Craftisian

Old Flatulent Individual

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Restoration of an 1897 railroad car. #2: What we have to work with. ( this entry is out of sequence, Operator error!)

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This is part 2 in a 6 part series: Restoration of an 1897 railroad car.

  1. Initial evaluation, or, are we really gonna do this?
  2. What we have to work with. ( this entry is out of sequence, Operator error!)
  3. Splicing an intermediate sill
...
  1. Picking up where I left off and an excuse!

Some of you are aware that I volunteer at The Nevada County Narrow Gauge RR Museum restoring late 19’th/ early 20’th century railroad stock. This is the second car of a series of three that we own. They were made in St. Charles, Missouri n 1897. The first car was a second class passenger car and the current project is a first class passenger car. When we get them they are in desperate shape. This one is going to take about three years to complete.

Some time ago a large Douglas Fir destroyed the side frame. Unfortunately it was covered with tarps after the damage for several years and suffered significant decay. We will be rebuilding the bottom frame and side trusses.

We moved it to our shop a few weeks ago and stripped the lower exterior to asses the damage.

We rebuilt the trucks over the past winter so they were ready for the move.

After a short ride on the flat bed it was set on the restored trucks and brought into the shop.

I’ll post pics showing what in store for me in a few days.

Watch and learn, practice and learn, create and learn

large scale woodworking timber frame blacksmith work

29 Comments

RyanGi commented 6 months ago
Great project! Following…

Ryan/// ~sigh~ I blew up another bowl. Moke told me "I made the inside bigger than the outside".

Lazyman commented 6 months ago
Oh yeah.  Looking forward to following along.  

--Nathan, TX. Hire the lazy man. He may not do as much work but that's because he will find a better way.

Old Flatulent Individual commented 6 months ago
Thank you.

Watch and learn, practice and learn, create and learn

Corelz125 commented 6 months ago
Interesting stuff Kevin. Where was the car?
Birdseye49 commented 6 months ago
Very interesting... Please keep posting about the restoration.
mikeacg commented 6 months ago
I will be watching this closely! Thanks for sharing!

Mike

Yooper with a Drawl

RWE commented 6 months ago
Interesting.  I watch a lot of those "restoration" TV shows.  You need to get a film crew to come in periodically during the build/refurb.  It would make a great video.  Put it on YouTube.
Dave Polaschek commented 6 months ago
No boredom in your future, eh, Kevin? Looks like there’s plenty of work there for you.

May you have the day you deserve!

Pottz commented 6 months ago
so good that people like yourself care enough to preserve this great history of america. 

working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.

SplinterGroup commented 6 months ago
I'm amazed that people can drag, push, pull something like that into the mist inaccessible places and that you guys can get it back out!.  
Steve Rasmussen commented 6 months ago
This is going to be very interesting! I'm looking forward to seeing the restoration.
Old Flatulent Individual commented 6 months ago
Corelz, it was on the Florence and Cripple Creek. I’ll get the rest of the history for you and post it.

Watch and learn, practice and learn, create and learn

GeorgeWest commented 6 months ago
Following along here. The scale of this is just so big, unlike anything I have done, and I used to build houses, but I brought them along a stick at a time. This is like moving a town, everything is huge.
Don commented 6 months ago
That’s pretty cool 

-- There is nothing like the sound of a well tuned hand plane. - https://timetestedtools.net and https://diy.timetestedtools.net

duckmilk commented 6 months ago
I've enjoyed all your previous posts about the train restores Kev. Good to see more.

"Duck and Bob would be out doin some farming with funny hats on." chrisstef

Old Flatulent Individual commented 6 months ago
Thank you everyone for showing interest. I work Monday and Tuesday so I’ll try and update on Wednesday. Mind you it will be in excruciatingly analysis detail but hey, it’s what I live for! 😁

Watch and learn, practice and learn, create and learn

Old Flatulent Individual commented 6 months ago
That should have read anal detail, guess the AI didn’t spprove.

Watch and learn, practice and learn, create and learn

SplinterGroup commented 6 months ago
So those cars had wood frames?

More from Old Flatulent Individual

Restoration of an 1897 railroad car. #6: Picking up where I left off and an excuse! Restoration of an 1897 railroad car. #5: Wrapping up the intermediate sill. Restoration of an 1897 railroad car. #4: Finished cutting the scarf joint, added reinforcing plates to the joint. Restoration of an 1897 railroad car. #3: Splicing an intermediate sill Restoration of an 1897 railroad car. #1: Initial evaluation, or, are we really gonna do this?
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