Getting it together - Feb. 16, 2013

Initially, we replaced the pivot blocks on both ends of the car that Craig had made previously.  We then pulled the angle steel pieces together against the inner sills in preparation for beginning to install the long bolts through the steel, sills and pipes.  That involved alignment of several holes drilled in wood and steel, and I might just say that we have a little more drilling to do.

                  

Some of the bolts were passed through without difficulty (in the far lower right and upper center of this picture), but others need re-aligning of the holes.  Once these are in place the angle steel pieces can be drawn tight against each other with the pipes acting as spacers through the sills.

Meanwhile John and Glenn were making a pattern of the piece of wood that was over the doors at each end of the car in preparation for fabricating pieces of steel that will be inserted over the doors as part of the reinforcing at the car ends.  Note that the curve at the top is a complex one, with a cutout in the center for the top of the door.  This is being done on a piece of Masonite.

During the last two weeks Lenny has located a company that can do steel fabrication, and has offered to do the brackets for the inter-sill blocks (see previous post for photos) at a reasonable price.  They seem interested in our project and hopefully can be helpful as we continue to reinforce the car to be up to current standards for rail use.

We were pleased to have Craig join us for lunch today, and thank Maggie for bringing him to the work site.

Metal shop Feb. 2. 2013

We started the day replacing the tie rods through the north piece of angle steel, on the left, and bringing them out through the outer sill.  We then positioned the wooden blocks between the inner sills so that the mortises fit into the tenons and began to clamp the inner sills together.  Dale and John M. are working to get everything to fit.

Most of the original blocks could be reused, but some new ones had to be fabricated as well.  The two angle steels are in position ready to be moved toward the center against the wooden inner sills and bolted together with long bolts passing through the black pipes.  One of the pipes is seen just above the clamp in the photo.  The pipes butt against the steel to maintain proper distance between them.

A "speedbump" was encountered, however,  We could not begin to bolt the steel together because the body-bolster truss-blocks have not yet been replaced, and as can be seen here they are not in good condition.  The blocks are in the process of being fabricated.

So, on to other things.  The plywood used for temporary flooring was removed, and the blocks between the outer and intermediate sills were repositioned as needed.  Washers and lock nuts were placed on all the horizontal tie rods but not tensioned as yet.

Meanwhile, Lenny was fabricating brackets for the blocks between the intermediate and inner sills.  The tenons had been cut at the inner ends to remove the blocks to accommodate the angle steel.  The brackets will be welded to the angle and will support the blocks against it.

The brackets were made from angle steel, and cut and bent as shown in this photo.  Tom S. did the design and started fabricating them before he met up with a knife.  The tenons were preserved on the outer end as can be seen on the block below.








Bob (right) and Dale started working on cutting grooves in the framing to accommodate more steel framing that will be placed into the ends of the car.  More on this later.

Welding - January 19, 2013

This Saturday was welding day for the steel running the length of the car.  It was a "January thaw" day which made for very good conditions.

We missed Craig for this work session, and we wish him a speedy recovery.

In the photo on the right the tie rods have been pulled back to the left (north) in order to bring the steel on the right out of the car to weld.  We had a water hose handy as well as fire extinguishers, hopefully not to be used.

We brought the steel piece out of the door of the car, over the end sill and supported it on a sawhorse.  The tent flap was lowered to keep the wind at a minimum so as to not interfere with the welding gas.

All contacts of the splice piece with the larger pieces were solidly welded.  For all of us except the welder it was a hurry-up-and-wait day.  We worked to move the tie rods, then get the steel out for access.  During the welding we caught our breath.

Now the welded piece (truly one piece now) is back in place, and the tie rods have been moved to the right to free up the north steel.  The jacks were used to take pressure off of the tie rods in order to slide easier.

We slid this piece under the end sill and welded in this position.
Fortunately we had a good crew for the moving.

Here is a good look at the end result.  The welds were ground smooth along the edges.  The bolts will remain in place and be torqued.  We moved the steel back into the car and called it a day, saving repositioning the tie rods yet again for another day.

Sills drilled - 1-5-2013

Bob and I continued with drilling in the south inner sill for the pipes which will act as struts between the steel that will be placed against the outer aspect of the sills.  Please see the previous post for a better look at Lenny's right angle drill.

Meanwhile, Craig was cutting pipe for the struts.  Tom had set up a jig for the proper length previously, but due to a prior commitment Tom was not able to participate today.  (Hope you are healing quickly, Tom!)  After cutting, the edges were rounded to remove the burrs.

Thanks to Glenn for taking these pictures.

This photo shows a pipe strut passing through one sill, with the far end at the hole in the other sill.  Note the blocks at the top of the photo which are mortised into the sill acting as spacers.

This photo shows the pipes in place.  The inner sill on the right was replaced at some time prior to our acquiring the car, probably due to breakage, and no spacer blocks were mortised into it at that time.  The splice into the original part of the sill is present just beyond where the orange cord crossed the two sills.  (Clicking on the pictures will enlarge them.)

Craig has made new blocks to install where that sill replacement was done.  He is holding one, and there is a stack on the step behind him.  He and John are discussing dimensions.

New mortises had to be drilled and chiseled out of the replaced part of the sill for the new blocks.  It is much harder wood than the original as we found out when we were drilling as well.  A new block can be seen in place near John's right shoulder.

We should be about ready to weld the steel pieces at the splices, then bolt everything together.

Short day - 12-15-12

We just worked a half day today because of Tom's Christmas party.  It was an extravaganza as usual, as he and Hilde go all out for it each year.

The project for the day was to continue drilling larger holes in the two inner sills for the pipes to pass through containing the bolts fixing the steel on each sill together.

 Lenny has a robust angle drill that will fit between the sills, and he and Craig built a guide for holding the drill in position.  However, sometimes the most elegant solution is not the most practical.

The final solution was to hold the drill and use a Forstner bit.  Lenny worked from above and I helped stabilize from below.  We finished the holes in the north sill so we tackle the south side next time.

Meanwhile, John was marking places in the south sill at the west end for  morticing for the blocks to be placed.  An original one is present in the foreground of the photo.

Multi-tasking - 12-1-12

One of the tasks today was to replace the stabilizing blocks in the frame of 470.  Many of them were servicable and were left in place, but many had to be removed.  Craig obtained the lumber and planed it to the proper thicknes to fit in the grooves of the framing.  In this photo John and Craig are discussing the process.  Craig brought his nail gun which he is holding that sped up the process.

John kindly took a picture of me sanding the frames prior to glueing the blocks in place.  There was some residual of the hide glue used initially that was removed, as well as roughing the surface for better adhesion.  The grooves for the blocks can be faintly seen in the vertical member of the framing to my left.

In this photo, Bob is cutting the blocks to fit.  There was some variation in size of the openings, as well as shape where the angled braces are located.

The blocks were both nailed and glued in place, with glue placed around the periphery as on the small triangular blocks stacked below.

This photo (taken by John) shows the blocks in place from the inside of the car.  Originally they were only glued, not nailed.

Meanwhile Lenny, John, Tom, and Glenn were involved with steel issues, preparing for securing the steel pieces to the inner sills.  Here Lenny is doing some measuring near the splice in one of the inner sills.

Tom S. has been busy fabricating a prototype assembly for fastening the inner sills together.  John and Glenn are evaluating the device, and it looks like Tom is on the right track.  The bolts are 3/4 X 18-1/4 heavy hex bolts inside schedule 80 pipe which should secure the sills together.

I-beams - 11-17-12

 Today we continued with levelling and straightening the car.  We placed I-beams under the frame at about where the bolsters (trucks) will be as a base.  This meant rolling up one side of the structure as shown in the photo.  Fortunately we had a good crew to lift, and we have one end on a sawhorse in this photo.

In the second photo, the beam is levelled and we are starting to slide it over the ties and under the car frame.  Thanks to Regis from the Trolley Museum who was cheering us on, we have some photos while I was helping lift and shove.

Here John and I are helping to slide the beam in from inside the tent.  We have help on the other side of the car.

This is the view from below.  The beam rests on the ties that have been blocked up from the rails installed initially, and jacks were used to make room for the beams.



Tom is manning one of the jacks at the end of the car.  The ends tended to droop due to the flexibility of the frame, and had to be levelled.

Here is the same thing from the other side with John M. and Tom F.supervising.