A few pictures to show some of the interim progress.
The Main Deck End Sill (which goes across the ends of the coach above the windows and the door):
The platform end beams and the platform deck carlines, all loosely assembled:
This is all the material finished, stacked and banded. But, there is more to do...
This is a picture of the lower clerestory beam from BRV's #11, showing the stepped scarf used (photo by Alan):
I made a fixture to do these scarfs for all of the long structural stringers and beams. It's an 8:1 scarf with 1/4" steps. The final scarf, on a test piece, looks like this:
Here are a couple of shots of the fixture:
Next up -- the clerestory beams consist of a bottom stringer, a top stringer and short vertical members connecting them. The verticals are the only part of the coach structure that is visible in the coach interior, so they are made from quartersawn white oak. They are made with tenons that engage mortises in the stringers. They are about 7" long and 4" wide. Here is one of them. Note the center bead and the stopped chamfers on the front edges.
This is a portion of the assembly. You can see additional joinery: the mortises in the lower rail receive the clerestory deck carlines, the notches in the top receive the main deck carlines, and there are vertical holes that go all the way through and will receive a 3/8" bolt to hold it together at each post. In between the posts are where the clerestory windows are mounted.
Similar to the clerestory beams are these pieces that are at the ends of the coach above the doors. There will be a pivoting panel that goes in the opening.