Bolsters and body truss rods - Fall & Winter 2014-15

To refresh our memories, the first photo is of a drawing of the under carriage of one end of the car at the trucks or wheels showing the bolster in cross section running across the width of the car.

The truss rod bracket is under the bolster and is bolted to the outer sill on each side.  The round part is a clevis to which the truss rod is fastened, shown here sloping downward and to the left.

The photo above shows the bolsters before installation.  The lower straight piece was on the car.  The curved piece was removed and scrapped previously, and new one fabricated by Urich.  They will be bolted together eventually, with the curved piece underneath.

The photo above shows one end of the bolster in place with temporary bolts through the outer sill.

This is a view under the car along the bolster.  Notches had to be cut in the platform sills to accommodate it.  It passes under the steel that is reinforcing the inner sills.  The bottom of the steel is lower than the original sill and spacers are required to lower the bolster and truss rod brackets appropriately.

In this photo Bob and Don are drilling the bolt holes in the brackets and spacers that will support the bolsters and to which the truss rods will be connected.

Here a spacer is being drilled with the magnetic drill. using the matching bracket as a guide.  The drilling was a slow process and continued for several weeks.

I jumped ahead in time, but this is one of the truss rod brackets in place, with the spacer next to the sill, and the bolster between the spacer and the bracket.  This process also was ongoing for several weeks.  Aligning the bolt holes was tedious.

 This photo shows the bolster at the east end of the car extending beyond the sill (the end is in the lower part of the picture just to the right of center, orange in color).  This means the car is too narrow in this area.  This is the sill that was replaced early on because of rot, and apparently warped or shifted during replacement.  More on this later.

Letter boards - Fall-Winter 2014

Work on the letter boards spanned a rather long period of time as other things were happening concurrently.  The letter boards are wide boards that extend the length of the care over the windows and under the cornice which often displayed the name of the company that owned the car.  Thanks again to Tom Smco for providing some of the photos.

This drawing shows a letter board on a coach that has the number 91 on it for identification.

This photo shows some of the boards that Craig brought to the work site ready to be fitted.  It is apparent that considerable work has already been done to get to this stage.

Bob and Craig are doing some final fitting at the work site of one of the end pieces.  The corners on the ends are dove-tailed together.

 

We built platforms along each side of the car to improve access to the work areas without having to move ladders, etc.  The photo on the right shows a board clamped in place before finally screwing it on to the car.  Note the end of the board which will be overlapped with the adjacent one.

The photo above, left shows the work platform on the side of the car.  The sections are removable and can be transferred to the other side as needed.  On the right Don and Bob are fastening the letterboard with screws.

The photo above shows how the boards are fastened with counter sunk screws.

The screw holes are then filled and sanded smooth.

The corners are dovetailed as shown above.  The end of the car is on the right.  Here part of the arched piece could be used and just the corner replaced.

This is the same corner as above and the finishing piece of ash has been placed over the framing.  Clamps are holding it in place at this time.

This photo shows the finished end piece.  Getting the arch correct was "interesting" but Craig did an excellent job.

Odds and Ends, June thru September 2014

Considerable drilling had to be done through wood and metal to fasten the end platforms securely to the car framing.  In the first photo Lenny is using the magnetic drill to drill a bolt hole through the steel that is reinforcing the inner sill as well as the steel on the inner platform sill.























The next two photos show the eight bolts in place securing the wood sills and steel angles of the car and platform together.

This photo was taken of 0252/470 in Chama prior to moving it to our work site in Colorado Springs.  I am showing it to show the vertical window trim on each side of the the windows.  It is grooved in a pattern that is not readily available currently.  (Click on the photo to enlarge.)

The pattern is duplicated on this planer/moulder knife, and stock was run through to obtain matching material.

New on the left and old on the right.

Finally, Craig picked up the bolsters from Strasburg, CO where Urich fabricated the arched part that was removed from the car.The straight piece beneath was left on the car.  They will be installed with the arch down and bolted together.

The bolsters are fastened under the car at each end where the truck pivot pins are located to provide support and stiffness.  The bolster is colored red in this diagram, and is oriented transversely across the car.  Many hours were spent fitting these, but  more on this later.

Platform Framing: June-August 2014

Most of the summer of 2014 was spent on the end platform framing, and I will devote this post to that effort.  The first photo is from January of 2011 showing the condition of the timbers in the framing.  There are tie rods in place running longitudinally with the car which have been cut.  There also are tie rods across the framing at the blocks on the left side of the photo.

Because of the condition of the wood on this car measurements and photos were taken of the sister car at the Colorado Railroad Museum in order to duplicate as closely as possible the original arrangement.

The second photo is a view from below looking at the framing.  The spacing blocks were morticed into the sills and held together with tie rods as well as bolts.

The third photo shows the gluing of the laminated end sill of the platform.  The sill extensions were made in a similar fashion from white oak in Craig's shop.  To quote Craig, "You can't have too many pipe clamps."

This photo shows one set of sill extensions that have just been oiled.  The cut out portion is the inner end and fits under the supports for the trucks.

Multiple trial fittings were done in order to fit the sills properly.  This is one of the earlier ones.  Modifications had to be made for the steel that has been added earlier.  Note the wedges added to the upper surface that will slope the platform for drainage.

Mortises were made for the spacer blocks between the sills using routers, chisels, etc.

The photos below show more shaping that had to be done to accommodate steel, etc.  Also, bolt heads and nuts had to be recessed.

Craig made a pattern for the end sill and fitted it to the sill extensions.  He and John are checking the spacing which is not parallel,  The sill extensions diverge slightly toward the end sill.

Here we are fitting the end sill on to the sill extensions, aligning the tenons with the mortises in the end sill.  Tie rods will hold everything together.

Another view of one of the many trial fittings.

The photo to the right shows the framing in place with spacer blocks, held together with pipe clamps.

Bolts were placed at strategic locations--

--at both ends of the sills.

Finally, angle steel was fitted along the inner sill extensions to provide further strength and rigidity to the platforms.  This is a view under the care looking toward the end.

The last photo shows the inner end of the sill extension with the angle steel around it.

Many thanks to Tom Simco for the photos taken at work sessions that I missed.

Welding, etc. April - May 2014

First I must apologize for the hiatus in postings on the progress of Pullman sleeper 0252/470.  My wife, Judy had a major stroke in March of last year, and I suddenly became a caregiver.  She is improving slowly, but still has right arm and leg paralysis and is unable to speak.  She is able to understand speech and recognizes people, and is undergoing therapy to recover as much function as possible.  My job now is coordinating and transporting her to therapy and doctor's appointments, assisting in therapy, and providing general care when we don't have a caregiver present.

I will take up where we left off with the welding of the steel pieces together to make a continuous steel frame from coupler to coupler which is required by FRA regulations.

This photo shows the angle steel attached to the end sill with spacers all welded to the angle steel running the length of the car along the two center sills.  A tie rod extends toward the upper right corner of the photo.

This photo shows the two angle steel pieces running along the center sills at one of the bolster locations.  The trucks will be located here, and steel plates were added and welded in place to reinforce this point.

The third photo shows one of the corners of the inside of the car where the roof attaches.  A steel strap is welded to the plate that is over the door at the end of the car and extends along the upper sill and is welded to an angle that is attached to the sill.  See the previous post for views of this area.

The next photo shows almost the entire length of the strap piece on the left side of the car.  Bill and Bruce have been placing bolts in the end plate which can be seen over their heads.

This photo was taken at the end of May showing a Baker heater which was obtained from the Montana Historical Society for a nominal sum.  It was intended to be scrapped when one of the Friends noticed it and rescued it.  It is not complete, but will be helpful in constructing patterns for new one.  Sleeper 470 probably had one originally, and it provided hot water that was distributed through the car for heat.

Meanwhile, Craig has been busy laminating and shaping the truck bolsters in his shop.  These are white oak.












These are truck brake beams, also white oak.