The move of Cotton Belt 2305 was halted near Winchester, Virginia on Friday July 15th. The halt was due to an unsafe condition detected by Virginia DOT. The 2305 will be reloaded onto another type of trailer and the move is to restart soon. Reloading may be proceeding at this time.

Ed Cooper
CBRHS #114 Pine Bluff Chapter

Thank you for this update. I and my boyhood friend, also from Arbyrd, would like to receive updates of the 2305's progress if any such exist as we are only about 60 miles from I-40, and would take a chance on catching up with the shipment for some in-transit photo ops. My friend was well-known to the crew of the P&SE local, and even kept up with most of them for years after the line was abandoned. He is not only a huge SSW fan, he is a wealth of Cotton Belt history.

As of last night the 2305 was loaded onto a new trailer. A new road clearance has to be issued. I have not heard that this has happened, but the move could be ongoing now. Will post more when it is known.

Ed in Kentucky

This old thread reported on the move of St. Louis-Southwestern (Cotton Belt) "long" caboose #2305 to the Austin Steam Train Association. Checked their website today and don't see any reference to SSW #2305. Long time since the last thread report in 2011. Did the car make it to Austin?

Les

http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=115373

A comment from 2012 says: "Ed Cooper General The 2305 is currently at the shops of the Austin Steam Train Association in Cedar Park, TEXAS being restored. 8/16/2012 6:36:56 AM"

PMC - Thanks for that quote. Good to know that SSW #2305 actually made it to Austin. However, August 2012 is still about 7 and half years ago. Was the caboose eventually restored, is the work still ongoing, or.........?

Les

Les, I have not been able to find any recent photos of #2305, possibly because their website says "Please note that the train and rail yard are not open for public tours or photography." So it could be restored, or it could be sitting back there derelict. Guess which one I think it is, if it were restored you would think they would want to show it off and it would at least be on their roster.

https://goo.gl/maps/JHaoKbwPv5QwV9cY8

Behind the Santa Fe caboose. That looks exactly like the one that's in Pine Bluff.

Pegasuspinto -

First of all, thanks for the street view photo of SSW 2305 there in Austin. Not 100% sure when that photo was taken, but I'm going to assume it was recently. I was able to move the view a bit toward the parking lot and then looked back to get a slightly different angle on the caboose. Two things struck me. First, the "pink paint" on the end with the passenger windows and the "rough" appearance of the cupola end, makes me think that the car may not have been getting recent attention. And from that slightly different angle, it also appears that passenger window end has a bit more "swayback" than older photos. I think this may be a truss rod car, so maybe it just needs some "tightening up". Or perhaps it's just a case of "looks are deceiving". Would be nice though, if someone from the organization gave us an update on the car.

Also, I'm not sure about the Cotton Belt caboose in Pine Bluff. Are they really sister cabooses?

Les

This one is in a private collection, same concept, just shorter. This one is very, very complete. Still has the stenciling inside, etc.

http://www.trainweb.org/arkansastrains/railroad/sswcab/P0003130.htm

This one is in Ashdown, AR.

http://www.trainweb.org/arkansastrains/railroad/sswcab/SSW2304/IMH76680.htm

Looks a little better now:

https://goo.gl/maps/cEaSLZnFkDM8MM5SA