May 2024

 There were two work sessions in May involving primarily fitting the new east end sill.  Some repair work was needed on the vertical framing that joins with the sill.  Work also continued on tie rods and cross blocks between the north outer and intermediate sills.

The new end sill was moved from the roundhouse into the car shelter and placed on a jack for positioning.  Dean, Mike and John are shown here.

This photo shows the south end of the new end sill with the tenons of the new outer (south) sill in the left of the picture.  The vertical framing tenons are above.  These ends will be removed and new wood spliced into the framing.

Another view of the new end sill.  The drill is for drilling holes for the tie rods, one of which can be seen toward the upper left of the photo.

The north end of the new sill.  The vertical framing in this corner is missing the ends and new ends with tenons will be spliced on.

Work progressed on welding the tie rods together as seen here.  Joe's helmet is on one of the cross braces and the welder just off the right edge of the photo.

One of the horizontal tie rods in the new north outer sill that has been welded and a nut and washer placed on the end.

Drilling for a vertical tie rod in the new end sill.

The new sill has been moved into place and is supported by blocks instead of the jack.  The bad ends have been removed from the corner framing.

In this view of the northeast corner the corner posts have been put in place.

The southeast corner with the corner post held by a come-along.

Another view of the northeast corner.  There is a gap between the corner post and the tip of the new end sill that will have to be dealt with.

Craig and Ron are checking the fit of the new sill.

Ron is fitting one of the vertical tie rods that will hold the sill in place.

The ends of the old tie rods are cleaned up with a grinder prior to welding on the new segment.

Craig and Glenn are fitting the corner post.

There were no work sessions in COS in June because of activity on the railroad.  The work on the baggage car will resume in July.

Thanks again to Don Atkinson for help with the photos.

April 2024

 The old east end sill of the car was moved into the roundhouse for use as a pattern for fitting the tenons in the floor sills and wall framing in the new sill.  Bolster bolts were installed in the new north outer sill.  Cross braces were fabricated and installed between the north outer and intermediate sills.  Two extra work sessions were held in April because of weather cancellations earlier.

The new and old east end sills.  The mortices will be cut into the new sill in corresponding locations to where they are located in the old sill.

Dean is giving Craig a break on the router.  John is holding the light.

Dean is trimming the edges of a mortice.

Dean, Craig and John at work.

The east end of the car was cleaned up, removing old nails, etc.  I believe this is Mike working here.

This side looks good.

Ready for the new end sill (new south outer sill on left).

Similar view of the new north outer sill.

This photo shows two horizontal bolster bolts in place in the new outer sill.  Cross bracing blocks are resting on the intermediate sill and bolster above.

Drilling for the vertical bolster bolts was more challenging (gravity, you know).  Dean is using a right angle drill which helps some.

Most of the work on the cross braces was done from outside the car.

Easier than bending over from inside but still awkward.

New door posts have been installed.  New cross braces are at the bottom of the  photo.

The new east end sill is getting closer to being fitted into place.

The big square nuts for tie rods have been countersunk.

Vertical tie rods were fitted for welding together in the north wall.

 

March 2024

 During this month the new north outer sill was fitted to the uprights.  Many of the cross braces between it and the intermediate sill were replaced.

This photo shows the new sill in place with the uprights overriding.  This side of the car will have to be jacked up to fit the tenons on the uprights into the mortices in the sill.

The uprights on the far (west) end have been fitted to the mortices in the sill.  There appears to be an alinement "issue" on the east end.

If you cannot use a bigger hammer, use a come-along.

A little tweak in this direction and it looks very close to where it needs to be.  Dean is applying pressure in this photo.

It looks like the tenons are in a good position now.

They all fit!

Three of the sills were split and had to be repaired.  This is the east end of the south intermediate sill that has been glued with epoxy.

This is the north intermediate sill at the east end just behind the bolster that has been repaired.  There are plates top and bottom with bolts plus the glue.

The last sill repair was on the north intermediate at the west end.  The underside was deteriorated so a graft was glued to the bottom with a plate on top, all bolted together.

With the wall uprights and the sill assembled the cross blocks between the outer and intermediate sills were installed.  Many of the original ones had to be replaced.  In this photo they are hung in place with pieces of wood until they can be screwed in permanently.

          

 New door posts that Craig made were installed on the north side.

The next new framing part to be installed will be the east end sill.  The old sill and other wood have been removed.

This is a view of the east end where the new sill will go.  There will be a lot of fitting to do with mortice and tenon joints on two sides.

The new outer sill was bolted to the bolster.  Here a Forstner bit is being use to countersink the bolt.

Then a through hole is drilled for the bolt.

 

January-February 2024

There were only two work sessions in these two months because of weather.  Levelling and fitting the new north sill to the wall framing were the main activities.

This photo is a view looking toward the west end of the car with the new north sill on the right.  The jacks are holding the wall uprights over the mortises in the sill.  (Click on image to enlarge.)

The new sill had to be levelled with the inner sills.  Don and John are checking it out.

The roof jacks were adjusted as needed to fit the tenons into the mortises in the sill.  Dean is standing by in this photo.

Some coaxing was needed to line everything up.

...from different directions.  Glenn is raising the roof in this photo.

The west end looks good.

The east end also.  Notice the overlap splice in the sill.  It has been glued with epoxy glue as well as bolted and secured with steel plates.

Thanks to Don and Glenn for the photos.