Author Topic: TCDA No. 65 (Reefer) - Official Work Thread  (Read 269211 times)

John McNamara

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Re: Reefer 65 - Official Work Thread
« Reply #45 on: January 22, 2012, 01:33:17 PM »
Fred and Dwight spent a good bit of time applying (boiled) linseed oil to the stringers, side sills and joints. 
Harry Percival is smiling.

Mike Fox

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Re: Reefer 65 - Official Work Thread
« Reply #46 on: January 22, 2012, 04:53:58 PM »
I bet he is. I have worn quite a bit of that lately.

Mike
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Dwight Winkley

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Re: Reefer 65 - Official Work Thread
« Reply #47 on: January 22, 2012, 05:27:54 PM »
Zake and Steve Z. also worked on 65 yesterday.

Richard "Steam" Symmes

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Re: Reefer 65 - Official Work Thread
« Reply #48 on: January 22, 2012, 09:00:08 PM »
How was the temperature maintained in the original car?  Did they use ice in the summer and have a heater in the winter?  Will there be any attempt to portray this in the replica?

RIchard

Stewart "Start" Rhine

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Re: Reefer 65 - Official Work Thread
« Reply #49 on: January 22, 2012, 10:54:46 PM »
Richard,

     According to Chris McChesney, TCDA cars 65, 72 and 73 had zinc or lead ice bins in each end with a drain in the floor.  Ice was cut from Lovejoy pond and loaded in the cars at Albion.   As to heat, there were coal stoves.  We know from photos that car 65 had a stove in one end for a time, the pipe came out by the R in Turner.  At another time the stove was located towards the center of the car, probably because one end got too cold during the worst Winter days.

     As far as I know there will not be any replica heating or cooling in the new car 65.  All space is reserved for display area.  This could easily be changed with the addition of a few "props" depending on the type and size of the display.  Of course any inside things have to be safe and kid proof.  Cost would be a factor as well.  The final decision is up to the BoD as to what is done inside the car.

Stewart   

Richard "Steam" Symmes

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Re: Reefer 65 - Official Work Thread
« Reply #50 on: January 23, 2012, 08:54:50 AM »
I would think at least a simple description such as you gave me ought to be included as part of the display inside the car, so people would understand how it worked.

Thanks

Richard

Fred L. Kuhns

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Re: Reefer 65 - Official Work Thread
« Reply #51 on: January 23, 2012, 09:36:13 PM »
  Stewart, How often where the three cars used, and was product shipped in both directions on the railroad ?  Thanks for all the information on the car building and the pictures just add so much to the written word.     Fred L. Kuhns

Stewart "Start" Rhine

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Re: Reefer 65 - Official Work Thread
« Reply #52 on: January 24, 2012, 07:34:33 AM »
Fred,

     Ruth Wiggins wrote about the milk operations in her books.  She remembered the morning trains starting in Albion where the cars 65, 72 and 73 would be iced, loaded with cream cans from the Albion area and a crewman put aboard.  The crewman would ride the milk car(s) to Wiscasset, picking up milk cans along the line.  From her writings it looks like the dairy cars were on most of the morning down trains for 10 years or so.  Car 73 was destroyed in the cream car wreck at the MCRR diamond shortly after it was built so for the next 10 - 15 years cars 65 and 72 served the Turner Creamery.  Cans were shipped full to the Turner Center Creamery in Wiscasset and returned empty to be set out at their stop.  The cans were steam cleaned at the creamery for their return trip.  We have a couple of cans that were used on the WW&F and they are marked for the family dairy that owned them.  The marked cans assured that the milk car crewman would know what station to set out the empties. 

     At some point in the 1920's the two surviving milk cars were rebuilt as regular boxcars.  The WW&F must have decided that another milk car was in order and rebuilt car 509 as a reefer.  It served unil the end of operations, being part of the consist of the last train in 1933.

Stewart

Erik Z. Missal

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Re: Reefer 65 - Official Work Thread
« Reply #53 on: January 24, 2012, 06:54:12 PM »
Is there a list of farms that shipped on the railroad? How were the cans that survive marked? I often run into milk cans at auctions and the flea market.
Erik

Stewart "Start" Rhine

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Re: Reefer 65 - Official Work Thread
« Reply #54 on: January 24, 2012, 08:44:08 PM »
Erik,

     I'm not aware of any surviving dairy shippers list.   The best source may be Ruth Wiggins books as she knew a number of families along the railroad.  If anyone has information on dairy farms served by the WW&F please send me a pm.  There were two types of cans shipped to the Turner Center Creamery in Wiscasset.  The first type were owned by the farmers.  The two cans in the museum collection are that type and both are from farms that shipped milk from Alna Center.  Both cans have brass tags sweated onto the handles, stamped with the farmers names; Everett Albee and E.S. Trask. One of the cans has a brass I.D. number on the shoulder.  Farmers used I.D. numbers to track the use of their milk cans.  There are photos of the cans on page 100 of Vol. VI of Narrow Gauge in the Sheepscot Valley.  

     The other type of can was of similar style but owned by the Turner Center System and marked with their company logo.  Brass tags were applied to the shoulder of the can with TCS (intertwined) in large letters.  Underneath was the word REGISTERED.  Another brass tag was attached to the neck and marked "FILL TO THIS LINE".  These cans may have been used on the WW&F as well as the Maine Central.  Finished products of milk, cream and butter were shipped out on the MCRR and the company cans were sometimes used for this purpose.

Stewart  
« Last Edit: January 24, 2012, 08:48:50 PM by Stewart Rhine »

John McNamara

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Re: Reefer 65 - Official Work Thread
« Reply #55 on: January 24, 2012, 09:05:54 PM »
The two cans in the museum collection are that type and both are from farms that shipped milk from Alna Center.  Both cans have brass tags sweated onto the handles, stamped with the farmers names; Everett Albee and E.S. Trask.
I might add that members of these families still live in the Alna Center area.

-John

Allan Fisher

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Re: Reefer 65 - Official Work Thread
« Reply #56 on: January 25, 2012, 01:43:16 AM »
The cans I have seen had two numbers on them - the top number was the milepost of the station, i.e.Sheepscot 5, Head Tide 13, etc. , and the lower number was the farmer's number.

In talking with old timers, most of the farmers in Alna used Alna Center Station to leave and retrieve their cans. Almost every farm over 60 acres had two or three cows, and therefore shipped milk not needed to the Creamery - Based on many discussions I would estimate that there were 3 farms leaving cans at Sheepscot , and 8 farms leaving cans at Alna Center. in the teens and early twenties.
The output of each farm was probably no more than one can of milk and one smaller can of cream only every three or four days.
Allan Fisher

Mike Fox

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Re: Reefer 65 - Official Work Thread
« Reply #57 on: January 28, 2012, 08:20:06 PM »
Another day. More done.
West Bracing was installed and we finished the floor as much as we could.







Finally the couplers were rivetted.




Mike
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Mike Fox

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Re: Reefer 65 - Official Work Thread
« Reply #58 on: February 04, 2012, 07:23:29 PM »
Yet another fantastic day.

I worked on the parts and pieces to the south coupler. Got those ready and while there was still plenty of help. We installed it. I took photos to hopefully show what goes into one of these.

While I was getting the parts ready, Stewart and Zack worked on a rod.



Coupler assemby.
Spring with the plates I modified


Cheek Irons (with the vertical holes) and cheek plates against the beams.
The plates that can be seen on the top of the beam are used to hold everything together. I thought I had gotten a picture of that, but my camera was cold and not acting right.


Coupler assembly ready to install


Finished coupler


Also we finished the floor on the south end.


Stweart and Zack did another rod



And probably the coolest picture of the day. Jason welding on the truck frame. Stephen H. Could have had a great shot here, but mine came out good I think.


Mike
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Stewart "Start" Rhine

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Re: Reefer 65 - Official Work Thread
« Reply #59 on: February 05, 2012, 09:00:34 AM »
Mike,

     I'm glad your camera batteries held up.  Ya know ... It's good that you didn't go to the Big E show because of everything you got done last weekend.  The coupler install went well because of all the previous work on the new strap, rivets, spring plates and cheek iron straps.  It took 5 of us to set the coupler.  Mike set the spring and spring plates in place and the coupler was ready to go in.  We used two cranes with straps on the knuckle and back towards the spring.  Dave B. ran the south crane and I ran the north.  We started the coupler into the draft gear pocket and then leveled it.  Leon adjusted the angle of the coupler and Zack and Mike were under the car to guide it up in between the cheek irons.  The top cheek plates were installed and the hard part was getting the shank/spring plates into the travel space.  Zack and Mike called out for a bit of lifting or turning and with mechanical advantage the coupler went in.  The base cheek iron straps were bolted in and everything was drawn tight.  The process took about 20 minutes.

     The spring for the other coupler should be in this week so we'll be able to set the north coupler and finish the floor.  Now that we have a "system" for setting the coupler the next one should go in a little easier.

     The last thing we did was cut the belt rails and stack them on in the car.  (Since the car is framed it has an inside!)

Stewart