Rhonda Schrenk is living her childhood dream

In Madison County sits a caboose that has been the home of Rhonda Blair Schrenk and Mitch Schrenk for the past four years. Rhonda is the daughter of the late Buck and Helen Blair of Madison. When Rhonda was a child, her father was called into ministry. At the age of five, Rhonda and her family was living in Liberty County, Fl. and she loved watching the trains go by. From that point on, she wanted to live in a caboose. Seven years ago, Rhonda and her husband Mitch began searching for a caboose. After two years of searching they found the one they live in on a farm in South Carolina. It took six months to arrange transportation. To transport it, a crane was used to lift it and the wheels were taken off. The train and wheels were placed on the trailer of a semi and driven to Madison County. Once it arrived in Madison County, the crane was used again to lift it off, the wheels were reattached and the caboose was locked into place on railroad tracks on a concrete slab. For the first six months, the caboose was being remodeled. It was livable but did not have any modern conveniences. They added water, electricity, heat and air conditioning, a bathroom, a kitchen including a stove, microwave, a refrigerator and cabinets. While remodeling though, Rhonda and Mitch made sure they kept as much original as possible. They also included a fully functioning train horn. “I am living my childhood dream,” said Rhonda. She describes living on the caboose as peaceful. Rhonda and her family based the caboose’s name off of Scarlett O’Hare’s name. It is named, Scarlett O’Blair, since it is red and Rhonda’s maiden name is Blair. The caboose is only 220 square feet so on the property Rhonda and Mitch have built a pavilion that includes a bathroom and kitchen area so that they can have plenty of room to get together with their family. They have three children: George (Denise) Schrenk, Blair (Matt) Sims and Randall (Suzannah) Schrenk. They also have five grandchildren: Mitchell Schrenk, Marie Sims, Nell Sims, Shiloh Schrenk and Sophia Schrenk.