Despite the way they're typically modeled, especially on N- & HO-gauge models, freight car roof walks wouldn't very likely have been made from car-length boards (36'-40') but rather butted end-on-end from shorter lumber. Based on drawings in the Train Shed Cyclopedia, it looks like each longitudinal roof walk was composed of three parallel boards, each ~6"-7.5" wide [I'd guess 2x6 or 2x8 lumber was used]. But what's the practical length limit of the individual boards? These days we can usually get
2xsomethingx16' boards at the local lumber yard. Would this have been typical in, say, 1900-1920?
For common "utility" grade lumber, probably not a whole lot different, just due to the problems of transporting and efficiently using longer lengths. Even "back then", shorter lengths would be more available just due to the vagarities of the trees and cutting them (tree size, knots, splits, etc.), and much handier to use for smaller jobs.
On the other hand, it would have been much easier and less expensive to get longer pieces *IF* you needed them and were willing to pay for them. This would be especially so if you lived near a sawmill.
Similarly, the quality of "utility" grade wood was much higher then. Wood with a lot of knots and such was just scrapped. Today's common 2X4 with bark on three sides would have been a poor joke then (actually, it still *IS*, we just have to live with it). The higher quality of the wood used then is why a lot of old wood is salvaged today, and reused for fine furniture and such.
You CAN still get good wood, but you REALLY have to pay for it, and in many areas it can't be had at all, locally. One decent piece of oak timber, for a loco end-sill for instance, now costs over $600. You don't even want to think of a car center sill or such 40' or more long. Similar problems plague restorers of old ships.
Also recall that lumber was cut much closer to stated size then. A 2X4 was actually close to that size (now it's more like 1.5" X 3.5", maybe, and getting smaller every year). Working on old houses, furniture, or RR cars is an adventure because the lumber is NOT in today's common sizes. You almost always need to get the next larger size, and cut it down a little ... sometimes VERY little.
Keep in mind also that framing practices have changed a lot since then: in that era, multistory houses were constructed using balloon framing (as opposed to the current platform framing), where wall studs ran the entire height of the wall, so yes, longer lengths of lumber were available.
Well, that's not quite correct: 2x4s were 2"x4" back then because they weren't dressed. After a 2"x4" S4S (surfaced on 4 sides) stud comes out of the planing mill, it's gotta be smaller than it started out. It's the difference between rough-cut and finished lumber.
The dimensions for wooden running boards were set by the Safety Appliances Act of 1911. They were to be at least 18" wide, and were typically 1x6 boards with an inch gap between the individual boards, giving a 20" wide running board. I have no idea what the practical length limit would be, but I note that various industry publications of the period advocate using less than full car-length boards. The rationale of this being that if a portion of the board was damaged, it could be replaced without having to replace the entire 40' length.
Surely the $600 is a misprint? You can find oak in pallets in various sizes. I have seen and used 1x4, 2x4, 2x6 and 4x4 - solid oak. Also, imagine my wonder when I ran across a whole bunch of pallets ( Kuboda tractors ) that were Mahogany
Back when I lived in Arizona (Flagstaff) and did woodworking, I discovered that one place to get excellent free wood was the local Honda dealer after they got a new shipment of bikes. I made lots of stuff out of "Honda crate wood", which was very good quality mahogany and other tropical hardwoods. Nice big pieces, too. They used to just throw the goddamn things out.
Nope! A loco end beam is typically solid white oak, and something like
12" X 20" X 10 ft. long., with no substantial structural faults (big cracks, large knots, etc.) allowed. The last we got were about the stated $600 each. You won't find such timber in pallets, or even in a good lumber yard for that matter. You MIGHT get lucky in a surplus yard and find an old barn-beam or such, but mostly they're specific orders from a specialty sawmill. Trees that big are hard to find nowadays.
Indeed, most all the lumber used in the HRR passenger car and loco restorations is premium hardwoods. Lots of Oak for structural parts, with Cherry, Walnut and other woods mostly for color variations in the car interiors. The cars are about 90% wood, and even the locos have a substantial amount of wood in the cabs, end beams, tender decks, etc.
Maintenance on the wooden coaches is a never ending process. All were totally (frame up) rebuilt when they first came to HRR in the early
1970's. Every couple years they need a general 'tune up' (tightening truss rods, sealing cracks, replacing/repairing siding boards, roof work, sash and trim work, etc.). The cars twist and bend a lot in service, and it opens up all the seams to water infiltration. The exposed end platforms take a beating, both from the elements and foot traffic. Every 10-12 years or so the cars need a total strip-down to expose the interior framing, and rebuild of the structural parts, etc. That means that every car in the train has had at least two major rebuilds, and several minor ones.
HRR has narrow gauge coaches from the D&RGW, CS, NWP, a couple Mexican roads, and one built new a few years ago (#316, a' combine', which won awards for the first 'new' 1890's passenger car built in last 50 years or so. We also have several 'tourist cars' which are built from old flat cars now fully enclosed. These provide extra passenger capacity, but are not 'historic' coaches by any means. We also have three wooden cabooses. On a busy day we'll run a 14-car train. That's about all our regular loco, an ex Alaska Ry. Baldwin 4-6-0 can handle (especially in the winter when bearings get stiff).
While they're wonderful to see and ride in, maintaining such old equipment, both the steam locos and wooden cars, is a *LOT* of work!
That was one of my favorite sources. I had a new (to me) 40 year old house and not much money and was putting in a backyard full of raised beds, and needed lots of mulch fast. The local stables had rice hulls well primed with urine, but all we had was a Datsun F-10 wagon and a '68 VW bus. Took the middle seat out of the VW, built a slide in bin from motorcycle crate wood with a couple 2 foot deep drop-in-the-slot sides on the sliding door side. Drive over, lift out the slats, shovel it full, adding back the slats as it became necessary.
Lots of nails and screwnails and staples to get out of that wood, but the price was right, and the mahogany stood up to the cargo well.
HHR = Huckleberry Railroad. A 3-foot narrow gauge steam operation in east-central Michigan, near Flint. HRR is owned and operated by the Genesee County Parks Commission. It is located adjoining to and overlapping with, a historic 1890's village.
HRR has 4.5 miles of trackage, two functional steam locos, about 16 passenger cars, one EBT hopper car, and three wooden cabooses. One caboose is a PM )Pere Marquette) standard gauge, so we can't run it. HRR is constructed using a portion of the roadbed from an old PM branch line, so the caboose is still appropriate to the site.
By miles traveled per year, and passengers carried, we're one of the busier tourist lines. HRR also have more extensive shop facilities than most tourist lines, and can do heavy overhauls of steam locos ... as we recently finished doing with D&RGW 2-8-2 class K-27 #464 (for the second time).
I'm on the Board of Directors for the "Mid-Michigan Railway Historical Society", who serve as the official "Friends of the Huckleberry Railroad". Our members assist with rolling stock and right-of-way maintenance, and fund raising.
Operating personnel have to be paid county employees ... which hasn't stopped a few of our people from going through the training to become crew ... even engineers.
Has a pretty poor website. 99% text, not really designed to attract visitors. Looks exactly like you'd expect from a site designed by dull government bureaucrats.
May be a less than outstanding website, but thank God they are putting their primary attention into the equipment and operation. My in-laws were from the northern Detroit suburbs, and (don't tell my wife) Flint was a super attraction for making those long trips from Virginia. This dedicated group deserves special attention for what they are doing, and in my mind rank right up there with the better tourist RR destinations, especially if you've ever been bitten by the narrow gauge bug!! Struck me as kinda the mid-west's Edaville (of old). Geezer
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