freight trains that went from Allentown, through Easton and Phillipsburg on the to Maybrook, New York, near where the railway was headquartered, Carpenito said.

A brakeman would ride in the caboose and look out the cupola windows to make sure the train was properly functioning, Carpenito said.

Cabooses were eventually replaced by a sensor on the last coupler that provides similar information to the engineer, Carpenito said.

The Lehigh and Hudson became part of Conrail in the 1970s, part of what makes the caboose historic, Carpenito said.

Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.

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