Caboose SLSF 1431 This caboose was described in a past issue of the All Aboard. Ray Millemann passed away in July 2015, and the estate is for sale. It is in the Oak Ridge, TN area and includes a basement-filling HO-scale layout, house, and the caboose. The layout is based in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) featuring the Southern Pacific (SP) and Spokane, Portland and Seattle (SP&S) Railroad. I will paste a note from his daughter below for your information. "My dad, who lived in Oakridge, Tenn., passed away in July. He was a model railroader for many years, starting when he moved to Tennessee from Oregon in 1976. He created a complete HO layout from blueprints he obtained of the Southern Pacific and Spokane Portland and Seattle line that goes through the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon and Washington. He built the cars, structures, scenery, and entire lay-out from scratch and it took several people to run it. He won awards for the cars he built. He had professional artists paint the scenery, including the inside of the tunnels. He was extremely attentive to detail. He worked on this project for about 20 or more years I think, then lost interest and stopped. It takes up the entire basement of his house. He passed away at 89 this July, and my brother and I, who both live in Davis, California, need to find a home for the model railroad or for the cars or any parts that someone would enjoy. My father also bought and fully restored a Frisco caboose in 1988. It is in the front yard of his property in Oakridge. We also need to find a buyer for the caboose. Attached is an article that briefly describes the lay-out of the model railroad and describes the story of the caboose. [The All Aboard article, DJH] Please have anyone interested call or email me. My cell number is (916) 812-4803. My brother Cliff and I will be in Oak Ridge during September 24-27, with Friday and Saturday the best days for someone to come by if they want to look at the railroad or the caboose. There is no deadline at this point, although the house will be put on the market for sale as soon as it is ready. We will also have a set of keys left with a realtor so that person should be able to provide access to others who may want to look at the railroad or caboose. Thank you so much for any help you can give us. Sincerely, Audrey Millemann amillemann@weintraub.com"
There is a lively discussion on going on the Facebook Ship It On The Frisco link. I took three photographs of her Sunday afternoon.
The family has already sold the HO-layout and will soon be cutting up caboose SLSF 1431. If you want it, contact the family NOW.
Well, that is too bad it is being cut up, especially bad since scrap metal prices are at the lowest point in many years. It would have been nice if someone wanted to get it and restore it, but it is a huge undertaking and a huge expense. Thayer, Missouri cut one up a couple years ago, it was also a boxcar conversion 1400 or 1700 class caboose. The old saying is true "you cant save them all" but at least we still have quite a few surviving Frisco cabooses. If the caboose at Oak Ridge, TN had been a 1200 class, I would have gone and picked it up, no doubt about it. I have tried to grow fond of the SLSF 1400 and SLSF 1700 class shop built cabooses, but I just do not like the body design very much and do not want to dedicate resources to preserve one. Apparently nobody else does either. It is too bad it is so far from Tulsa, I would like to have purchased a few items from the caboose as they cut it up. Couplers, doors, trucks and a few other small items.
Here is the latest update from Ray's daughter for your information. "Hi all, Some of you expressed interest in the estate sale that will be held at my dad’s house on 3744 Sugar Grove Valley Road in Harriman, TN. The sale will be held on October 30 - November 1. All items in the main floor upstairs of the house will be for sale, as will all items inside the caboose, the railroad signs and lights outside the caboose. We have not found a home for the caboose so it is still available. The model railroad and the related items in the basement have already been sold as a set. Thank you for your interest, and please forward this email on to anyone else you think would be interested. Best regards, Audrey Audrey Millemann Direct: 916.558.6033 Fax: 916.446.1611 Email: amillemann@weintraub.com Skype: audrey.millemann Blog: www.theiplawblog.com"
We are the BBQ restaurant that is moving the Caboose SLSF 1431 to our place. We are Uncle Gus's Mountain Pit BBQ in Ten Mile, TN. We will be moving it about 30 miles to our place. We will be on the road November 19th and hopefully setting the track and trucks in the afternoon. Then setting the box on the morning of the 20th. Our plan is to paint and spruce her up and use her as a small party room by mid summer 2016.
Giving this thread a bump to update the current location of caboose SLSF 1431. We can give a collective huge sigh of relief that this caboose has been preserved. Fortunately its new owners saved the day and relocated the caboose. As indicated above, it came close to being scrapped at its former location. The caboose has been relocated to Uncle Gus's Mountain Pit Bar-B-Que restaurant. The caboose sits to the east of the restaurant. The restaurant is on the northeast corner of Peakland Road and Tennessee 304 Highway. The restaurant and caboose are located approximately halfway between Knoxville, TN and Chattanooga, TN. The restaurant has a nice website. It includes a U-Tube video of the caboose move from its former site to its installation at its new home. The video is under the Gallery tab. Please see the following link. It caboose appears to have retained its Frisco paint and coonskin, but has a five digit number of that successor railroad. https://unclegusbarbque.com/ The caboose is now located at 810 Peakland Road, Decatur, TN 37322. Hope this helps. Thanks! Mark
