Tie rods and ties - February 18, 2012

This work day was devoted to continuing replacement of the vertical bolts through the sill and plate along the sides of the car, as well as elevating it another tie height.  There was no work session on Feb. 4 because of weather.

Bob and George are working from below to remove the old bolts that pass through the 2x10 plate on edge along the lower side of the car, and down through the outer sill.  They had to be driven up from below, and pulled out as Ray is doing from inside the dar.  As always, Tom is "handy" standing by.  New bolts were passed down through the plate and sill, then snugged up from below.  Tom continued with placing the brackets attaching the framing to the sill as described last time.

John gave the horizontal tie rods one more "tweaking" with a socket wrench to be sure they were all tight.  Then ties were put in place in preparation for jacking up the car another notch.  Ties and blocks were placed at each corner of the car, and each end of the car was raised with jacks on the corners, alternating ends.



Now Tom can stand under the car without hitting his head (Craig, probably not so much).  A third set of ties was also placed in the middle of the car for additional support in this area as shown on the right.

Tie rods, sill, etc. Jan. 21, 2012

The tent flap was raised and the remaining tie rods inserted throught  floor framing.  Some guidance was required from under the car to direct the rods through the holes.

These photos show the tie rods passing through holes drilled in the brackets used to secure the horizontal framing to the new sill.  These framing members originally were mortised into the sill, but the tenons were cut in order to remove the old portion.  The rods were then fixed with washers and nuts on the outside of the sill.  The brackets are secured with lag screws.

The photo on the left shows the joint between the old and new portions of the sill that has been secured with epoxy and bolted with three bolts.  The ends of the tapers have been squared off  to prevent slippage with compression forces, as with coupling cars together.  On the right Craig is installing the hardware that secures the end of the truss rod that goes the length of the car.  This was cut to remove the sill, and more will be shown about this later.

Finally, the car was raised another tie thickness.  One end was jacked up and blocked, then the other end the same.  On the left above Glenn, John, and John are raising this side, and Bob is on the other on the right above.  Bob was not really working alone as I had been working with him.  Working under the car is getting easier, although one still has to be aware of the crossbars holding the rails as shown on the right under the ties.  Hard hats or cheesehead hats help.

Craig has made an excellent reproduction of the boiler plaque from Locomotive 463 and mounted it on a board with a photo of it as shown.  These may be available to benefit the restoration at some time in the future.