The NJ Museum of Transportation/Pine Creek Railroad has an assortment of narrow and standard gauge rolling stock and locomotives. While most of our collection is stored in our car barn and repair shop, we have several wooden cars sitting outside including a Tweetsy boxcar, a D&RGW 3000 boxcar, snowplow and a log bunk to name a few. Does anyone have any designs or ideas for an inexpensive structure or some sort of cover for these cars? Any ideas?
Thanks for your help.
J.R.


http://www.njmt.org
jrmay@njmt.org

> Does anyone have any designs or ideas
> for an inexpensive structure or some sort of
> cover for these cars? Any ideas?

Check John Smatlak's "Railway Preservation Resources" Web site at:
http://www.railwaypreservation.com/

Clicking on the "Conservation" link will show you some economical ideas for protecting rolling stock from the ravages of outdoor storage. Includes the use of fitted vinyl tarps and cocoons.

John is an active member of the Orange Empire Railway Museum -- maybe someone there or a reader on this forum has employed his services.

I'm not affiliated in any way with Railway Preservation Resources. I heard John Smatlak speak at the Western Regional Conference of the Association of Railway Museums last month.

Cheers,
Keith Albrandt


Nevada Northern & Railroads of White Pine County
kalbran1NOSPAM@san.rr.com

Looking at pole barns for temporary shop space in Albany and have one source of an assembled 50X100 for under $20K. Probably can find some in NJ too.

Dave

irondave@bellsouth.net

With pole buildings comes building permits and being in a state park, that gets complicated. Its an option we have looked at, but I'd rather avoid that.

> Looking at pole barns for temporary shop
> space in Albany and have one source of an
> assembled 50X100 for under $20K. Probably
> can find some in NJ too.

> Dave


jrmay@njmt.org

For years, the Indiana Museum of Transportation and Communication in Noblesville had their Singer boxcab electric locomotive (that has a wood body) stored under a "house" that just sat on the engine. They could still move it around, as the running gear was exposed and the "house" wasn't attached to the ground. I didn't take a real close look, but I think this structure was likely built out of 2x4's, plywood and tarpaper. It preserved the locomotive pretty well until IMOTAC built a display barn in the late 1990's.

Frank Hicks

frank@gats.com

Back in the 1980s, the Army depot in Utah that overhauled locomotives had a bunch of them stored under canvas cocoons. Most of these engines have now been sold or donated. Anyone know what happened to the cocoons?

ryarger@rypn.org

Strasburg RR uses basically the same system to protect their unrestored wooden passenger cars. They cocoon the carbody all around in plywood sheets, adding tar paper on top and cutting small vents in the sides. Perhaps a scouting trip would be inorder since you are reasonably close.

Mike

mas2102@ix.netcom.com

> Clicking on the "Conservation"
> link will show you some economical ideas for
> protecting rolling stock from the ravages of
> outdoor storage. Includes the use of fitted
> vinyl tarps and cocoons.

> John is an active member of the Orange
> Empire Railway Museum -- maybe someone there
> or a reader on this forum has employed his
> services.

The fitted tarps are an idea that was used by the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum (Arden) at Washington, Pa. The climate south of Pittsburgh is much more severe that that at Perris.

At OERM we have used these fitted tarps quit successfully. Because they are fitted and tied together at the corners, and to the underside of the car there is little for the wind to catch. We order our tarps to measure from the same firm in Pittsburgh that the PTM uses.

Brian Norden


ATSF #98 at Orange Empire
bnorden49@earthlink.net

Do you have the name of the outfit in Pittsburgh that makes the tarps?

> The fitted tarps are an idea that was used
> by the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum (Arden)
> at Washington, Pa. The climate south of
> Pittsburgh is much more severe that that at
> Perris.

> At OERM we have used these fitted tarps quit
> successfully. Because they are fitted and
> tied together at the corners, and to the
> underside of the car there is little for the
> wind to catch. We order our tarps to measure
> from the same firm in Pittsburgh that the
> PTM uses.

> Brian Norden


todengine@woh.rr.com

We actually use two different types of tarps, info on the suppliers is on my web site, see link below

> Do you have the name of the outfit in
> Pittsburgh that makes the tarps?


conservation page
jsmatlak@earthlink.net