Varied tasks, Feb. 19, 2011

Most of the vertical tie rods (see previous posts) are rusted and all are being replaced.  Craig located the stock locally, but they needed to be cut to length and threaded.  George, John, and Bob were busy at this last Saturday.



More of the roof decking was removed, and I believe most, if not all of the decking will be replaced.  Some is in fair shape but probably not worth keeping.  On the right above, the war council (John, Tom, Glenn, and Craig) is holding a pow-wow to plan further activities.  Notice the plywood on the end platform of the car that Tom is standing on, and see below.

On the left, above, on the plywood platform, Glenn found what looks like a penny in these photos, but in fact is a WWII era ration token.  It may be possible to make out the lettering "OPA" and the number "1" in the photo on the right.  For those of you with less gray hair than most of us, these were used to obtain food during the wartime shortages when rationing was in effect.  Glenn recalls counting these out, and said this was a meat token.  This car was in maintenance-of-way service with the D&RG at this time, and was used as a REA office for a period as well.  One can only speculate where the token came from, but presumably fell from above during the removal of material from the roof or end of the car.

Finally, Tom and I built steps into the pit for access to the underside of the car.  These were built with "requisitioned" materials, but turned out quite nicely.

Several projects (January 29,2011)

We had a large crew last Saturday, and worked in several different areas.  Rosemary (left above) and others removed the metal roof covering which was a fairly messy job.  Much of the roof decking is in decent shape, although there are areas that are badly deteriorated.  The portion that has been removed on the right above was done to get access to remove the part of the sill plate that is going to be replaced.  More on that later.

On the left, above, the decking looks pretty good in the near part of the photo, but not so good along the far edge.  On the right, above, shows the detail on one of the corners.  The joinery in general was well done when the car was built, but time has taken its toll.

Meanwhile, Craig and Ray are working on dismantling the west end of the car.  There was a single piece of wood over the door and extending down each end about 1/4 of the way that was screwed in with covered screw holes.  We had to go fishing for the screws to remove them.  On the right, George and Rich removed the end platform and cleaned up the framing.  Some large framing members will need replacing here.



We arrived on scene in the morning to find the south edge of the tent had come loose from the turnbuckles because of the strong winds experienced earlier.  So the turnbuckles were securely fastened to the rail with blocks and bolts which hopefully will solve that problem.  The east end of the tent also had been flapping in the wind, so the pipes in the pockets along the base were wedged under the rails here as well.

After completing the end cover on the west end last session there was no room for passage between the tent and the ramp from the trailer.  Tom and I spent the morning shortening the ramp and adding treads.  Tom is sorting on the platform, and Glenn and John are discussing strategy (watching trains?).

Last but certainly not least, Bob worked in the shop installing electrical service.  We are obtaining power from the roundhouse, and will have 120/240 for power tools, as well as lighting and radiant heaters.  More photos on this next time.  I often get so involved in what I am doing that I forget to take pictures.  Sorry, Bob.

Dried in (Jan. 15, 2011)

The COS crew raised and secured the west end cover for our shelter for 0252, aka 470, last Saturday.  The upper photo on the left shows the material in place, and pipe being fitted in the slot at the bottom.  In the right photo, in the upper left corner, rope has been tied to a corner of the material prior to raising.  The rope was then placed over the end hoop of the frame and tension applied to bring the material up and over the frame.  Another person was on the outside center ladder to help raise and direct the material over the the frame.       

               The photo on the left shows the top cover brought over the end cover and secured with turnbuckles at each lower corner.  There is a door on the west end for access for people, while on the east end there is a larger flap that can be raised (approx. 6x12 feet) for access.

The view on the right of the inside shows the room available for access to the car.  There is considerable space above to provide for planned raising of the car and placement of dollies underneath in the future.  The picture was taken with available light, and when there is sunshine the translucency of the fabric provides good light, at least on the south side.  We also can get a fair amount of solar warming.

East end buttoned up

It was a cool, but fortunately not very windy day to begin enclosing the ends of the shelter over our project.  The east end was done first, by lifting the material up with ropes and ladders, as our rental compay is feeling the effects of the economy and unable to allow us to use the lift.  The material was quite stiff from the cold, but we were able to work it up and into place with patience and persistance.  At least as difficult was getting a good overlap of the top and side as it had shifted to the west and was hard to work with as well.  By pulling, pushing and poking it came along, and the end result is seen on the right, above.

 The ramp and boardwalk into the car on the west end required some modification as seen on the right.  The rail is in place where the bottom of the end piece will be, but time, lack of daylight, and cold suggested that this will be continued next time.  (Is that saw blade broken off?)

A Big Day 11-20-10

Today we are raising the shelter cover that was delivered a few days ago.  A great crew showed up to help from the local Friends, as well as some help from the Trolley folks.

 

After laying the cover out on the ground in accordion fashion, ropes were placed over the framing and attached to the cover.  A crew of many was placed on the other side to pull the cover up over the top of the frame.  One person was on the roof of the car to help with snags and keep things moving.

The process went quite smoothly.  At one point we had to pull at an angle to better center the cover on the frame.  Yours truly was on the end in the left photo above.  The bottom sides of the cover were then anchored to the rail on the ground with rachet straps.

A framing member was fastened at each end with blocks that will be used to raise and lower the end flaps for access and ventilation.  One end also has a three foot door for personnel access.


We took the opportunity to remove the rubber roof cover from the car, with the cover in place and all the help anxious to move on.  Below are photos showing the cover being rolled off (not easy because it was heavy, and glued down).  The roof is covered with metal that was soldered together, but now is rusted and coming loose.  The clerestory windows have been coverd with plywood.

Notice the wooden wedges that were placed to protect the vents on the roof.

Back to 470 (0252) 11-6-10

Today we started dismantling the ends of the car.  These are views of the east end before starting.  The photo on the right below shows a detail of the lower corner, with screw holes that have been countersunk and filled with well-fitting wood plugs.  These are present elsewhere as well, as in the panels above the tongue-in-groove covering most of the end of the car.

                               

Above are the "after" photos showing the framing at the car end.  Note the countersunk screw holes in the upper panels that were filled and painted over.  The number "9" is from a former life, but subsequent to service as a sleeper car.  The framing around the door is fairly complex.  Also reproducing the rounded trim will be a challenge.

Meanwhile, Tom has been crawling around in the pit contemplating the dollies that are planned for supporting the car during rebuilding.  There are no trucks available at this time for running on narrow gauge track.  It is hoped that eventually these can be obtained.

OB Demo at TRAIN Convention 11-3-10

We were asked to do a demo of OB for the attendees at the Tourist Railway convention in Alamosa on November 3, 2010.  They rode the train from Alamosa arriving in Antonito in the morning, watched the piledriver in operation, rode the C&T narrow gauge, then took the standard gauge back to Alamosa.

On the left, above, the piles have been tapered for driving.  On the right, the locomotive and piledriver are in position for operation.  A pile was driven next to the track in Antonito to mark a future path to the CRF from the parking lot.

We are grateful for the locomotive crew for their help in providing steam and air for the operation.  Special plumbing was needed to attach the steam line of OB to the boiler of the locomotive.  Air was used to blow out the lines and the donkey engine in OB after completion of the operation, to prevent rust.

Please see the youtube link below for a video summary of the TRAIN convention visit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_KBL6kuenw&feature=sub