There was a stove in the car for the winter weather. The car was probably the same temp inside year round.

This is all pretty awesome - especially being able to use local wood, locally swn to the right dimensions!!! Out of curiosity, how long did the wood cure before being used?

The oak went from logs to lumber being used for the car in less than 2 weeks. The pine went from log form to being cut to length and shipped lapped for the floor in about the same amount of time. I attached one slightly fuzzy cell phone picture of the north end of the interior of the car. The floor is still open so the chain fall can be used to put the coupler in.

This picture looks towards the south end of the car. This picture and the one above were taken during the winter work weekend at the end of Febuary.

The WW&F dairy cars #65, 72 and 73 had coal stoves for Winter operations and ice bins for Summer. Neither was used in the shoulder seasons. The stove in car 65 was originally at one end of the car next to the ice bin but was moved to the center after a few years. Ice was cut from Lovejoy pond each Spring and stored at the icehouse in Albion. On Summer mornings, the car's attendent loaded blocks of ice in the bins which were located at both ends of car. The sloped tin/zink ice bin was held in place by a hardwood frame secured to the corner. A drain pipe took water out through the floor of the car. In Winter the attendent fired the stove each morning and kept it hot. To save space, coal may have been stored in the empty ice bins.

Stewart

I am undoubtedly showing my ignorance of such things here, but is it wise to use unseasoned lumber for this type of construction?

Thanks!

I too share Jim Vaitkunas' concerns about the lumber being cut so quickly, and going right into the car. Of course, kiln treatment was developed to cut down on seasoning time, and it's also possible the logs were left outside for a while, and may have seasoned in the round.

I have to say one thing that stands out is that this equipment is so small, it reminds me of a park train. That would help in the reconstruction of such a car, which uses a relatively small amount of material, and in which some components would be much lighter that their counterparts in standard gauge.

Hrmmph, who says park trains aren't "real?"

Really, this is some beautiful work, and congratulations are in order.

As to drying the wood ... with the pine flooring it doesn't matter that much as the lumber laps under the interior sheathing so if it end shrinks a bit, no problem. The interior (ship lap) sheathing, the exterior edge and center bead sheathing and roofing was dried prior to use. The oak was cut into sills, studs corner posts, sway braces and belt rails which sat for a little while before construction began. The studs, belt rails and corner posts are better used when fresh as the oak gets hard to nail into and pre-drilling for all the exterior and interior sheathing would be almost impossible. The oak parts are held true with (sistered) steel tension rods as well as the sheathing. There is a tension rod with every stud, rafter and corner post. There are cross rods holding the ends and first sway braces true. There is a lot of steel in a wooden freight car body.

The arrangement with the town of Wiscasset is that the car is to be complete and on display by mid to late May so we have been working steadily on the project. The completed car will weigh around 11,000 lbs.

Stewart

Stephen, I hope you realize your coverage of the WW&F is an incredible coffee-table book awaiting publication.

Richard,

I have been trying to convince him to do that for quite a while now. With what he has on file, he could do a complete library.

Bernie

Thanks, guys!

Here are a couple of pics of car 65's framing that illustrate Stewart's post...

It looks so good that its starting to depress me!

David, a trip to Maine will lift your spirits! And the spring work weekend is only a few weeks away, April 27th-29th! :)

Here's another showing the underside. The car is now (temporarily) riding on a set of spare passenger trucks...

More images from the Sheepscot shop as Reefer No 65 nears completion. With the interior mostly done, the exterior painting has moved into high gear. Incredibly, some of the milk cans in the photo below are original, still bearing the number identifying which WW&F station they were destined for...

Bill Fortier and Jon Chase working on one of car 65's trucks...the wheelsets are original Portland Co wheels.