I am the Archivist for the North Carolina Railroad Company in Raleigh, NC and I am looking for photos or any information that may help in the conservation/preservation of a unique artifact. After a brief evaluation the item appears to be a 3-foot gauge railroad work car that may have been employed in constructing the Atlantic & North Carolina Railroad during the late 1850s. The cart was submerged in the Neuse River until earlier this year when we began replacing the rail bridge over the river.

I believe that the cart is constructed of 2 large wooden sills that have openings suggesting that 4'x4" wooden end sills were fitted on each end of the cart and were secured with wooden dowels or pegs and cut nails. These missing end sills could have been attachment points for horse or mule harnesses or maybe even a link and pin coupler device.

Along the top edge of each side sill are evenly spaced 1" diameter and 3" deep holes with remains of wooden pegs. The pegs and nails may have secured some sort of materials deck or hopper. On the middle top edge of each side sill there is a dove tail notch for a cross bearing plank.

The four wheels are made out of iron and were attached to the bottom of the sills with simple iron straps and iron bolts and nuts.

The artifact is presently being studied by a wood and metals conservator, but we have had very little success in finding photos or information as to what this thing actually looked like. I have included a link to some photos of the cart after it was pulled from the river. Any leads would be greatly appreciated!!

http://www.ncrr.com/photos/photos.html

Thanks,
Keri Towery

Dear Keri,

This cart looks very similar to work carts that are used on modern railroads. The only thing that may be missing is a deck that would go across the sills that would provide a surface for carrying materials in boxes or barrels. However, it also could have been used without deck in order to move wood or iron beams or iron rails to support the construction of the bridge. This may help explain the large sills used in the cart's construction.

Tom Cornillie

This is quite a find. From what I can see of the remains it is consistent with many light cars typically used to build and maintain railroads. There are a couple of interesting twists. With square axles, I assume the axles are fixed and the wheels are loosely fit on the axles. This is not common railroad practice, but not unknown either. The cast wheels indicate heavier use. Typically push cars had wooden wheels with iron tires, or cast wheels with pipe spokes. Much later, after 1885 or so we see pressed steel wheels. The wooden peg construction is also interesting. By the “age of railroadsâ€

Another possiblity is that it is a "log bunk." If the railroad was in the lumber business, they probably had hundreds of log bunks. The log bunk is basicly a four wheel truck placed under the ends of rough cut logs so they can be hauled by rail. The log(s) formed the car body with a bunk under each end of the logs. The logs were lashed to the top of the bunk and then two adjacent logs on their bunks were hooked together with a "stiff link," a very long link, between the bunks on each end. The cross bearing plank makes me think of the log bunk as a strong back the logs rested on. I have photos of 1880s rail carts and log bunks, but it might be a couple of days to get them scanned and online.

Ed

Keri,

The folks at the Program in Maritime History and Archaeology Department of East Carolina State University at (919) 757-6097 can halp youwith the conservation of wooden objects that have been underwater for long periods.

Wood that has been underwater for long periods has to be given special treatment or all you have left is a pile of debris.

Railroad experts for that time period are not common John H. white comes to mind. He is retired from the Smithsonian Institution. perhaps they can give you his current address.

I think he is teaching at a college in Ohio.

Ted Miles

Keri,

Everyone has covered the other questions, but that eye bolt through the plank, located furthest from the bridge, that is the coupler. They still use this to connect modern work carts.

If that is a Railroad workcart, then the crew would have a hook, about 24" long, with a `S' curve at the other end. The `S' curve end would be dropped into the eye, so that the area between the 2 bends is vertical in the hole, allowing the connecting bar to lay horizontal, and the pump car that the crew was using, would also have a eye bolt installed, to which the hook end would go through.

If you would like a photo of one, I have access to one from the mid 1800's to early 1900's, contact me off list.

Take care,

Rich Cizik
MoW Foreman
Connecticut Eastern Railroad Museum
Willimantic, Ct
www.cteastrrmuseum.org

It looks like the remains of a railroad construction cart, though unless you have providence about when it was built, and how long it had been where you found it, I don't think you can claim off-hand that it is pre-civil war. It looks very similar to the remains of carts used on the construction of the Oregon Pacific Railroad through Santiam Pass, in Oregon, in 1886, especially the square axes. This would seem to indicate that similar carts were in use for a long, long time. The axles probably turned in a journal or fitting inside the mounting brackets. The wheels at Santiam Pass were recovered about 1948 are supposedly in the collection of the Deschutes County Museum, but I haven't been over to look at them. With the early date for the railroad in question, I suppose there are no construction photos that might show the carts. The only photo I have showing Civil War era railroad construction cart doesn't have enough detail to make out anything for comparison. Good Luck!