Topic: SR&CL Ry Car Building - Flat Car

[Ferd]

I wonder if I could make it down there one weekend in the fall. Would love to shoot a few thousand photos of all this incredible rolling stock and I love Maine Two foot stuff.
cheers

[tomc]

Ferd,  I am glad you enjoyed them.  The final picture [unless we get a rack built for #12], is #440 with it's first load.  A big thanks to Bob, John & Mel for their effort in making these cars.  More revenue cars for the SR&CL Ry!

Tom C.

[Ferd]

Hi Tom
They look great - the detail and proportions are so nice it is really hard to tell what scale they are.
Great work

cheers Ferd

[tomc]

To make the lettering easy for Mel, we stacked the cars.  When he was done with one side, it was off to the turntable for flipping around and then back to the shop for the other side.  Ready for decking.

Tom C.

[tomc]

Ferd,

Yes the builder was a cabinet maker and built it like a fine piece of fuirniture, not a RR car!  We left around 3/32 to 1/8 space.

Tom C.

[Ferd]

Hi Tom
Wow the flatcar is more like a deck. How much clearance did you end up leaving between the boards? Looks great.

[tomc]

We found out this spring that the deck boards didn't have enough spacing to allow expansion when the humidty came up.  The car started to bow.  Bob pulled all the boards off but was unable to shorten them due to work he was doing.  Mel took it under his wing to finish the car and cut the boards down so we didn't need to drill new holes in the stringers or chip out the underside to get bolt and rod clearance again.  Here is a couple of pics of the decking going in and the 28ft car done.  Remember, on shiplap, allow for expansion!

[tomc]

The flat cars need jewlery, first up was u-bolts and grab irons, then stake pockets.
Tom C.

[russ]

Great to see the flat cars "in the wild!". 

Russ

[tomc]

Jack snapped this picture of John (Lt) and Bob (Rt) posing with the two new cars. After a morning of plowing the SR&CL main line and some spur tracks, the 33' car was placed on its trucks on the shop lead, and the 28' car was placed onto its trucks on the mainline with No. 25 and flatcar 437.  Just after this picture was taken, the 33' car was spotted in the shop, and the 28' car was spotted in the new car barn.  Before these cars can be used in revenue service, the brake rigging must be installed and adjusted, cut levers must be fabricated and installed, stake pockets must be cast and installed, and reporting marks must be applied.

[tomc]

It is January 8, 2010, and new car delivery day at the Sandy Ridge.  The two flatcar bodies are not yet ready-to-run.  Brakes and trucks were removed for transportation, and they have no reporting marks.  Also missing are stake pocket castings, which were not available at the time of car assembly.  (Get hot boys!)

[russ]

That explains it!  Thanks for clearing it all up!

Russ

[tomc]

The fact that they were from two different manufacturers likely explains the different truss rod configurations.
Thanks Russ

Russ, not only that but different time periods also.  The short cars are from the very eailer years.  Portland did the later cars and at that time they wanted to be able to haul bigger loads so went to 4 truss rods to increase Load Limit.  Same for Gons and Box cars.

Tom C.

[tomc]

_DSC6517.jpg: Both cars are decked.  But not after finding out two more things.  It is not possible to install king pin bolts without removing the decking.  And it is awkward but possible to install the draft gear and drawbars without removing any decking.

[tomc]

_DSC6507.jpg: The 28' car is painted and decked, while the 33' car is painted but deckless in the background.  Decking the cars was the most time consuming part of the car assembly process.  Each deck piece is pre-bored for 12 holes for screws which secure it to the frame.  Any deck piece which sits over a bolt head or body bolster truss rod which protrudes above the surface of the frame requires material removal from the back of the deck piece.  And pre-drilling for the 12 holes at standard positions will sometimes result in a screw hole which lands on top of a bolt head - this requires re-positioning of the affected holes.