Work is progressing well on Australian-built Pullman sleeping car AL1040. One of the end platforms and the mechanical equipment underneath has been recently restored.
We're finding it interesting looking at the extant floorboards. From records, the NSW Railways imported a lot of pitch pine in the early parts of the 20th Century and it was used in part on flooring. Now, not many people here know what pitch pine looks like, but having skimmed one of the boards and looked at photos on the internet, it may well be pitch pine. Having seen comments in the past on this forum about the quality of currently available pitch pine in America, I won't be going down that road and am investigating some Australian pines as an alternative.
However, there's one thing that we haven't yet been able to establish and that's whether these boards were treated in any way.
They certainly don't appear to have ever been painted, but I'm wondering if they were ever oiled or stained in any fashion.
So, I'm wondering if any of you have any knowledge of what American carriage builders may have done around the turn of the century.
Cheers, Bob

"Pitch pine" in Commonwealth countries refers to what Americans would call southern yellow pine, and in the early 20th century that would have meant old growth longleaf pine. Wood of that quality simply isn't available anymore except where it can be salvaged from old buildings or sunken logs in rivers. The fast-grown yellow pine currently available just doesn't compare to the old stuff, which was extremely durable.

-Philip Marshall

Most of the pines were strong and sturdy woods when they were being logged decades ago...including Pitch Pine (which was known for being very rigid).
Currently there are many companies that reclaim the old boards from factory, barn or warehouse tear-downs...replane them and make very good usable (and stable) lumber from them. Look around online for something like www.longleaflumber.com/ and see what they offer. I worked on a project where we got some reclaimed long-leaf to use as flooring and it worked out beautifully. You could count 14 or 15 growth rings per inch which is a far cry from what you will find available these days.
T7