It's not dead, it's just sleeping!

It's pining for the fijords.

Thought an update might be in order covering some of the twists and turns
that have come about on this project. As was noted, the wooden body was in
extremely poor condition and had to be dismantled on site before any move
could be contemplated. Over the course of about 4 weekends, the body
remains were removed, but we did work to save as much as possible for use as
patterns and such during the planned reconstruction of the body. Just about
all the metal elements were saved as well.

The plan had been to take it to a railroad in Pennsylvania, but the cost of
wide load permits (needed for NJ, DE, MD, and PA) jacked up the price of
trucking well beyond what anyone wanted to pay at the moment. So, on
Friday, 14 April, the stripped chassis was successfully moved to a temporary
home here in south Jersey where it can remain for upwards of two years and
where we can work to reconstruct the body of the caboose.

Really need to thank Rick Rowlands of the Youngstown Steel Heritage
Foundation (YSH) for handling the donation process. While not part of
Rick's YSH mission, we needed an organization which could move quickly at
the last minute to satisfy an antsy home owner. Again, this is a temporary
solution.

Also need to thank Allied Recycling for their support. A lesson learned
here is that if you need to find affordable trucking, then check with your
local scrap yard. They have trucks, experienced riggers, and are not afraid
of the unusual. The owner of Allied is allowing us to keep the chassis at
his winery here in NJ. It helps that he also owns a NYC bay window caboose
so has an eye for history as well.

Again, the plan is to begin the body work as soon as possible while looking
for that permanent home.

A couple of shots of the loading are attached.

J.R. May

I saw this thread before I joined the forum. Just wondering how it is going with the rebuild? Any caboose (or Guards Van to us Brits) deserves to be saved.

Michael

Michel:
Thank you for asking. We have been making steady progress over the past year. The frame work has been completed, the new sills (7 of them) are in place (with the help of a grant to buy the timbers), most of the windows have been restored or made from scratch, and now we are putting down the sub floor (also donated). Once the sub floor is down the new wall structure starts to go up and it looks like we have a couple of guys willing to tackle the truck work. With luck, by next year it should look something like a caboose and be on its wheels.

J.R.

Well, it's been a long time since we have posted anything about the car. And a lot has transpired since the last post. Here goes:

We salvaged one end wall so we refurbished it and erected it. Then we built a new end wall and erected it. Next up were the doors. While one was so-so, the other end had the bottom 3" rotted off. So I built a new door. We hung them to get them out of the way. Walls are next. We ordered long Douglas fir beams for the top plates. One had been drilled and next trip it will get rafter notches. The other side has been laid out and will get drilled this weekend if it doesn't rain. Then we have to plane the outside edge down to get the proper contour. We also ordered the correct dimension lumber for the window frames. Our plan is to have walls and a roof by the end of this summer.

The biggest challenge has been the hunt for the correct dimensional lumber. Today a 2 x 3 or 2 x 4 is not the same as they were 100 years ago. In some instances, we'll take a 4 x 4 or 6 x 6 and cut them down. But big lumber like the sill and top plates have to be milled. A real labor of love.

Later!
Mr. Ed

Mr. Ed -

Sounds as if some steady progress has been made. Got a photo or two?


Les

We'll get one or two this weekend.

Later!
Mr. Ed

A bit of a milestone yesterday as Ed Rizzo and I got the first new top plate installed. This is a 32’ beam which required a lot of work to prepare it for installation - notches for rafters, various mortices in various directions, all needing to match locations on the floor and upper corner posts (also made from scratch), and large rod holes that again had to match holes in the deck. All the dimensions were transferred from the finished top plate to the top plate material on the other side. It did take some creativity for the two of us to get this large hunk of wood up into place.

Up next is the installation of the studs on this side, then we move to the other side of the car. With luck and good weather, we should have a roof on it before winter.

Always looking for a bit of help, no skills required. However, one area where some skilled help would be nice to have is in the area of working on the trucks. They are out from under car and could really use someone who might want to take on cleaning up the journal boxes, putting in new pads, and then painting the trucks before going back under the car.

We are working outdoors, under a canopy built on the frame of the caboose, but we are an easy going crew. Usually arrive Saturdays around 9:00, work until lunch, hit the local diner, then back for another hour or two. Rain is about the only thing that drives us away. Send me an email at jrmay@monmouth.com if interested in helping out.

We are located on a farm in central NJ, not far from 295, which makes for a nice, quiet setting. The farm owner is developing it into a winery and is interested in building a 3' gauge RR to support that.

Need to thank Liberty Historic Railway for the grants they have provided covering the acquisition of the heavy timbers used in the reconstruction of this N6b body.

J.R. May

Very nice update on the preservation and restoration of a cabin car, almost lost to time. Well done.

Reconstruction of the side wall is coming along nicely. Key studs were mortis and tenoned into place as called for the in the drawings and the photos we had when we dismantled the body. Ready now for the diagonals and once we have the corner brackets (being made now at a local iron works) installed, we can tighten up the side rods which hold it all together. We can then start on the other side of the body. The diagonals fit into iron blocks which fit top and bottom as needed so the diagonals only have square cuts on each end. An interesting construction technique used by the PRR on the N6bs. The blocks can be seen in the photos.

Again, always looking for some help. Really need a couple of people to attack the trucks and get them ready to go back under the car. We are in central/western NJ so an easy ride from a lot of locations. PM me if interested.

Another mile stone......Since we are working outdoors at a farm, we figured it was safe for two of us to work on the N6b yesterday. The second top plate was ready for lifting into place and we wanted to get that done before there is a complete CORVID stop of any work. This is a milestone as it was the last heavy lumber work to be done on the body reconstruction. Its now all smaller components, although lots of it, going forward. Plenty of work to do finishing the body frame work to include a few more studs, diagonals, installing corner bolts that we had made by a local ornamental iron company, and the long rods that pull it all together. Then we move on to the roof rafters. Still need someone to clean up the trucks for us so that we can continue to focus on the body. Makes sense to do that work while they are not under the car.

JR -

Beautiful job. Stay safe!


Les

Everyone should look at the before photos posted by ADM4 on page one to see what an incredible restoration this will be. Here's one:

Thank the Lord, that was a before image! I was afraid you were going to say "As completed!" But honestly, if that N6b can be restored/rebuilt, it gives incentive for almost any project. Please keep us regularly updated.