Thanks, I'm tickled to pieces that it pulled as nice as it did and nothing fell off while going down the road, even if we were only going 35-40 mph! LOL
I'm planning to go to Sears tomorrow and see what they have for tires, and to see if they have new rims that will fit. I could just clean up the old ones really good, but I don't really have the luxury of time to do that (and I don't think the marina would be real happy to have me tearing it apart in their parking lot). I've toyed with the idea of getting fancy rims, but the originals are just plain black, so that's what I think I'm going to get.
I'm also going to a courthouse in KY to see if there's any way I can sweet talk them into giving me a temporary trip permit or pull-out permit for it without a title or serial number or VIN. I've been told I can pull it without a plate as long as I have a Bill Of Sale, and I have one but it's dated almost 2 months ago, and I'm pretty sure there's a 30-day limit. Wish me luck, I think I may need it. I suppose the worst thing would be to just pull it without a tag anyway, and if I get stopped I'll have to pay a fine.
-- Edited by nightsky on Monday 17th of December 2012 05:48:24 AM
nightsky said
06:19 AM Dec 17, 2012
The Caboose actually went down the road today, for what was probably the first time in about 40 years!! I got the tires aired up again (the left side ones don't want to hold air, not sure if the tires are bad or if the rims are just that rusty) and stuck the magnetic towing lights on it, got it hitched up and hauled it out of the campground and down the road about 6 miles to the marina. I had stopped at the marina Friday and asked if I could park it there for a few days since they're pretty slow this time of year. The campground folks have been getting pretty antsy about getting out of there, so today I got it moved. Top speed was only about 40 due to the very narrow, windy, twisty and very hilly road, but it seemed to do just fine. No trailer brakes on it, so the slow speed was fine with me especially going down the steep hills to the lake/marina.
Here it is at the lake!
I'm going back up tomorrow and see if the guys at the marina will jack it up and remove a wheel for me, then I'll go into Paducah and get 4 new rims and tires that I know aren't going to blow out on the highway going to TN. May ask them what they'd charge to wire the brakes for me too. It sits a bit higher on pavement than it looked in the woods at the campground. :yes:
Trabuco said
06:37 AM Dec 17, 2012
Progress! Great to see a picture of it moving. Make sure you get good tires and brakes on the thing before you go too far.
Millie said
06:37 AM Dec 17, 2012
Thanks for going to the trouble of posting it, Night!
LOOKING GOOD!
YIPPEE!!!
Wayne and Deanna said
06:46 AM Dec 17, 2012
I bet Lucky Mike is ON THE WAY to get working on this with you. Congrats on progress made!
Lucky Mike said
03:49 PM Dec 17, 2012
Nice To see it moving!!!!!!
Cant wait to get free of here to head over and see it!!
injunear said
04:37 PM Dec 17, 2012
Nightsky,
What a beau-ti-ful sight.... I love restoring old equipment...
Injuear, Wayne
Terry and Jo said
04:49 PM Dec 17, 2012
Congratulations, Nightsky.
Good thinking on replacing the wheels as well as the tires. If there is any rust at all in the wheels, it could weaken their strength, considering how long that trailer has set without moving. You've not made a mention as to whether the trailer has a spare tire or not, but if it does, take that with you when shopping for wheels. When getting tires, be sure and look at the best load range that you can afford. Be sure and inform the sales people that the tires are going on a camper, not a vehicle or a regular cargo-type trailer.
Now, when Mike and Pierre get there to help you with the remodel, be sure and include pictures of them as well. That is, if they don't mind. Good luck and have fun.
Terry
Lucky Mike said
05:08 PM Dec 17, 2012
She can take my picture Terry........hell its been up in most post offices for years!!!!!........................LOL!!!
hoping to travel out that way around the end of January........Trying to get my Hospital visits to every 60 days and I can get Blood work on the road.......besides Amtrak is pretty cheap and the train stop is right out front of the hospital. figure thats easier than driving back and forth !!!!
really been looking forward to getting back out there and a project to sweeten the deal is a good way to see how much I can still do!!!!!
not to mention from doing a little research this is a once in a lifetime project on something very rare!!!!! I did a stanley steamer a few years back and it wasnt this rare, besides its nice to make a few friends along the way.....I could volunteer at a campground and not get the same gratifying results as being able to see this caboose pass by and know I helped make it return to its glory!!!!!
Dog Folks said
05:24 PM Dec 17, 2012
Thanks so much for the post and picture. Please keep posting, there are many of us that really would enjoy "following along."
Cindy T said
06:10 PM Dec 17, 2012
Great to see the progress of this incredible project! Thanks for sharing!
PIEERE said
06:44 PM Dec 17, 2012
I would say that you are getting famous and when you complete this project you will be more so. Sorry to hear about the setback and it stayed together while you moved it. I looked at the blog photos, hope it looks worse than it actually is. I couldn't see the frame to well. It looks to be a boxed metal frame. You may have to do a frame up restoration; and if that is the case, it would be wise to study ways to make it lighter-weight. I would imagine you will want to make it self contained. You have plenty of time to toss around many ideas.
Wow! 1970, this makes the 'Caboose' going on 53 years old. I will be turning 62 this coming year and the doctors started a restoration last March at the age of 60 with those 3 stents. HMMMM! Gave me a thought, when I recieve my early SS in August, maybe I will let the doctors do a restoration on me too!!!! LOL! Hey; what am I laughing about, may need it by then!
PIEERE
-- Edited by PIEERE on Tuesday 18th of December 2012 10:33:46 AM
-- Edited by PIEERE on Tuesday 18th of December 2012 10:34:28 AM
Raytronx said
07:58 PM Dec 17, 2012
I love the retro RVs, too cool!!
nightsky said
01:57 AM Dec 18, 2012
Well, there's been a HUGE setback today. I drove up to KY again up to see about getting new tires etc, and noticed the tongue was angled upward quite noticeably, to the point it is bending the base of the siding. I went inside to see what the interior looked like, and the whole front end is coming apart. There's a massive crack in the passenger side wall behind the front window, and where there was a gap yesterday with an inch of daylight showing through is now a gaping hole about 4 inches wide. There's also a crack in the bathroom on the driver's side, not quite as big but still bad bad bad.
This discovery led to me crawling underneath to look around, something I wasn't able to do when it was sitting in the woods at the campground. The frame is rotten. Really rotten. The worst visible areas are actually at the rear, not the front where the cracks have formed, but the wood frame is also in better shape at the rear so maybe that's holding it together. All the gruesome photos are on the blog.
Frankly I'm surprised it didn't all come apart yesterday when I was towing it to the marina. I'm going to have to find someone to haul it on a flatbed or something, I don't see any other way to get it home. The folks at the marina are great and I gave them a month's storage fee so I don't have to rush to get it out of there. Any comments and suggestions would be extremely welcome!
On a more positive note, after what seemed to be a futile 20 minute chat with the folks at the courthouse in KY about getting some sort of tag/title/permit to pull it home (this obviously was before I discovered the damaged frame) I mentioned there was a KY electrical inspection sticker on it. They gave me the name and number of the fire marshall who keeps track of such things, and he was very helpful. He searched for the number and said if it was inspected there must be a title or registration for it. He said according to their records it was sold in January 2009, and gave me the sellers (a business) name and phone number. When I called got a recording saying they are closed Sunday and Monday so I'll try again tomorrow. I don't want to get my hopes up too much but I have my fingers crossed tight, since I would LOVE to get it titled as what it actually is and NOT as a homebuilt.
Also, the blog has 1000 page views, and hits are coming from RV and camper forums I didn't even know existed! Does this mean I'm almost famous?? LOL
Trabuco said
02:23 AM Dec 18, 2012
Caryn,
I haven't looked at the blog pictures yet but based on what you mention above, towing is out of the question. You'll need to get it trailered for safety sake. If it comes apart while towing it could be a diaster.
Lucky Mike said
02:28 AM Dec 18, 2012
Suggestion on the frame is to have it C- Channeled full lenth and welded......would way that against the price of having it flat bedded home. If you get it home alot of the cost of channeling it right can be reduced by doing most of the work up front....
another option would be to find a trailer at the same lenth or longer that is junk because of water damage........we could take yours and fit it to the new frame........again at home labor but most of the cost for this type of job is labor.......if we remove most of that from the equation its not to bad
Final Idea!!!!..............Register it .......insure it as an antique with full coverage , come back at nite to haul it home and hope it doesnt make it !!!!!!..............(please know Im joking on this one!!)
nightsky said
02:44 AM Dec 18, 2012
Ken, yep, towing is not even an option at this point. I'm just thankful it didn't come apart yesterday.
Mike, there's so little that's good on the body that I was planning to completely rebuild it from scratch, so now it looks like the entire caboose will be built from scratch with the original just serving as a blueprint and possibly a donor for a few parts. I know nothing about welding, it's a skill I've wanted to learn for a long time but have never found anyone to teach me. Therefore I know nothing about whether any of the existing frame is even salvageable.
How much of a purist should I be? Should the frame (new or rebuilt) be as close to original as possible, or should I use a donor frame from another trailer? Even if I got someone to do the C channel thing up there, I still have the problem of not being able to legally tow it anywhere, plus it WILL need new tires and likely rims, and brakes, etc before it goes anywhere.
Sorry if I'm in and out, it's raining here and the satellite internet isn't a fan of the rain.
Millie said
03:05 AM Dec 18, 2012
NightSky >>>>>
nightsky said
03:15 AM Dec 18, 2012
I LOVEIT!!
Millie said
03:29 AM Dec 18, 2012
Trabuco said
03:35 AM Dec 18, 2012
Caryn,
You'll have to inspect the frame real close. It might end up costing more trying to salvage the frame. Or you might miss a weak spot and end up with issues down the road.
As far as welding I earned my certificate at an adult education center. It was cheap and I learned gas, arc, mig and tig. After I completed the class I proceeded to build a trailer from the ground up. It was a motorcyle trailer 96" wide and 18' long. I used "I" for the main frame. During the process I found it was cheaper to buy axles than make them.
Do some research on having it done or doing it yourself as you proceed through each aspect of the overhaul.
Thanks, I'm tickled to pieces that it pulled as nice as it did and nothing fell off while going down the road, even if we were only going 35-40 mph! LOL
I'm planning to go to Sears tomorrow and see what they have for tires, and to see if they have new rims that will fit. I could just clean up the old ones really good, but I don't really have the luxury of time to do that (and I don't think the marina would be real happy to have me tearing it apart in their parking lot). I've toyed with the idea of getting fancy rims, but the originals are just plain black, so that's what I think I'm going to get.
I'm also going to a courthouse in KY to see if there's any way I can sweet talk them into giving me a temporary trip permit or pull-out permit for it without a title or serial number or VIN. I've been told I can pull it without a plate as long as I have a Bill Of Sale, and I have one but it's dated almost 2 months ago, and I'm pretty sure there's a 30-day limit. Wish me luck, I think I may need it. I suppose the worst thing would be to just pull it without a tag anyway, and if I get stopped I'll have to pay a fine.
-- Edited by nightsky on Monday 17th of December 2012 05:48:24 AM
The Caboose actually went down the road today, for what was probably the first time in about 40 years!! I got the tires aired up again (the left side ones don't want to hold air, not sure if the tires are bad or if the rims are just that rusty) and stuck the magnetic towing lights on it, got it hitched up and hauled it out of the campground and down the road about 6 miles to the marina. I had stopped at the marina Friday and asked if I could park it there for a few days since they're pretty slow this time of year. The campground folks have been getting pretty antsy about getting out of there, so today I got it moved. Top speed was only about 40 due to the very narrow, windy, twisty and very hilly road, but it seemed to do just fine. No trailer brakes on it, so the slow speed was fine with me especially going down the steep hills to the lake/marina.
Here it is at the lake!
I'm going back up tomorrow and see if the guys at the marina will jack it up and remove a wheel for me, then I'll go into Paducah and get 4 new rims and tires that I know aren't going to blow out on the highway going to TN. May ask them what they'd charge to wire the brakes for me too. It sits a bit higher on pavement than it looked in the woods at the campground. :yes:
Thanks for going to the trouble of posting it, Night!
LOOKING GOOD!
YIPPEE!!!
Cant wait to get free of here to head over and see it!!
Nightsky,
What a beau-ti-ful sight.... I love restoring old equipment...
Injuear, Wayne
Congratulations, Nightsky.
Good thinking on replacing the wheels as well as the tires. If there is any rust at all in the wheels, it could weaken their strength, considering how long that trailer has set without moving. You've not made a mention as to whether the trailer has a spare tire or not, but if it does, take that with you when shopping for wheels. When getting tires, be sure and look at the best load range that you can afford. Be sure and inform the sales people that the tires are going on a camper, not a vehicle or a regular cargo-type trailer.
Now, when Mike and Pierre get there to help you with the remodel, be sure and include pictures of them as well. That is, if they don't mind. Good luck and have fun.
Terry
hoping to travel out that way around the end of January........Trying to get my Hospital visits to every 60 days and I can get Blood work on the road.......besides Amtrak is pretty cheap and the train stop is right out front of the hospital. figure thats easier than driving back and forth !!!!
really been looking forward to getting back out there and a project to sweeten the deal is a good way to see how much I can still do!!!!!
not to mention from doing a little research this is a once in a lifetime project on something very rare!!!!!
I did a stanley steamer a few years back and it wasnt this rare, besides its nice to make a few friends along the way.....I could volunteer at a campground and not get the same gratifying results as being able to see this caboose pass by and know I helped make it return to its glory!!!!!
Great to see the progress of this incredible project! Thanks for sharing!
I would say that you are getting famous and when you complete this project you will be more so. Sorry to hear about the setback and it stayed together while you moved it. I looked at the blog photos, hope it looks worse than it actually is. I couldn't see the frame to well. It looks to be a boxed metal frame. You may have to do a frame up restoration; and if that is the case, it would be wise to study ways to make it lighter-weight. I would imagine you will want to make it self contained. You have plenty of time to toss around many ideas.
PIEERE
-- Edited by PIEERE on Tuesday 18th of December 2012 10:33:46 AM
-- Edited by PIEERE on Tuesday 18th of December 2012 10:34:28 AM
I love the retro RVs, too cool!!
This discovery led to me crawling underneath to look around, something I wasn't able to do when it was sitting in the woods at the campground. The frame is rotten. Really rotten. The worst visible areas are actually at the rear, not the front where the cracks have formed, but the wood frame is also in better shape at the rear so maybe that's holding it together. All the gruesome photos are on the blog.
Frankly I'm surprised it didn't all come apart yesterday when I was towing it to the marina. I'm going to have to find someone to haul it on a flatbed or something, I don't see any other way to get it home. The folks at the marina are great and I gave them a month's storage fee so I don't have to rush to get it out of there. Any comments and suggestions would be extremely welcome!
On a more positive note, after what seemed to be a futile 20 minute chat with the folks at the courthouse in KY about getting some sort of tag/title/permit to pull it home (this obviously was before I discovered the damaged frame) I mentioned there was a KY electrical inspection sticker on it. They gave me the name and number of the fire marshall who keeps track of such things, and he was very helpful. He searched for the number and said if it was inspected there must be a title or registration for it. He said according to their records it was sold in January 2009, and gave me the sellers (a business) name and phone number. When I called got a recording saying they are closed Sunday and Monday so I'll try again tomorrow. I don't want to get my hopes up too much but I have my fingers crossed tight, since I would LOVE to get it titled as what it actually is and NOT as a homebuilt.
Also, the blog has 1000 page views, and hits are coming from RV and camper forums I didn't even know existed! Does this mean I'm almost famous?? LOL
I haven't looked at the blog pictures yet but based on what you mention above, towing is out of the question. You'll need to get it trailered for safety sake. If it comes apart while towing it could be a diaster.
another option would be to find a trailer at the same lenth or longer that is junk because of water damage........we could take yours and fit it to the new frame........again at home labor but most of the cost for this type of job is labor.......if we remove most of that from the equation its not to bad
Final Idea!!!!..............Register it .......insure it as an antique with full coverage , come back at nite to haul it home and hope it doesnt make it !!!!!!..............(please know Im joking on this one!!)
Mike, there's so little that's good on the body that I was planning to completely rebuild it from scratch, so now it looks like the entire caboose will be built from scratch with the original just serving as a blueprint and possibly a donor for a few parts. I know nothing about welding, it's a skill I've wanted to learn for a long time but have never found anyone to teach me. Therefore I know nothing about whether any of the existing frame is even salvageable.
How much of a purist should I be? Should the frame (new or rebuilt) be as close to original as possible, or should I use a donor frame from another trailer? Even if I got someone to do the C channel thing up there, I still have the problem of not being able to legally tow it anywhere, plus it WILL need new tires and likely rims, and brakes, etc before it goes anywhere.
Sorry if I'm in and out, it's raining here and the satellite internet isn't a fan of the rain.
NightSky >>>>>
You'll have to inspect the frame real close. It might end up costing more trying to salvage the frame. Or you might miss a weak spot and end up with issues down the road.
As far as welding I earned my certificate at an adult education center. It was cheap and I learned gas, arc, mig and tig. After I completed the class I proceeded to build a trailer from the ground up. It was a motorcyle trailer 96" wide and 18' long. I used "I" for the main frame. During the process I found it was cheaper to buy axles than make them.
Do some research on having it done or doing it yourself as you proceed through each aspect of the overhaul.