Warm before the storm - Nov. 16, 2013

It was a warm November day for the second work session of the month.  Bob continued on the letterboards, routing out grooves for the verticals as well as the overlaps.  Craig had made guides for the routers and loaned his routers while he was out of town.

I helped with the routing and drilling as well as tacking the boards up with screws.  They are not up permanently at this point, but are being fitted.  We numbered them on the inside to replace them correctly.  The inner boards on both sides are in place, leaving the four end ones to be done.

Bill was busy treating the new lumber (and some of the old) with linseed oil.  Here he is doing the panels between the framing at the end of the car.  The new wood in the floor framing was also treated.

It was also a good day for some housecleaning, if there is such a thing.  Tom and Bill "took out the trash," and Tom sorted recycle, etc.

Since welding has been put on hold, plans are being made to proceed with wood work in the near term.

Framing blocks, steel, letterboards - November 2, 2013

Last time, we drilled bolt holes in the steel pieces that will be connecting the inner sill steel with the end sill steel.  These will be underneath and bolted and welded together.  Our welder has had some medical issues, and the welding has been delayed.

Bill and I worked on making blocks to go between the framing cross pieces above the bolsters.  These were glued and screwed together.  Sizing was "interesting" as measurements varied from place to place.

 Bill is holding a block in place where it will be installed.  Originally they abutted the intermediate sill on his left.

There also will be small blocks against the outer sills.

Meanwhile, Bob and John M. and John E. continued work on the letterboards.

Connecting steel; Letterboards October 5&19, 2013

 On the first weekend in October much of the welding on the ends of the cars was completed.  The "X" braces were welded in place with the upper ends welded to the plate above and the lower ends to the angle piece fastened to the end sill.  The welds were ground smooth so the sheathing can be placed over the steel.

The large angle pieces that are fastened along the inner sills will be tied to the angle steel on the end sills by a plate and spacer as shown in the photo on the right.  They will be welded in place under the end sill and inner sill, as well as bolted through the end sill.

Here I am drilling to accommodate the bolts holding the steel pieces to the wooden sill.  More on this next time.

Lenny cut a notch in the spacers for placement of a thick steel plate between the steel on the inner sills, below the pivot blocks on each end of the car.  This will provide reinforcement at the attachment point of the trucks.

Here is another look after he finished cutting the notches.

Finally, this is the plate to be placed between the sills.  There is some drilling to be done as well.

And yes, there is wood.  Craig has made the letterboards that go along the side of the car above the windows.  There is a groove below (seen on the right in this photo) for the windows and a curve  above (on the left) to fit the pitch of the roof.  The grooves along the upper side of the board in the photo fit around the verticals on the side of the car.

Here Craig and Bob are cutting the grooves with a router and guides that Craig made.

In this photo they are fitting and hanging one of the letterboards.  The grooves fit the vertical posts in front of Craig and to his right.

Several boards are in place in this photo.  Note the overlap cut into the near end.