Caboose SLSF 1209

Caboose SLSF 1209

Caboose SLSF 1209 - Kansas City, MO. Photograph dated 12/31/1977.

 

Here is another image.

 

Thanks Mark,

I cannot take credit for going to Minnesnowta (that was funny) and getting this image. I knew from your research that it was at the Kanabec History Center so I searched the internet with those key words and finally found a reasonable image after an hour or so of searching. I saved the image to my computer and then posted it here.

I would love to go see it someday. The image reveals that caboose SLSF 1209 still has her Pyle marker lantern brackets on the car body ends and also it retains its lantern shields. It appears the steps were un bolted and not cut off with a torch, so hopefully they still have those and the ladders too.

Of course I did send an email and informed them that this caboose was never a Great Northern (GN) Railway caboose and is completely irrelevant to the history of Kanabec county. I told them if they wanted to sell it and generate revenue for the museum then I would love to buy it from them.

It would be great to restore more of these and send them to various rail museums in Frisco country and display them under canopies.

I do not expect them to bite but you never know. LOL

 

This image is from today, 10/14/2014.

It was posted on the Kanibec History Center page.

The trees have been trimmed and she still looks okay.

 

I just bought a beautiful brass model of caboose SLSF 1209.

Question - were these cabooses painted in more of a "caboose red", more brown than the later bright red?

Thanks

 

I saw that on ebay, beautiful model, outstanding paint.

The colors changed over the years from fading.

Earlier paint jobs were Ashland red and faded to almost orange so the color was always changing.

Some were caboose red that faded into lighter red.

These images should help.

 

Yeah, I paid up for it, but I was determined to finally get a caboose with the correct cupola and trucks.

From what I have since been reading, seems like they first came in a sort of Tuscan brownish red.

Maybe that is the Ashland red you are referring to?

 

Here is one that might be in its original paint.

I am wondering if the first photograph of caboose SLSF 1209 you sent was a repaint?

 

Well, I am certain the first image I posted is a repaint, and the image you posted is stenciled BN so it is a repaint no doubt.

The factory caboose SLSF 1957 paint was reddish brown with a black line up high, color images are pretty rare.

I think the Ashland red color was applied during the first repaints on these and they started pretty quickly, less than 10 years after they were built.

Caboose red paint started showing up in the early 1970s. The 1968 and 1969 versions SLSF 1275-1284 and SLSF 1285-1292 were built and painted from the factory in freight car red paint.

The thing to remember is that that red paint fades faster than any other color, and these cabooses were not the same color year to year so there are many suitable colors.

Your model looks great just the way it is by the way!

 

Here is mine, by the way, for those who did not see it.

 

Regarding those paint chips Roger mentioned, I have looked on all 4 of my cabooses with no luck getting a good clean sample of Ashland red.

But on a positive note, on caboose SLSF 1288 under the black square yellow ball logo, I gently peeled away yellow paint and revealed a mint condition area with near new glossy Frisco Mandarin orange paint and have saved some sizable chips.

I have them stored in clear plastic coin folders so they can be used to duplicate and get a paint code.

Edit 5/16/2024: The referenced black square yellow ball logo is a U-1 wheel inspection symbol.

In the late 1970s these were required to be added to all cars with 33" wheels after a significant derailment involving tank cars. Federal accident investigation determined the cause of the derailment were defective steel wheels wit a U-1 content.

Nationally railroads were required to inspect and visually mark cars that did not have defective wheels with a black 12" square with a centered yellow circle dot.

Cars that had defective wheels received a black 12" square with a centered white circle dot.

Cars so marked with the defective wheels had to be taken out of service and have the wheel seta replaced by a specified date.

Added U-1 wheel inspection symbol information.
MKD