It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 11:35 am

All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ]




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 36 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3  Next
Author Message
 Post subject: Re: B&O 381357 M-53 Restoration
PostPosted: Mon Sep 26, 2016 1:55 pm 

Joined: Wed Aug 25, 2004 9:44 am
Posts: 154
The Illinois Railway Museum has a wagon-top boxcar which has been restored and is planned for lettering next year. I know the guy who's in charge of it; I don't have email contact for him, but I should see him in a couple of days, and I can ask him about getting in contact with you. I'm pretty sure he has already generated the lettering details for it. According to our roster our car is an M-15N rebuilt 1955.

I hope this might help.

_________________
Randall Hicks
Visit Hicks Car Works!
_________________________
Confucius remarked: "There is in the world now really no moral social order at all."


Offline
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: B&O 381357 M-53 Restoration
PostPosted: Mon Sep 26, 2016 4:47 pm 

Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2005 1:25 pm
Posts: 6400
Randall -

Helps a lot. Further info on the car welcome. So we know that at least this one at IRM still exists.


Les


Offline
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: B&O 381357 M-53 Restoration
PostPosted: Mon Sep 26, 2016 7:41 pm 

Joined: Wed Aug 25, 2004 9:44 am
Posts: 154
It exists, all right. If you scroll about 2/3 down this post you'll see my most recent pictures of it.

http://hickscarworks.blogspot.com/2016/ ... -time.html

Victor wants to have the finish color sprayed this fall and then letter it next year, I believe.

_________________
Randall Hicks
Visit Hicks Car Works!
_________________________
Confucius remarked: "There is in the world now really no moral social order at all."


Offline
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: B&O 381357 M-53 Restoration
PostPosted: Mon Sep 26, 2016 8:51 pm 

Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2005 1:25 pm
Posts: 6400
Thanks Randall. I checked the IRM website and found out that the Baltimore & Ohio road number for the car is 374065.


Les


Offline
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: B&O 381357 M-53 Restoration
PostPosted: Mon Sep 26, 2016 11:26 pm 

Joined: Wed Apr 24, 2013 10:17 pm
Posts: 96
I was just at IRM this past week and met Victor. He donated some items to me and I agreed to help out with their efforts as well. We are in contact.

- Christian B.


Offline
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: B&O 381357 M-53 Restoration
PostPosted: Thu Oct 06, 2016 10:18 pm 

Joined: Wed Apr 24, 2013 10:17 pm
Posts: 96
10/6/16

Work continues on the west end. I still anticipate cosmetic completion to be done by December. If not, May is not so far away.

A new (old and ignored) problem resurfaced tonight. The floor inside the doors was very rotten and needed replacement. I didn't realize just how bad it really was until someone else pulled a large chunk apart with their hand. I'm now faced with replacing 1/4 of the floor this winter. Not a hard task, but a painful one. This requires the removal of 2 pieces of angle iron, 4 metal shims, 40 or so rivets, and replacing of course.

The car will not be operated until the repairs are made and inspected.

- Christian B.


Offline
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: B&O 381357 M-53 Restoration
PostPosted: Thu Oct 06, 2016 10:39 pm 

Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2005 1:25 pm
Posts: 6400
Christian -

It's always fun (NOT!) when you run into extra work that you were not planning on doing! Hang in there!

BTW, although we did not hear from anyone, I figured that the B&O Museum in Baltimore probably had one of these cars and I found out I was right:

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=3243412

Note that the lettering on B&O 385897 is a bit different from the car you are working on there on the W&W.

Also, I recall a couple of other B&O wagon top boxcars that were saved some years ago from a company in Ohio and went to a museum down south, perhaps in Florida. Haven't heard about those either, so perhaps they no longer exist.


Les


Offline
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: B&O 381357 M-53 Restoration
PostPosted: Thu Oct 06, 2016 11:09 pm 

Joined: Wed Apr 24, 2013 10:17 pm
Posts: 96
I'm always looking for other examples of wagontops. I know of 3 on rails and a few used as sheds and such. The one in Baltimore is using the 13 states scheme. I'm using the much simpler 1940 scheme, which isn't represented much of preserved equipment.

If you find any info, please share.

Thanks,

Christian B.


Offline
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: B&O 381357 M-53 Restoration
PostPosted: Tue Oct 11, 2016 11:02 pm 

Joined: Thu Feb 27, 2014 10:08 am
Posts: 705
Tom Davidson wrote:
Wagon top construction was also used in B&O covered hoppers and cabooses (I-12's and I-5 rebuilds).


I came across this photo from June 2010 of a wagon top caboose at Jim Thorpe, PA. I do not know anything about it or if it is still there.


Attachments:
June 2010 Jim Thorpe PA.jpeg
June 2010 Jim Thorpe PA.jpeg [ 119.55 KiB | Viewed 7400 times ]
Offline
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: B&O 381357 M-53 Restoration
PostPosted: Sun Oct 16, 2016 9:24 am 

Joined: Wed Apr 24, 2013 10:17 pm
Posts: 96
That cabin belongs to Ed Feathers. It was moved from Jim Thorpe to Kutztown on the A&ARR. It's been beautifully restored and I have received more than a few offers to pair the boxcar and this together. Ed is a very nice guy who has helped me more than a few times. Hell he was my engineer last night!

Thanks for sharing.

- Christian B.


Offline
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: B&O 381357 M-53 Restoration
PostPosted: Mon Nov 14, 2016 2:16 pm 

Joined: Wed Apr 24, 2013 10:17 pm
Posts: 96
Happy November everyone!

The exterior paint work on 381357 has been wrapped up for the winter. I applied a quick coat of primer to help protect rusty metal surfaces. This will, of course, be removed and cleaned properly come next spring. The focus this winter is to clean the interior without disturbing the railroads items. I have some wood work and metal work to take care of inside.

In other news, I'm doing some research to find out if i'm actually working on the 381357. Another number was found stenciled into the wall a few weeks ago and a different number was on one of the trucks. I trust J.C. Nelson documented the car well enough to know it was the 381357, but it could always change. See IRM's Wagontop for a similar case.

Pictures to follow shortly. Thanks all.

- Christian B.


Offline
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: B&O 381357 M-53 Restoration
PostPosted: Mon Nov 14, 2016 6:00 pm 

Joined: Mon Jun 13, 2016 10:40 pm
Posts: 386
Location: San Francisco, CA
Les,
The Illinois Railway Museum has the wagon top box car B&O #374065 built in 1925.

They did some paint work on it recently.

Ted Miles, IRM Member


Offline
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: B&O 381357 M-53 Restoration
PostPosted: Sun Mar 26, 2017 7:14 pm 

Joined: Wed Apr 24, 2013 10:17 pm
Posts: 96
Hi everyone,

As spring arrives, I've opened up the boxcar again and began working on the interior where I left off. Last night's work included removing press board from the B&O so I could access the original plank board and remove the rotted and broken wood, also to access the metal shield as some spots are rusted through and will need to be corrected without fire hazard.

Due to the strict agreement with the railroad, all welding is off tabs until I can get a powerful generator in to support my welder. The railroad does not supply me with electricity or tools as it is not their responsibility.

A few things were discovered, such as:

The car suffered a fire on the west end at some point. The damage will be corrected.

The car hauled fertilizer at one point or another.

The car was asbestos insulated, but evidence suggests it was removed and left uninsulated

If anyone has any sources where I could get information on this boxcar, I'm always looking. Nothing significant, but anything helps paint a clearer picture.

- Christian B.


Offline
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: B&O 381357 M-53 Restoration
PostPosted: Thu Mar 15, 2018 7:10 pm 

Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2005 1:25 pm
Posts: 6400
Christian B. was restoring this B&O wagon top boxcar at the Wilmington & Western, but no updates for a while. With the recent threads about the nice restoration by IRM on their wagon top and the body of one found down in Texas, just wondered what was going on these days with B&O #381357?

Les


Offline
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: B&O 381357 M-53 Restoration
PostPosted: Tue Mar 20, 2018 1:24 pm 

Joined: Wed Apr 24, 2013 10:17 pm
Posts: 96
Hi everyone,

After a long year, there are MANY updates with B&O 381357.

To start, 381357 recieved very minor work after my last update for several months. Between my job and dealing with a few situations outside of the railroad, my available time to work on the car dwindled to just about nothing. Everything that was next on the "to-do" list was expensive and ate up time I didn't have. After much careful consideration, a few hundred emails, messages, and in-person conversations, a new plan was put together to save 381357.

The Wilmington and Western Railroad made notice of their decision to buy a permanent steam heat system for their 1914 steel coaches. Running the steam locomotive on certain trips in the fall and winter was just not practical (dinner trains, holiday lights trains, short consist movements, charters). A quick survey was done of available equipment on the property that could properly hold a steam heat system. In the end, two pieces of equipment stuck out.

- C&O Tender T-215
- B&O 381357

The problem with T-215 was the amount of work in a short amount of time required to make it both operational and cosmetically appealing to the general public and railroad preservation in general. Plus, the tender was in a bad spot and would require extremely careful removal.

381357 was selected, given it sat closer to the mainline/switch lead, had good bearings, minimal body work, and fit our historical goal. The boxcar was moved in June of 2017 out of the storage track and onto the mainline by our shop. A generous donation was made to move ownership of the boxcar to the HRCV, Inc. (parent company of the WWRC).

Since the move was made, 381357 has been partially primed and metal patch work began.

A new brake system was installed, tested, and made legal.

A new paint design was chosen and it was given a new number, #1872 to coincide with both the B&O number series for the REA royal blue paint scheme and the founding year of our railroad. The royal blue is the official color of the W&W and would match out coaches nicely.

381357 is expected to be operational and out on the mainline by December of this year. It will be the only regulary operated wagontop boxcar in the world. I will post some pictures soon.

Thanks to our forum moderator, Mr. Gears, for his help with the boxcar and his nightcrew for their help so far. Also thanks to the WWRC's mechanical department for their hospitality and patience during this lengthy restoration process.

- Christian B.


Offline
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 36 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3  Next

All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ]


 Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot], Overmod and 105 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: