I have decided to give 1288 her own thread, since work will be done steady on her in the future it will be a good way to post progress pics separately from 1291. 1288 was built in June of 69, and retired in 1986, and was donated to Ash Grove Mo and put on display at the city park. She was moved to Tulsa in 2014 to be restored in orange and white paint and will be in operating condition by 2018 or 2019. The caboose has the usual interior and cupola rust, as well as some collision damage on both platform ends and on one of the body sides, but nothing that can't be corrected. 1288 has outstanding brake rigging that is straight with no damage, and has roller bearing trucks. We are restoring 1288 from the outside in, instead of starting inside like we did with 1291. I look forward to seeing 1288 in O&W paint, coupled to 1291 in "ship it" paint, rolling down the tracks together, what a fun day that will be. The first pic is 1288 in all her orange and white glory, the second pic is at the park, I thought the snow was perfect for setting the mood for her neglected state. Progress pics later this week.
the graffiti is compliments of the youth of Ash Grove, interior is fairly complete, only real issues are floor rot, some lower wall area rust through, and a few missing pieces like door hardware and a couple window frames.
Pics below show the A end with the damaged parts cut away. You can see how we make a new end frame by using a Chevrolet truck frame we split, then angle cut it it to build the compound curve. We did one of these on 1291, we have 2 more to do on 1288, both on the B end. Thanksgiving tomorrow, then rain Friday so we probably wont get any more work done til next week.
I never tire of seeing the work you do, Paul. Brilliant stuff! I know I don't say it enough, but thanks to you for all you do to preserve and restore these cabooses. It's a huge service to the Frisco community.
Thanks Guys ! Ryan I enjoyed meeting you a couple weeks ago, loved seeing your caboose models, very impressive work. I envy your talent. Tomorrow is going to be cold and rainy so we will be working in the shop building the new step plates and end gratings. I was going to use grating likes original, but the grates are pretty expensive, almost $600 for enough material to do the entire caboose. I just happen to have some new diamond plate steel, not original but its great stuff I have seen it on other caboose platforms and it looks really nice. We have already built the step side frames, duplicating the originals using 1/4" plate steel and 2 " angle iron. The angle iron was originally attached by round head rivets, we did not use rivets but we used bolts with the same head as the rivets, and then welded the nuts to the threads and they look the part. Will post pics of tomorrows progress. Fun stuff !
Steps are built, platform is tack welded on, the full seam of the upper end platform will be welded and then ground smooth for a one piece appearance. What do you think of the diamond plate steel? I like the grating a bit better, probably just because it is original. I think the diamond plate will look pretty good after its all painted the same color. We will be rebuilding the ladders and end railings next, then were on to tackle the other platform. Fun stuff !
We have just about finished the platform on the A end, were happy with the result. The steps and decking were fabricated from plate steel and diamond plate steel. The right side handrail was taken from caboose 1292, as was the coupler, and the safety chain. The coupler lift bar was made from round steel, we used one from 1249 as the pattern. The left side handrail is original from the caboose and was badly bent so we straightened it and re used it. The ladder was badly damaged so we made new ladder sides from angle iron and drilled for the ladder rungs which are original and have been re used. Now were moving on to the B end.
Interesting wheel stop, I would stick a chunk of wood under the wheel when I was on the ground, but then again nothing like the feeling when it runs right over it and rolls off the end of the track...Does the handbrake work? Roger
The rail is welded on, this section of track is from Seneca Mo where 1232 was on display, that's the way they kept it on track and we just left it there. The hand brake worked when 1288 was at Ash Grove, but the pins have not been re installed in the linkage.
We are on to the B end platform now, hard to see the damage in the pics but both frame horns are bent beyond repair, right side grab iron bent beyond repair, one set of stairs missing, the set that remains is bent badly, and the floor grating is broken and flimsy. Back at the shop we have already built new stairs and platforms, straightened the handrails, and built a new ladder. We are using a straight frame horn from 1292 on the right side, a new frame horn will be made in place for the left side. In the images below we have started stripping the bad parts off so they can be replaced with the new.
Looks great, Paul. Do you have any plans to unpatch the other window on the B end? Is the window still there from the inside, but just plated over on the outside?
