Frisco Caboose - Mount Vernon, Mo

Discussion in 'Cabooses General' started by railroadguy65, Mar 17, 2009.

  1. railroadguy65

    railroadguy65 Member

    :) Here is another mystery Frisco caboose in Mount Vernon, Mo - It is on the main drag through town near the orginal station site.

    It is painted very much like the one I post in yesterday, thsat is in Rogrsville. But the one in Rogersville was in better shape. Also they both share the same number slsf200

    If any one knows her number? let me know.
     

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  2. Karl

    Karl 2008 Engineer of the Year Frisco.org Supporter

    That's the real deal. A Frisco (1)200 class caboose
     
  3. Rick McClellan

    Rick McClellan 2009 Engineer of the Year

    Hey this is a real 200/1200 series Frisco caboose. The main identifying features are the cupola window located near the corners and the GSI trucks. I have heard stories about how nice these cars road and how difficult it was to get them back once in pool service.

    Not sure of the actual car number but I was in this car a few years ago and I think I have photos or a video. The caboose number may be on the inside if I can find it in my archives.

    Stay tuned.

    Ship IT on the Frisco!

    Rick
     
  4. paul slavens

    paul slavens Member

    I have been on a quest to figure out the number of this caboose. Some things that will help to identify this caboose are 1. All 4 of the lantern shields are still mounted on the body, most of the 1200s had these removed through the years. 2. this caboose is very straight with hardly any damage to the body sides. 3. This caboose has the small battery/tool boxes mounted on both sides, some of the 1200s had one large box only on one side. The caboose is numbered as 200, but she is not 200/1200. 1200 was retired with no lantern shields, and it had the windows plated.
    Through the process of elimination and by looking at photos, I have eliminated 50 car numbers for this caboose. 1205 and 1223 are two cabooses that made it to the orange and white era with the lantern shields intact, and they are straight. but 1205 has a patch panel welded on the side and the Mt Vernon caboose does not have a patch panel so 1205 can be eliminated. 1223 is a very viable possibility for the real number of this caboose, but there are still a few numbers that I don't have any pics of to reference. The numbers I have not ruled out are 1202 1207 1210 1211 1212 1213 1218 1221 1223 1225 1227 1229 1235 1238 1252 1253 1254 1260 1262 1264 1265 1267 1269 1271 1272 1273 If you have any later pics of these numbers, please post them so we can eliminate a few of them and solve this mystery. Thank you. Paul
     
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  5. RogerRT

    RogerRT Staff Member Staff Member Frisco.org Supporter

    Paul, I'm crunching the numbers on this one, might take a day or two. The Mt.Vernon cab was retired & donated in the Ashland Red scheme. so you can rule out 1207,1210,1212,1218,1229,1252,1253,1260,1271,1272 & 1273 as they were painted R/W prior to the merger. Personally I think it is the 1202 but need to verify some things first.

    Roger
     
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  6. paul slavens

    paul slavens Member

    Roger, that's awesome. I had a feeling you would chime in on this one. I cant wait to see what you come up with. I found two more pics last night on the facebook BN page. A pic of 11555(1227) without lantern shields so that eliminates 1227. and an interesting late pic of 1254 in Ship it paint with lantern shields. I have never seen a pic of 1202, and I am excited that you may be on to something.

    With your info we are down to 14 possible numbers 1202 1211 1213 1221 1223 1225 1235 1238 1254 1262 1264 1265 1267 1269 this is fun.
     
  7. RogerRT

    RogerRT Staff Member Staff Member Frisco.org Supporter

    You can remove 1227,1235,1238 & 1262, they have the brackets removed, 1201,1214 & 1249 had the ladders removed. Another feature that not all have, see http://frisco.org/mainline/?s=1203 if you enlarge the photo you can see a little vent below the C in "Ship It on the Frisco". The Mount Vernon caboose doesn't have this vent on either side. I do have slide of the 1202/11532 post merger, I've already sent it to Charlie for the Archive so I don't know what plans he has with it. I try to look at the battery boxes tomorrow.

    Roger
     

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  8. gjslsffan

    gjslsffan Staff Member Staff Member

    You guys are doing some pretty good detective work, this great stuff, I enjoy this thread.
     
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  9. RogerRT

    RogerRT Staff Member Staff Member Frisco.org Supporter

    Paul, you can eliminate 2 more, 1211 & 1269 both have the vent. The ones that meet the bracket, small battery box & no vent criteria are 1202 (1982), 1213 (1959), 1221 (1971), 1223 (1979) & 1254 (1978). I can find no photos of 1225,1264,1265 or 1267 so that leaves 5 possible & 4 maybe's. I'm real doubtful about the 1223 because one it's trucks is under the 1261 in Grafton, ND., could be both were in the shop & the trucks were switched by accident. Or one of 1261's trucks went bad & they grabbed one off the retired track to make the 1261 last a bit longer. The truck is stenciled "SLSF 1223" though, never seen that before, seen lots "BN 115XX" stenciled on trucks but not SLSF. The reason I think it is the 1202 is about 10 years I stopped in and talked to a lady there about the real number of the caboose. She showed me a photo of it in the park before it was moved to its current location. Unfortunately in the picture the number was painted out but the rest of the lettering was intact, it was painted in the later Ashland Red or "fire engine" red paint scheme. She also told me it was one of the 1st ones built but they were all built in 1957 so I don't know how close "1st one" would be. That's about all I can add I've reached the end of what I have. Have to be a little more patient on this one.

    Roger
     
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  10. paul slavens

    paul slavens Member

    Very interesting Roger, Cant wait to see a pic of 1202, and hopefully pics of some of the unknowns will show up somewhere. One observation I made that casts doubt on 1223 and 1254 is the fact that in both pics they still have the hangers welded on the corners that hold the lanterns in place, and they are late pics not long before retirement, but The Mt. Vernon caboose has the hangers removed. Its odd that the Mt. Vernon caboose had the hangers removed but not the shields. I would think that post donation nobody would go to the trouble of cutting the welds on those small brackets and grinding the car body smooth. I wonder if those hangers are missing on the pic of 1202? If they are gone it will be further evidence in 1202s favor.

    Ad far as trucks stenciled SLSF, I have seen one other, its 1249 stenciled as SLSF 249, its pretty neat. [​IMG]
     

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  11. paul slavens

    paul slavens Member

    One more thing about the Mt. Vernon caboose, the trustee owner plates that are mounted in the upper left of the car are broken and have chunks of them missing. If the pic of 1202 shows her with no lantern hangers, and broken trustee plates, it would be very strong evidence. That Mt. Vernon caboose is a gem, its the best example of a surviving 1200-74 because it is so straight, so complete, and has very little rust coming through.
     
  12. klrwhizkid

    klrwhizkid Administrator Staff Member Administrator Frisco.org Supporter

  13. RogerRT

    RogerRT Staff Member Staff Member Frisco.org Supporter

    Paul, I still got your email address, I sent you a copy of the 1202 in 1982. These scans are so big I can only send them one at a time. You tell me how well everything matches up.

    Keith, the interior has been completely repainted along with underframe. Looks like they sandblasted it, if they just painted over it I might be able to see the raised numbers if I look down the side. Whoever painted it did a really good job.

    Roger
     
  14. frisco4301

    frisco4301 Member

    [​IMG][​IMG][​IMG]I was hoping too be of some help with the quest for number identification. I took these when the Mt. Vernon caboose was still in the park but unfortunately, it had been repainted leaving only the logo and "Ship IT..." makings visible. Jeff
     

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  15. paul slavens

    paul slavens Member

    [​IMG][​IMG]
     

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  16. paul slavens

    paul slavens Member

    Roger I'm certain you were right, she is 1202. Everything matches up with these two pics you sent, and with the pics Jeff posted ! Great stuff. Lantern hangers removed, lantern shields in place, and look in the upper left at the owner/trustee plate how its broken exactly the same on all pics. Look at the steps on the right of the body how they have a slight imperfection on the right side about 6 inches up from the bottom. Look at the left truck bolster plate with a small ripple on the right side. Mystery solve. THANKS so much for your help guys !! This is so cool.
     
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  17. RogerRT

    RogerRT Staff Member Staff Member Frisco.org Supporter

    I have to agree with Paul, 100% #1202. 2 more points, in the 1982 photo notice in the lower right hand corner of the black box were someone spray painted out some of the old COTS info. They didn't quite keep it in the white border, you can see this overspray, especially in the bottom part, in Jeff's photos. Also every letter & number in the black box in both photos match perfectly. Well done, a lot of people have tried to figure this one out!!!

    Roger
     
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  18. paul slavens

    paul slavens Member

    I see that now Roger, and the more I look the more little details show up, like the coonskin logo has some black overspray on the white border in the upper section just left of center.

    Some fun facts, 1202 at Mt. Vernon has the distinction of being the earliest in the 200/1200 series that survives today, and I think (correct me if I am wrong) that 1202 is the only Frisco caboose that was delivered in Pullman green paint for use on business trains. I'm so happy we figured out her number !
     
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  19. paul slavens

    paul slavens Member

    Heads up everyone. Mt. Vernon Chamber of Commerce got my contact info from Ash Grove Mo and they asked me if I wanted to buy caboose 1202 from them. I went and looked at 1202 and told them I already had some Frisco cabooses and did not want to start another project. I told them I would try to help find a new owner. They did not price the caboose but asked for offers. I politely offered them 6k for 1202 just to make sure it does not get torched and told them to wait a while and hope for a bigger offer. If anyone is interested contact Pam Dudley at the Mt. Vernon Chamber.
     
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  20. Ozarktraveler

    Ozarktraveler Member

    Was anyone able to validate this? That's neat trivia and would make an interesting variation on a layout.
     
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