I am little confused on this one. She is painted right, number does not make sense and as you can see, she has Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific (CRI&P) trucks. It is in nice shape though next to the Frisco depot.
Might not be a Frisco caboose. Does not look like one at first glance. They certainly got their 1918 money's worth out of that section of rail! 91 years old! Ken
Here is someone's 2005 information from the depot thread on Bentonville, AR. http://www.frisco.org/shipit/index.php?threads/bentonville-ar.370/#post-2956 Best Regards,
The Rock Island (RI) Historical and Technical Society (H&TS) had a bulletin on caboose rebuilds with a picture of this one coming out of the shop However, discovery of its identity was too late to prevent the "sacrilege" of the Frisco scheme. The Bentonville Railroad and successors were purchased by the Frisco and the RI was nowhere close. The Chamber of Commerce has moved and an architect is now renting the building. I have not checked yet on whether he is doing anything to the interior. I also need to check on the ownership arrangement of the caboose. I am told the depot building belongs to the library foundation, new city library is across the street, and city seems to do maintenance on the landscaping.
Gentlemen, I am doing research on this caboose on behalf of the Bentonville History Museum which now occupies the old train depot next to the caboose. It is my understanding, in 1930 this caboose started out as a Rock Island caboose CRIP 17860 built in West Detroit, Michigan and was stationed in Three Rivers, MI. • In 1930, the Rock Island Railroad built their first steel cabooses, numbered 17850 to 17899. Caboose 17860 was in service for 50 years, an office on rails at the end of countless freight trains, until the Rock Island was shut down in 1980. • The cabooses were rebuilt in 1954-55 with the most notable change being the removal of some of the side windows. The only offset-cupola steel cabooses on the Rock Island, they were often seen in service on through-freights until newer cabooses bumped them to local assignments in the 1970s. • After the Rock Island shutdown in 1980, caboose CRIP 17860 was purchased by a private party in Oklahoma and stored there for many years. • In 1984 it was donated to the City of Bentonville Chamber of Commerce and it was repainted to resemble a Frisco Railways Caboose and renumbered as SLSF 2841. The number was actually the last 4 digits of the phone number for the Bentonville Chamber of Commerce, 273- 2841. • It sits next to the Bentonville History Museum, old Frisco depot, at 416 Main Street, Bentonville, AR and is currently on display at the Bentonville History Museum. • Length: 29 feet, Width: 9 feet, 8 inches, Height: 16 feet, 3 inches, Weight: 44,800 pounds. If anyone has any additional photographs of the interior of this type of caboose or any other information, please contact me at the address below. donrbarnett54@gmail.com
