We are getting ready to move caboose SLSF 1288 from Ash Grove, MO. We will need to separate the body from the trucks but we are not sure how the truck bolster center pins come out. There is no hole on the bottom center of the truck bolster frame so I am assuming the pins come out from the top However, access is tough and there appears to be a hex head bolt recessed in the truck center from the top, but I am not certain. The earlier cabooses SLSF 1200-1274 have the pins that come out the bottom and they are fairly easy to remove. Does anybody have any diagrams or information regarding how to remove the truck bolster center pins from cabooses SLSF 1285-1292 built in 1969? Any information or diagrams would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. Paul
Cabooses SLSF 1275-1284 also rode on the same trucks, so I suspect they would be pinned just the same as cabooses SLSF 1285-1292. Perhaps this will help. The trucks are "Bettendorf" caboose trucks, any car knockers out there? We will no doubt figure it out with some small telescoping mirrors and flashlights, but I just thought it would be nice if someone was already familiar with these truck connections. Thank you. Paul
Since none of you had any knowledge on the subject of the truck bolster center pins on these cabooses, I thought I would share what I learned. Both caboose SLSF 1288 and caboose SLSF 1291 have one piece "torpedo" style pins that are pointed on both ends, the pins are held on by gravity only. The early cabooses SLSF 1200-1274 have two piece pins that come out from the bottom. Cabooses SLSF 1288 and SLSF 1291 are both now in Tulsa, OK.
I will post some photographs tomorrow, they are both sitting on jacks, removed from the trucks. The plan is to restore them both and send them to the Midland Railway in Baldwin City, Kansas to run on the tourist railroad there. I am very excited about the project! Caboose SLSF 1288 will be white striped and caboose SLSF 1291 will be freight car red with the "ship it" paint. I am going to start a new thread titled caboose SLSF 1288 and caboose SLSF 1291 to post photographs and talk about progression. I am really excited because mechanically, both of these girls are very nice and had the wheel sets replaced less than three (3) years before being retired. The wheels have the manufacturing dates cast into them on the inside. The brake valves and cylinders work when air is applied. Also they both have Timken roller bearing equipped trucks. I will add more details when I start the new thread.
Paul, This is exciting news! Four restored Frisco cabooses, with two soon to be in our backyard just outside Kansas City. Your wonderful work would make a very interesting clinic. From your search, negotiations with former owners, the moves, finding or fabricating parts, the actual reconstruction, painting and lettering work. We are hopeful that you are keeping detailed records and photographs to share with others. Your painting guides may be an asset we can work with to encourage and help other owners use to properly restore other Frisco cabooses. Unfortunately far too many are sitting in strange colors and graphics. We all appreciate your investment, time, effort and interest in bringing back a piece of the Frisco! Thank you very much!! Hope this helps. Thanks! Mark
Thanks Mark, It makes me happy to see people in our Frisco community who are supportive of these restorations. I hoped that some people would not be upset that these cabooses were being removed from the locations where they had been deteriorating for the last 25 years or so. When I see cabooses SLSF 1232, SLSF 1288, and SLSF 1291 all together in one location it seems a bit surreal knowing how long its been since three (3) Frisco cabooses had been together in the same spot. I have been taking quite a few photographs along the way and will continue to do so. I have most of the process planned out and know how and who will get some of the tasks done like glazing, sandblasting, fabricating, lettering, and electrical. I am still not certain exactly how we will replace the floor boards and what the source for the material will be, but with more looking and investigating it will get done properly. Also I need to find some paint codes for these girls so that we will be sure to have the proper color match. I know that the original color on caboose SLSF 1291 is from Pittsburgh Paint and it is called "carhide hot spray freight car red". I always assumed this color was just like the color on the Frisco red/brown boxcars but after peeling away some green paint on caboose SLSF 1291 I see the color is a dark red and not brown. Also I will need help tracking down paint codes for the Mandarin orange and white paint scheme too. We plan on painting with Imron paint from Du Pont because of its durability. Any help with the color codes would be hugely appreciated. I would be open to sharing what I have learned and describe everything in a clinic at the convention. I plan on attending and am looking forward to meeting some people. Paul
Paul, We here at the Railroad Historical Museum, Inc. in Springfield, MO have had an inquiry about the paint codes and colors. Have you located the paint codes for the cabooses yet? Hope you can help. Bill Houser
Hi Bill, We have not found any paint codes to tie colors to any paint manufacturers. But all is not lost. Caboose SLSF 1288 from Ash Grove, MO made it to the Mandarin orange and white paint. Right after the paint was applied there were decals put on it with the black square border, yellow circle ball design. Lucky for us I have peeled part of that decal away and revealed some "new" old Frisco Mandarin orange paint. I have removed about a square inch of the Mandarin orange. I am going to take it to the paint store and have them match it on the computer paint matching machine and mix up a pint of it in "Imron" paint. After that I will paint a section of caboose SLSF 1288 to check for color match and then I will post the batch mixing code. It was really neat seeing some new old Frisco Mandarin orange after so many years. The true color seems to be more orange than our old photographs indicate. I will never refer to the Frisco paint as "red and white" any more. LOL As far as the freight car red color on the cabooses, SLSF 1291 from Exeter, MO has some "new" old paint under the aluminum window frames. I will try to remove a large chip and get a color code in the same method as mentioned above. I will post the information as soon as it is available. Paul Slavens
Paul, The original orange of the Mandarin orange and white scheme was very close to Chevrolet Engine Red. We believe it was applied on the General Motors (GM) Electro-Motive Division (EMD) GP35 and DD35 demonstrators. That color is more orange than red.
Interesting Keith, That makes perfect sense that EMD would use an existing General Motors color. I always thought the white band on these locomotives looked just like GM #11 white that has been applied to countless GM fleet vehicles since the early 1960s.
We are talking about a full size caboose. What about the red that was used before the paint scheme was changed to Mandarin orange and white? Does anyone know what color will work? Thanks! Bill
Hi Bill, I always called that color "caboose red". I have not seen any codes for that either, but the cabooses at Birch Tree, Missouri and Frisco City, Alabama look like they have been painted the correct color shade. So perhaps those towns could be approached to see who painted them, and what paint code was used.
Bill, I think a simple answer to your question is that the Frisco cabooses, at least in the diesel era, ranged from red oxide paint to boxcar red paint There were several shades in between, prior to the Mandarin orange and white scheme. The thing to do is to model a car that you have a color photograph of and match the color. There are many posted on this site and in the Frisco Archive. The colors of all classes of cabooses seemed to vary in particular after shop repaints. There was a very good two-part article about the Frisco's caboose fleet in Diesel Era a few years ago, but I do not recall that they had much to say about paint color. Ken
