Craftisian

Old Flatulent Individual

342 posts and 23 followers
in over 10 years
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Restoration of an 1897 railroad car. #1: Initial evaluation, or, are we really gonna do this?

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This is part 1 in a 6 part series: Restoration of an 1897 railroad car.

So here is a pictorial listing of what’s wrong.

starting on the left side, you can see how broken the lower frame is

A little farther down someone cut a doorway weakening the truss

Next up, what happens when a tree falls on a weakened car!

Making matters worse, someone had cut one of the intermediate sills making it more susceptible to damage.


Now for the far side walking front to back.



Yea, yet another door. As you can see on this side rot and decay did a real number on us.

I started splicing the intermediate sill yesterday and it’ll go like this.


Using this type of splice backed up with 1/4 steel plates on both sides of the splices.

Watch and learn, practice and learn, create and learn

31 Comments

Birdseye49 commented 7 months ago
Will be following this journey.
Steve Rasmussen commented 7 months ago
This is going to be really interesting!
Pottz commented 7 months ago
interesting, it's gonna be incredible !!! good luck ! ill be following.

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

Lazyman commented 7 months ago
Is that beam doug fir?  

BTW, what sort of budget or cost is allocated for a restoration like this?  I assume that your labor is donated but I imagine that material costs can add up.  

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

Dave Polaschek commented 7 months ago
So, you’ll be wrapping it up next week, right, Kevin? 🤪

May you have the day you deserve!

bigblockyeti commented 7 months ago
That looks like quite the project!  Is there a time frame with budget and talent lined up?
Old Flatulent Individual commented 7 months ago
Nathan, yes DF. Budget ? Well it’s fluid! We have a sawyer that mills our lumber most of which is donated. No shortage of Douglas Fir or Cedar here. We are very low key.

As far as a time line, the last car took us almost five years, there was a large learning curve. Luckily the roof is in pretty good condition, the previous car needed a total replacement. I guess the most expensive item on that car was the Tern Metal for the roof.

There is a wealth of talent here, many engineering degrees, electricians, black smiths and the like. All are retired like myself. Really a good group.

Watch and learn, practice and learn, create and learn

Birdseye49 commented 7 months ago
This sounds like a good project with many friends.
duckmilk commented 7 months ago
From the looks of that splice, you must be acquainted with timber framing.

So, is the plan to start with the lower frame and work your way up?

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

Old Flatulent Individual commented 7 months ago
Duck, yes. The splice is from a book on shipbuilding. Some of the splices are quite complicated

Watch and learn, practice and learn, create and learn

Don commented 7 months ago
I haven’t restored anything in a while. This isn’t helping! What a great project 

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

Old Flatulent Individual commented 7 months ago
Don, who don’t you fly out and I’ll find a spot for you!

Watch and learn, practice and learn, create and learn

Don commented 7 months ago
when i retired i swore off flying. 

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

Lazyman commented 7 months ago
Road Trip!

--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 7 months ago
Funny, done more flying since we retired! Just back from Italy a few weeks ago.

Watch and learn, practice and learn, create and learn

Super Joe commented 7 months ago
Good choice on that scarf joint design. It has incredible strength even without fasteners or adhesives. Looks really straight forward for the restoration. At least for the longitudinal and transverse carriage base framing. I look forward to more updates. I'd love to take part but like the others here will have to be satisfied with pictures. 

Some of my most creative moments have been when I've had to cover up an error in my woodworking.

Old Flatulent Individual commented 7 months ago
Joe, thanks for the thumbs up on the scarf joint. Took a stroll through your project posts, really like the journeymen’s chest. The hinges are awesome, I wasn’t that ambitious.

Watch and learn, practice and learn, create and learn

LIttleBlackDuck commented 7 months ago

See no big issue... I did this in a few hours,

including the tracks...

If your first cut is too short... Take the second cut from the longer end... LBD

SplinterGroup commented 7 months ago
Did you have to primer everything (including the rails)?
Old Flatulent Individual commented 7 months ago
Splinter, we use a 60/40 mix of BLO and DNA

Watch and learn, practice and learn, create and learn

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