1288 and 1291 have made it to Tulsa and now we are getting ready to restore them to their former Frisco glory, Im pretty excited. 1288 will be white striped as it looked when it was retired, and 1291 will be freight car red with the "ship it" paint as it was delivered when new. We have 2 men working on the project and the first order of business is the removal of the window plating and straightening bent platforms, grab irons, and steps. While that is happening we will also be laying down more track to put the trucks on so we can roll them back forth in order to access all areas of the wheels. Luckily the trucks and wheels seem to be in very good condition and will return to service without any major repairs.
We made a lot of progress on 1291 this week. 3 men worked a total of 82 hours and we removed the steel window plating, removed all the glazing and window frames, and removed all the furniture and fixtures. We sent all the window frames out to be bead blasted to remove the ugly green and yellow paint and return them to there natural aluminum appearance. We found all the original Frisco graphics and letters under the green paint on the body, and an artist is coming out tomorrow to trace them with a marker in order to duplicate them and build stencils. Next week we are going to remove the seats out of the copula (they are welded in) so we can get to the rust in the copula. We will be doing rust repair next week and will be cutting out the rusty areas and welding in new steel. Most of the rust is in the copula and on the lower areas of the bathroom walls. I will post some pics in just a bit.
Hopefully next week we will be making a trip to Hillsdale Kansas to source a few pieces from 1292. Kent Hurley is going there tomorrow to inspect the end platform and see if it has any damage. All the metal work inside and out will probably take us a month to complete, its slow and tedious work but its worth it. After the metal work is complete we will need to remove the flooring and then we can sandblast and primer the entire caboose inside, outside, and underneath. We plan on painting the underframe first, then the exterior, and after that installing the new floor boards. After the floors are installed we can paint the interior and replace all the furniture and fixtures.
I'm always thrilled to see your caboose threads, Paul. This one doesn't disappoint! Just curious, in the interior photos the A and B end are labeled but to my knowledge the exterior isn't labeled. Since there are brakes at both ends, is there a way to determine which end is the B end other than referencing the interior label? Am I correct in determining the short end or the end the cupola is closest to is the A end?
Hi Ryan, Im glad you like my caboose posts, I enjoy talking about them. If you ever run north of Madill again I hope you can stop by ! You are correct that the short end is labeled A , and the longer end is the B end. A and B are also painted above the doors on the exterior of the car body, and that is the only place they are marked other than the interior.
Paul, if I get forced to Tulsa again I will definitely stop by. Lately the closest I've come to Madill is picking up a rock train in Sherman, TX. I'm sure it won't be too long before my seniority allows me to hold something out of Madill, though. It's getting better every day. Thanks for the info on the caboose ends. I never noticed the label on the exterior.
Paul, I have always been told the ram on the break cylinder points to the B end. Don't know if that holds for cabooses or all railroads. I think, thats what they teach in the KC training center, which I have attended on several occasions. William Jackson
Paul, from an old head the only correct way to find the A or B end of a caboose or other freight car is to look at the brake cylinder under the car. The piston will point to the B end of the car. If the caboose was repainted the marking on the outside could be wrong. I am still looking for the correct color that the 1200 series cabooses were painted? What color are you planning on using on the one you are rebuilding? Hope you can help with this.
Ashnme, the color Im going to paint 1291 is "freight car red" it is the same freight car red that you see on many different boxcars and hopper cars, almost brown or tuscan colored. All the 200/1200 cabooses were delivered this color when new and 1291 still wore this color at the time of merger and was later painted green. 1288 will be painted orange and white, it was still wearing orange and white when retired 6 years after merger. Its the same orange as "Chevrolet engine red" and the white is "General Motors #11 white" and has been around since the late 1950s and still used today on Chevrolet and GMC fleet trucks. In the early 70s quite a few of the 1200s were repainted in "caboose red" and most if not all the 1400 and 1700 boxcar cabooses were painted this color when they were built. "Freight car red" is a standardized color and is easy to get in imron paint, and the Chevrolet engine red and GM white are also available in imron. ( I will post the codes when I get the paint I have not found a code for the caboose red.
"Imron" paint is super durable and very high quality, look at the green paint on 1291, it was painted green with imron paint in 4-84 according to the data plate on the caboose, the green and yellow still look very good after 30 years. Yesterday we steam cleaned the paint on 1291 with a high pressure washer in an attempt to remove some green paint and see some original Frisco paint underneath, we could not budge any of the green paint off but we did remove some oxidation and the green looks even more glossy now. That Imron paint is just super tough, and that's why we are going to use it to repaint back to Frisco colors.
Imron is a rubber based paint, very expensive. It is what many antique auto restorers use to paint old cars. It also helps hide imperfections in the body work.
Had a visitor drop by the cabooses today, his name is Terry Jenner he is with a group called......."Friends of BN'....... (I liked him anyway....lol) they are having their national convention in Tulsa this year and they will be touring Cherokee Yard and a few other train related locations in the area. Terry said he would like to bring his group out to see the cabooses, I told him that would be fun but don't fall in love with the green paint on 1291 because it would not be green much longer ! Real nice guy, I may join them on the tour of Cherokee Yard !
Paul, where are you planning on buying your paint also what brand paint? If you obtain a paint code or color could you let me know. Thanks Bill
I haven't been on here in a while but we are making progress. We laid another 80 feet of track and will be placing the trucks on the tracks in order to roll them freely and access all areas of the trucks for restoration. We have removed all the aluminum window frames and have bead blasted them and replaced the glass and rubber. We used laminated glass like would be used in an automotive windshield instead of the very expensive and extremely heavy FRA safety glass. The laminated glass is adequate for use on the Midland Railway. I have found all the original "ship it" logos and traced them with a sharpie and will be transferring the letters to paper and then to cardstock in order to build paint stencils. I have come to the realization that we will be restoring one caboose instead of both. There are just too many damaged or missing parts to build both of these girls. Some of the aluminum window frames and window tracks are pitted and deteriorated and are not usable, and the same goes for end platform railings and door latches, and several other parts. We will be using the best parts of both of these cabooses to build one that will be almost perfect. We are using the body from 1291 because its as straight as a ruler and 1288 has some collision damage on the sides and one corner. We will use the trucks from 1288 because they are in super condition, and 1291 has wheel flanges that are worn out of compliance. We will number the caboose 1291 since that is the body we are using, and it will be painted in its original as built appearance. Progress has been slow, but were working on it steady.
Pic 1 shows the copula interior prior to any work, We need to get to the rust in the bottom of the exterior part of the copula so the only way is to go through the copula floor. Seats are welded in and we cut the welds and removed the seats, and then cut a portion of the floor out. 3rd pic shows the rusty areas. Now to cut away the rusty steel and weld new steel in its place. Fun stuff !
