I am a volunteer on the Frisco 1157 Caboose restoration project in Tulsa OK. I am hoping to contact someone like you who appreciates the hard work and dedication required to restore a railroad car. This car will be on public display in Route 66 Village in Tulsa, for the City of Tulsa, soon. Our caboose was burned to the hull by vandals and is partially restored by a few dedicated individuals of the Townwest SERTOMA Club of West Tulsa. OK. 1157's exterior is done, but interior presents the problem of lack of knowledge. I welcome suggestions. Thanks, Bob
Welcome to the Forums! It's cool hear about a Frisco caboose being restored. But how was it burned if the 11XX series Frisco cabooses where originally built with steel by Santa Fe?
Ethan, those cars rplaced the original wood cabooses in the 11XX numbers an example is wood car 1160 in Ft. Smith,AR
Bob, A special thank you to the Townwest Sertoma Club of West Tulsa, the other volunteers and you for your work to restore caboose SLSF 1157. This is one of three cabooses of this design built by the Frisco. These cars were converted from former Howe truss boxcars. They were originally numbered SLSF 156, 157 and 158. In 1968 they were renumbered by the railroad by adding 1000 to the original number when a new computer tracking system was installed. Caboose SLSF 1158 was reportedly scrapped in West Plains, MO in 1984. Caboose SLSF 1156 also survives and is located in Branson, MO. The car sits next to the former Missouri Pacific (MP) Railroad tracks east of the downtown. This is adjacent to the Branson Landing shopping and hotel complex, north of the Branson Scenic Railway (former MP) depot. The car is located near the address 448 E. Main St., Branson, MO. This car would be a good resource for interior arrangement and fittings. The car interiors were painted light gray, with yellow safety handrails and typically black lettering. There are a few examples of interior lettering in white, however due to low contrast against the interior color this color of lettering seems to have been an exception. The fusee and torpedo box was typically painted red, with white lettering. Seat and bunk cushions were covered in black material. Stoves and associated piping were left unpainted. This site also has a few photographs of the interior of one of these cars that may be helpful. The ever resourceful Karl Brand has posted some photos of the interior of sister car SLSF 1156. Please see the http://www.frisco.org/vb/showthread.php?t=1093&highlight=1156. Caboose SLSF 1157 spent a good deal of its career working in and around Oklahoma. There are several photographs of this car working the 4 subdivision lines radiating out of Enid, OK. Therefore, it is a significant historical preservation artifact for both Oklahoma and the Frisco. Again thank you and your group for all your efforts, expense, hard work restoring and plans to display both Frisco caboose SLSF 1157 and northern steam engine locomotive SLSF 4500. Hope this helps. Thanks! Mark
Ethan, The 1100 series of local service cabooses is a composite of 6 classes of cars from 3 railroads. Please see http://www.frisco.org/vb/showthread.php?t=4277. Concerning fires, cabooses often have combustible interior linings, fittings and fuel. These can include seat, bench and bunk fabrics or cushions, wood desks, shelving or floors, plastics in insulation, radio components, battery cases, toilet seats, windows, any fuel that has not been fully removed from tanks and spills, etc. Wood and plastics are also common materials for car interior walls due to their sound deadening qualities. Further, arson vandals often use combustible and flammable accelerants to fuel a fire. Thus even a "all steel" car can suffer a fire loss. Hope this helps. Thanks! Mark
