Back in the day every passenger car vestibule had at least one step stool that the conductor or car attendant would set out to help passengers step on and off the train. They occasionally show up on eBay, usually in poor shape with prices that don't match their condition. Does any body have a pattern for making facsimiles out of plywood? I'm thinking that, while not the original, they would be an improvement over the doctor's office examining room step stools our museum uses now.

I have a metal CN stool and an old wooden one that I think is Grand Trunk. The GTR one is a bit lower and has a pocket in it for the cloth to wipe the hand rails. If they are of interest, send me a PM and I can try making drawings of them.

In case you missed it, this came up last year:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=40761&hilit=step+stool

Given the demand for them, I wonder how hard it would be to run off a batch of them.

See discussion at http://www.rypn.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=40761&start=15 Post subject: Re: Railroad conductor step boxes.

Amtrak uses welded aluminum steps made by Devon Lube, about $200 each. Info from "WP Mike", posted Sat Jun 10, 2017 3:55 pm:

"Sorry I'm late to the party on this but the ones we use in service on the Alaska Railroad, which is where I work in train service, are these aluminum steps from Devon Lube.

http://www.devonlube.com/step-stools

That's right, they are for oil change techs. Some of ours are bare aluminum, some have been painted or powder coated, and some have been coated with a truck bed liner substance, which makes them a little heavier, but also more stable if used on ballast.

Hope this helps."

- Doug Debs

This might be more of what you're looking for. 30" wide, no weight limit listed though.

https://www.cmracingservices.com/store/ ... 0%22W.html

I've never understood why there's no market for replica step stools as they have countless applications around a home. I once saw a new replica one on eBay from the NYC museum at Elkhart, Indiana but I never contacted them to see where they got them.
When I was getting my On30 gauge model railroad ready for operations, I decided I needed a place to sit. I found these sitting stools that to me, reminded me a lot of the old Pullman-style steps. I found mine at a Wal Mart but I've seen them for sale elsewhere: https://www.webstaurantstore.com/flash- ... =Furniture

Try contacting the TVRM shop. When I was there, one of our volunteers produced several wooden step boxes for our use. The Mk 1 model had a base that turned out to be too narrow-if someone stepped on it off center, it would turn over. Those were quickly replaced with a Mk 2 version with a wider base.

So, I should sell some of these because there seems to be a market... and I don't need 100 of them...

I see "VRE" on two of them, did they retire them because they weren't "perfect"?

We purchased 7 VRE bilevel cars last year. We also purchased their spares for the cars, several shipping containers worth. These were included in that sale. We were told when Amtrak ran VRE they ordered 1000 steps, and they needed no where near that many. I guess they sold us what was deemed excess.

You might look at "Cross Fit" stepboxes.

https://tinyurl.com/yar6tgtm

These are CNC cut plywood boxes with tab and screw construction, if the box shape doesn't work for you, I would guess that you could find a local shop to make the RR Stepbox style.

I have one that I use as a chair and have been beating on it for a couple of years now with no sign of wear. I did glue mine before I screwed it together.

-Hudson