Coach 9 - Official Work Thread

[Wayne Laepple]

Even though I am not at Sheepscot often, and work the passenger train even less, I can recall two occasions when a passenger bonked their head when getting off the train.

[Ed Lecuyer]

Eric (and James) are correct. The proper answer is to lower the Sheepscot platform so that the vestibule stairs align properly. This is the source of the "bonk" when de-training.

I remain concerned about traversing between the coaches.

[John McNamara]

I can tell you from experience that with age, one gets shorter, so this problem will go away.
-John M

[ALAIN DELASSUS]

 Well done you both. Your amazing skill and steadiness in work have the building of this magnificent car come along very fast. BTW well  it's  surely a stupid question but have you counted the number of pieces of wood you have put together so far.

[Mike Fox]

Plywood has been removed, reay fo the floor to go down





Copper Napth has been applied generously to the framework



Roof has been sheathed, including the vestibules

[Bill Reidy]

I noticed today a large plywood box (foreground) near coach No. 9.  The information on the box indicated the box had been shipped to our Museum by Harold Downey in Texas.  I asked Alan what his dad had sent.  The box contains the pre-cut southern yellow pine for the floor of coach No. 9.

[Bill Baskerville]

I noticed today a large plywood box (foreground) near coach No. 9.  The information on the box indicated the box had been shipped to our Museum by Harold Downey in Texas.  I asked Alan what his dad had sent.  The box contains the pre-cut southern yellow pine for the floor of coach No. 9.

Ya gotta love that Harold.  When it comes to "Coach in a box" kits (trucks and couplers not included), he thinks of everything. 

[Jeff Schumaker]

Trucks and couplers not included - love it.

Jeff S.

[Harold Downey]

It was quite a bit of work to make the flooring.  Over about three weeks, visiting about 6 different Lowes and Home Depots, picking through the 2x10x8, 2x12x8, and 2x10x16 stacks, I selected only boards that were perfectly clear.  I needed about 70 eight foot equivalent lengths.  I got really good at sorting through and restacking the bunks of wood.   

After that, all were cut down the middle, jointed one face, and planed to 7/8" thick (turning 5/8" into chips).  Sometimes they needed re-jointing as they warped after planing, during the process.   Then joint one edge, cut to final width, and finally tongue and groove every one.    I made sure for the last planing pass, that every board went through without touching the planer setting so that the thickness were all the same. Oh, and then I cut off about 16" of each board, since we only needed 78" lengths.

All that because no-one makes 7/8" thick T&G yellow pine.  It is all a 32nd under 3/4".   

We did get a quote from a custom milling shop for this and it was around $5k.  I think it was about $1200 for my raw material.  So the quote was probably very reasonable, considering the effort it takes. 

[Mike Fox]

Great work Harold as usual.

[Bob Holmes]

So much to appreciate about what you have done, but the detail you describe to achieve perfect floor boards is just astounding!!

[Mike Fox]

And I can picture that 5/8ths of sawdust and shavings. Hope you found someone that needed them.

[Bob Springs]

As a life long cabinet maker I feel I have some idea of how much work goes into building this coach. 
Careful SKILLED work.
Seeing this project come together is an absolute JOY!

[Graham Buxton]

All that because no-one makes 7/8" thick T&G yellow pine.  It is all a 32nd under 3/4".   

There was a time when 'standard lumber sizes' really were by the full 'inch'. 
It seems reasonable to think that when those cars were 'floored', standard lumber sizes were likely used.

In the USA lumber marketplace, there has been a difference between nominal and actual lumber dimensions for more than 100 years, according to this US Forest Service document: "History of Yard Lumber Size Standards"
 https://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/misc/miscpub_6409.pdf

Here is a thumbnail snippet from that USFS document mentioning pine from North Carolina in 1906:

(Click image to enlarge)
(The sizes mentioned in there are in "1/4 inch" increments, so 4/4 = 1.0 inches, 6/4=1.5 inches, etc)

So by that 'standard' 1x pine lumber from those 1906 Southern producers would be 7/8" thick. 
 
 Back when most lumber was cut from trees near the building site, regional preferences in the finished size of boards developed. But when the growth of the national railroad network allowed relatively 'cheap' long distance transportation of lumber (and other goods), standardized lumber sizes across the country became common.
 
 As railroad transportation typically was billed by weight, 'planed' boards (less weight than 'rough') gained a transportation cost advantage, and the actual dimensions of lumber were gradually reduced over a period of multiple decades.
 
 That Forest Service document was published in 1964, and at that time a 1x10 was 0.75" by 9.5", but since then it has shrunk to 0.75" by 9.25"

[Brendan Barry]

Flooring being put down and receiving a coat of varnish.