The doors we built last year are now installed and working with all the original equipment door latches and brass key. We used parts from cabooses SLSF 1291 and SLSF 1249 to get a full set of hardware. Very happy with the fit and function.
I have been looking at Paul's thread for caboose SLSF 1291 from the beginning and have really enjoyed seeing the progress over the years. A lot of hard work has happened and to see it close to the end is amazing!!! Hope the weather is good for you to the finish. Joe
After several months of being unhappy with the caboose color that I called "Ronald McDonald red", I decided to sand down the red and repaint a coat of "Freight car red" that more closely matches the original color from the factory. I mixed it using PPG colors "oxide red" and "red brown". I mixed 3 parts oxide red to 1 part red brown and the color result is pretty good. I have been painting it in sections and it is looking good. I have all of it painted except the 2 window side and will have pictures of the complete paint job in a few days.
The photographs above with the newly painted areas show just how colors can look different just because of lighting and cloud changes. The three images are all the same color from the same batch of paint. When I looked at old caboose photographs to find a color, no two photographs were alike!! This helps demonstrate why they all looked different.
Check out the windows that I restored. These are aluminum frame windows that were in the caboose when I got it and the aluminum frames were painted Cascade green and the rubber seals were painted green too! I bead blasted the frames, painted them GM silver pearl and I used a single edge razor with Windex for a lubricator to remove all the green paint from the rubber seals. It took a while! I had new glass cut and then mounted it in all the frames with the renewed rubber seals. The windows are ready to go back in as soon as the painting is done. Caboose SLSF 1291 has 20 different windows! I never realized just how many windows were in an extended or wide vision caboose.
Awesome stuff Paul. The color difference is pretty hard to believe in the photographs. Your work is so impressive Paul. Keep it up! This is a fun thread to watch.
Today I painted the last remaining section of the paint rework job. I am very happy to have the proper color now. Am excited to get the windows installed and get the lettering and numbers on. Will post some outside photographs tomorrow when we move her outside and pull all the tape off.
I got a clear photograph of the new paint shining in the sun. I am extremely happy with the color, it is very close to the original. I have noticed that the 1968 cabooses, 1275-1284, and 1969 series of cabooses, SLSF 1285-1292, are a darker color than the earlier series built in 1957, SLSF 200-274 (renumbered 1200-1274). Now I am excited and looking forward to those aluminum framed windows and the lettering. I will post photographs of the other side later today after the sun changes.
Caboose SLSF 1277 looked great when new. Your restoration looks like you will bring her back to her new appearance. Nice job! Ken
