Submitted by DJ DePanicis
Wabash Caboose
Thanks to those who came out last Saturday even in my absence. I did not get home from our game until almost 1:30 AM and decided that it would not be in my best interest to drive on a full day and little sleep. With that being said, the progress being made is wonderful!
I was at the shop on Wed. of last week and Steve and I got quite a few things checked off of the list. We began by planing the rafters to the correct thickness of 1 7/8″ and got them up in the car as a dry fit to get them off of the floor. After lunch, I spent some time routing out the notches for the south window pockets. Steve cut and I fit the window header boards into the notches, so we now have that part of the frame done. All but three tension rods are installed in the car. The amount of strength that these rods added to the wall structure is unbelievable. They also seemed to square up the walls even more than they were.
Tom and I talked about logistics and electricity once the car is complete. The plan is to put the car in the middle of the two other cabooses so, electric will need to be run from one end of the car to the other. He showed me how the wiring was run in the 141 and it proves to be pretty minimally invasive. It is hard to believe that this restoration has come so far and actually has a strong possibility of being completed in 2020.
With Santa trains coming up the next few weeks work may be only limited to Fridays, if at all. The next few steps will include:
-remove all existing electrical wire
-install remaining tension rods (3-4 remaining)
-finish top row of horizontal wall structure
-notch and secure rafters
-route a 45 degree bevel on the bottom of the rafters
-replace floor on the North side of car
-begin installing interior bead-board
-begin finding or making the header extensions that support the roof over the stairways
I am out for the santa train the weekend before Christmas and plan to be out on my time off between Christmas and New Years. I will send out dates as soon as I know them.
If you have any questions, let me know.
