Steel reinforcing

 

 We have been asked to show some of the steel reinforcing in the Pullman sleeper.  I was using a different camera to take these photos and formatting is more difficult.  Please click on the images to enlarge them if necessary.  Above left shows a steel truss spanning the length of the car that is anchored through the sills at each end of the car.  There are vertical brace plates set on the sills at the bends of the trusses, with grooves at the tops to receive the trusses.

On the right the truss is rounded and threaded, and passes through the sill and is anchored with a plate, a nut, and a washer. 

Truss rods also extend through the framing at intervals through the car, both vertically and horizontally.  The horizontal rods (not shown) pass through the floor framing, and are fixed at each end to the sills.  The vertical rods pass throught wall framing between the windows and are anchored at both ends.  There also is a short vertical rod fixing the structural framing to the sills, on the left in the lower right image.