Cheers suddenly erupted Wednesday morning among a growing crowd gathered at Thomas Centennial Park in Chesterton.

Across the Norfolk Southern railroad tracks that abut the park and through buildings across the way, they spotted what they were waiting for, a freshly painted red caboose carried by a trailer and heading west on Wabash Avenue.

Within minutes, the trailer rounded the corner and parked, the caboose almost at its final destination, a small section of recently laid railroad tracks along the park, where the caboose will eventually serve as a heating and warming center for the park.

A boxcar also will share the section of tracks and will serve as the park’s first permanent bathrooms, replacing the portable toilets there now. Handicapped-accessible decking will soon adjoin the two rail cars, which also will be fully accessible.

Officials have said the rail cars, funded through a mix of a town bond issue, crowdfunding, grant money, town funds and private donations, are meant to shore up amenities at the popular park, which hosts the European Market from May through October and a host of other activities throughout the year.

“We’re here for the train cars coming. We’re very excited,” said Carol Brickel, of Chesterton, sitting in a chair in the shade with her husband, Dan Shepard, who joked that he was there to view the crane truck in place to move the rail cars.

Brickel said she felt a personal connection to the project because her late husband worked for Norfolk Southern. Brickel’s daughter, Jill Wilson, who came to join her and Shepard, said she mentioned the project to a family friend with connections to the railroad.

Wilson connected the friend with Jennifer Gadzala, the project’s coordinator, and the end result was that Norfolk Southern contributed to the project, with its logo and “06/2018” painted on the caboose, for the month it was originally to be installed.

The family, excited about the delivery of the rail cars, also was pleased with their purpose.

“This little park needs a restroom, and it has for a long time,” Shepard said.

Amtrak and Norfolk Southern trains passed east and west past those gathered to watch the progress of the work, garnering waves from people who came to take pictures or video or just watch as a 600-ton crane truck from Joe’s Towing prepared to maneuver the caboose onto a set of pins before it was moved into place.

Gadzala periodically provided updates on where the caboose was after it left Michigan City, where it was restored, letting street department workers, Joe’s Towing employees and others know as the caboose neared its destination.

Officials had hoped to have the rail cars in place last month, Gadzala said, but Schlatter’s Inc., the Fort Wayne company that transported them from Michigan City, was tied up with other work, pushing the project back.

The boxcar that will serve as the bathrooms is painted black and gold, with a logo for Monon/The Hoosier Line, Gadzala said.

“I’m not sure yet what the final cost is,” she said, adding that Larson-Danielson, the contractor for the decking, has 45 days once the cars are in place to complete the decking and other details.

She estimated the total cost at more than $300,000.

Amy Lavalley is a freelancer for the Post-Tribune.