Back to work, 4-3-2010

After weather delays in March, work got under way on the protective structure which will cover the car (and us) during restoration.  We obtained a laser level to help insure that the arches were in line.  The holes were dug, but precipitation had filled some in so that the levels were uneven.

The framing arches were assembled and carried over the car, then set in place and levelled.  In spite of what appears to be a lot of discussing going on, work also progressed once everyone got "in the groove."

The last photo shows the first several arches in place lined up fairly well.  It also shows the size of the shelter, with room above to work on the roof of the car without being cramped.  Eventually, the car will be raised on dollies so the space above will be decreased from this.

Meanwhile, our chronicler, Glen, has been busy making drawings as well as photos.  On the left, he is holding a drawing he made over one we had obtained earlier.  The initial one shows the framing of the car but not the finishing details.  He redrew the framing and added the interior details in the lower drawing from photos and measurements he made as the interior was dismantled.  On the right, an approximately similar photo view is shown for comparison.  These drawings will be used in the reconstruction of the interior.

February 6, 2010

On the first Saturday in February (still winter), we continued work on the protective structure as well as the interior of the car.  The Ironman, aka Tom, above left, has been fabricating anchors for the posts for the building.  An example of the assembled design is on the right.  These will be set in post holes which will be filled with gravel, and fixed to a railroad rail to provide stability.  More on this as we progress.  Also, we borrowed a transit from my brother, Tom, and shot levels of the ground next to the post holes to begin the process of grading for drainage.  It has been decided to let the water drain into the pit under the car, which has a drain in it as well that allows the water to clear fairly quickly, presumably into the nearby creek.

Meanwhile, in the men's room, discreet demolition continues.  The ceiling in this area is poorly preserved.  Originally this corner was indeed the men's restroom, but most recently was the area of the icebox (not refrigerator) which has been removed.  There are various holes in the roof here, and there were water leaks which caused deterioration of the wood.  In the photo on the right, above, note the vertical lines in the wall in the left side of the photo, and below the metal plate between the windows.  These were partitions which separated the toilet from the washbowl.  The ladies' room was at the other end of the car in a similar configuration.

On the left above, a closer look at the ceiling above the men's room/icebox, as opposed to the area adjacent that is very well preserved.  The former is soft wood (fir?), while the latter is oak.

At the other end of the car trim is being remove exposing a structural beam containing large lag bolts.  Two bolts are visible in the photo on the left above.  The trim piece was held in place by wooden pegs as can be seen in the closeup on the right above, as well as glue.

Also, I continued making storm windows (see last post).  Only seven more to go.  Yay!!!

Parallel projects (January 23, 2010)

Worksite preparation and car restoration are now considered separate projects, although we all may be working on one or the other at different times depending on need.  We received the correct poles for the shelter structure this week, and have begun the process of setting them so that they will be stable and not sink into the ground under load.  In the upper photo the project engineers are conferring as to the best way to accomplish this, as well as waiting for the ground to thaw a bit.  The sunny side (shown) is not too bad, but the other side is in the shade, and will be somewhat more fun.  The photo below on the right shows the hard working crew preparing the foundation.

We welcomed two newbies, Tom and Ray (not Click and Clack) in the photo, above, left.  They are Tom Fitzgerald and Ray Hoppe who are working on the car restoration project today.  They have been removing old wood which will need replacing, as well as showing more details about the construction of the car.  On the right is a portion of the plan in the area that they are working.  They and Craig also began removing more of the clerestory windows, most of which are original, with etched glass.  Some have been replaced with plain glass, but all will be etched when we are done.  To be continued....

January thaw (sort of) 1/9/10

It was a sunny but cool day for the first work session of the new year.  We received a large box of tubing for the shelter (on the left, above), but some of the pieces are the wrong size and will have to be returned.  Nevertheless, Bob continued with preparation of the post holes on the sunny side of the car (right, above), that were only partially frozen.

Meanwhile, dismantling of the car interior continued, with removal of the windows and window trim (above, left).  Craig (above, right) is carefully stacking what has been removed.  We are covering the windows with plastic to provide some protection from the cold, assuming the shelter won't be completed in the near future. 
We can use space heaters inside the car to improve the work environment.

Rich (above, left) is removing old nails from the lumber that has been removed.  Duncan (above, right) is making the "storm windows" for the car.

The two photos above show detail of one of the boards removed from between the windows.  On the left is the interior side showing the milling that is present throughout the interior of the car.  On the right is the reverse side of the same board showing the number "470" written in pencil.  Several boards with this number have been found which leads us to conclude that 470 is the original number of the car.

More later.

Finally.....also on 11/21/09

John Engs announced that the Friends has been awarded a Car Restoration Award by the Tourist Railway Association, Inc. for the restoration of Piledriver OB.

The happy (and hamming) group working this day posed with the plaque.

Meanwhile.......11/21/09

Craig started dismantling the interior to get an idea of what will be needed in the way of custom moulding, and I guess because he was curious as well.  He removed some of the interior panelling as well as framing around a window or two.  The window hardware is very basic and should not be difficult to replace.

Rosemary had the fun job of scraping old paint and varnish from the panelling.  The only good thing is that when you walk through the car it falls down on you, so it is no longer firmly adherent.

After more panelling has been removed, we can see the construction of the wall between the windows.  The cross-pieces were held in place by moulding which was glued in place, but the pieces are free-floating now.  Craig removed six of the vertical pieces between the windows, and discovered the NUMBER 470 written on three of them.  So, apparently the mystery of the original number of the car that we have been calling "0252" has been solved.  This would indicate that this car is the last of the series that was built.  Hopefully, we will find more documentation as we go forward.

Finally, this is a view of the icebox (who remembers when all refrigerators were called "iceboxes"?) that was installed later when the car was used for maintenance of way.  After the asbestos was (professionally) removed, dismantling was begun revealing the insulation used, i.e. wood shavings.

A Good Day

11/21/09  Today we began work on the foundation  for the protective structure for the car (and us) by laying out the footprint and the stakes for the holes for the frame poles.  Bob thinks the line looks pretty good, but is wondering how he is going to move that rail.  Actually, the plan is to use the rails to anchor the frame poles, rather than pouring concrete, in part to make the building more easily moved if and when necessary.

The next step is to drill the holes using the "helicopter" for the poles.  The "big boys" did the first one and the "little guys" finished the job.

Luckily we got all the holes drilled and covered, because the weather hasn't been very cooperative since.  The structure will extend beyond the car on this end to provide some covered work space in addition to the area in the woodshop (aka pod), which is rapidly diminishing because of the workbench, power tools, etc.