<P>does anyone have experience using box cars, taken off their trucks, and used them for storage? How has it worked out? How did you secure them on the ground? Any other ideas? How about refer cars?<p>Thanks.<br>




lundquist@sdrm.org

<P>Jim: My question is; why would you want to? We have a number of box cars and refrigerator cars at our museum that are used for storage that remain on their own trucks. They accomplish two things; first (obviously) provide for good, dry, secure storage space and second, are historic rail artifacts. We also have one old Pennsy X29 class boxcar that we acquired from a grain elevator where it was used for storage and did not have any trucks. We have also used that car for storage here at the museum but when we had to move it, it was a BIG pain to accomplish. The car has its underframe and draft gear and we at times talked about putting it up on a set of trucks but never did anything about it until the time it had to be moved. If it HAD been put up on trucks, the move obviously would have not been much of a problem.<p>The only reason I can think of removing a car from its trucks and placing it on the ground would be a lack of storage (yard) tracks at a museum. My suggestion is that it would be better to lay some additional track rather than take the cars off of their trucks.<p>Incidentally, our BofD recently turned down an additional historic boxcar (from a "fallen flag" road.) Putting the historic aspect aside, this car would have provided approximately an enclosed storage space of about 9' x 50' at little cost. When museums turn down "ordinary" boxcars, they are turning down this extremely good storage space; a big mistake in my estimation. <br>




midlandblb@cs.com

<P>the idea of removing the trucks is to get them lower to the ground for ease of enterance. It also saves a switch, ties, track, .... We can hug the bank on the side of our yard.<p><br>




lundquist@sdrm.org

<P>Jim: OK, understand that line of reasoning but still don't like it. BUT, I will check with the boys at the museum this coming Saturday to see if the PRR X29 just sat on the ground or if it was on old ties or something. I do know that the car suffers from more rust damage at the bottom edge than our other cars. It may just be old age but I wonder if being close to the ground with little air circulation had anything to do with it.<p>BTW, access to our "storage" boxcars and refers that are still up on trucks is not a major problem. We have rough "home made" ladders in some cars and after the door is open, we slide the ladder out for easy car access.<p>Switch, track, tie problems I guess, can be a problem for some museums. Certainly most museums don't have enough storage (yard) track. <br>




midlandblb@cs.com

<P>I would recommend putting some type of shoring underneath the car(s) if you plan on keeping them for the long term. Anytime where water is given the chance to sit, it is almost assured that corrosion will occur. How much will depend upon you weather conditions, of course. Just putting some ties underneath to keep the car off the ground should be sufficient, while keeping the height to a minimum.<p>Have a safe day,<br>Gerald, President<br>Heartland Railroad Historical Society<br>




hrrhs@aol.com

<P>I and Bob put two old outside braced boxcars on concrete peirs 30 years ago at the Mid-Continent Railway museun and they have served us well. They are used to hold shop supplies and the floor is only i8 inches off the ground. We formed up the piers about 24 inches wide and 20 inches deep and supported an old piece of rail on a couple of rocks apout 6 inches off the bottom then backed up a ready mix truck. We then extended a track over the peirs and rolled in the first car, jacked it up and rolled out the trucks. set it down on a tie with rollers under it, slid it over and set it down on a plate on the pier. The other car was brought in and the operation repeted. the cars were then pulled together and bolted. A section of sheet metal was welded to the roof ofer the doorway and we had a very usefull and almost free storage building that would be typical to many short line railroads. It took us about 4 days for the 2 of us to do this task.<br> This was done in the days before zoning laws though and you best check. <p>The problem with rolling storage buildings is that they are seldom accesable and hard to use efficiently plus their contents can get damaged during switching. <br>




fwantz@pressenter.com

<P>our thoughts exactly - concrete seems a more long term solution.<p>Thanks<br>




lundquist@sdrm.org