My finished pressure gauge...and it still works!

Might you need these, or are there others still on the car? They fit into an about six-inch long, open-top box on top of the truck frame, when the car leans to that side the frame of the car rides on them as it moves through curves. I saw this process firsthand in an ex-ICG yard in Normal IL (back in the days when trespassers were tolerated if they trusted you to be safe), the switchmen pointed out loaded covered hopper cars with the side bearings missing and instructed me to be very wary of walking near them anywhere with dips in the track (which the near-bankrupt ICG was full of) because the side bearings were the only thing keeping some cars from tipping over (which they occasionally did).

I think all the bearings are in the trucks. The only time she was tippy is when we just had the steel frame on the trucks. Not enough weight to keep the pivot in the truck. I do need a couple of Symington journal box covers that are missing.

So cool to see the detail coming back on this Estate Stove!

One more...

The plumbing going up into the cupola.... there should be a brake pipe pressure gauge, which you have... and another valve that allows the rear end crew, riding up in the cupola, to draw down brake pipe pressure. That's done to give a hint to the engineer up front that you want him to slow down.

I don't know for a fact that every railroad equipped their cars that way, but that elbow turned upwards makes me think it was.



You'd open that valve (which was graduated with notches~ at least the ones I've dealt with were like that) a notch or two and it would let out so many psi... and that would have the brakes setting on the train... engineer would notice his BP pressure dropping and would probably know the reason why his BP and react accordingly.

Thank you! Hope to get back to the brake plumbing this summer. Working on this stove and the steps right now.

It's finally red! Starting to bolt the handrailings and handholds on this week.

Got a batch of railings and steps back from the sandblaster. I can do the smaller stuff in my booth, but nothing over 60". Got a couple handholds mounted. These steps sure take a beating over the years.

I’m using Zero Rust primer, which is a high solids phenolic-modified alkyd coating. It will fade over time, so I will top coat it as well.

Got two coats of Zero Rust and two coats of oil based exterior paint on the railings and handrails. The two "good" sets of steps will go on the front side of the caboose. The other two have seen better days. I"ll take my needle scaler to the end steel frame and rails. I'll coat and paint those prior to mouting the steps.

This step looks like it was flipped after the diamond plate wore down. Additional grip spots provided by a welder.

That's gonna be quite a looker when it's done. Actually, it already is.

An actual conductor should comment, but my guess is you want to get on and off of the rear steps, so that if you stumble and wipe out you won't get run over. That is what I was told about getting on and off engines (by railroaders who let me do that as a rail buff, not an actual railroader, back in the good ol' days). So maybe put the good steps on the rear.

Started on the end frames with the needle scaler. It makes pretty quick work of it. Back in my Navy days, I remember the boatswain mates chipping away at the hull of the ships, everytime we were inport. I have a newfound appreciation for their efforts.