Roof Handles

She has handles!

Saturday was spent finding a new talent...well maybe "talent" is a strong word.

Take two!... Saturday was spent discovering another thing that I needed to learn.

The car has a few areas that had been removed from its original state.

One one them where the handrails that are on the top of the copula.

They were cut off. I can only assume that it was done to make it harder for unwanted visitors on the top of the car while it was in storage.

So along with the ladder rungs and ladder rails, the top hand rails will need to go back on.

The weekend was spent doing part of that and learning how to bend 3/4" round stock.

These are the anchor points of what was the hand rails.

I ground them flat to give a better surface to weld the new rails to.

Then the fun began

It started with finding this awesome deal on a bender...29.95!!!

SOLD!

I started with a templet. later I would find an easier way.

Then the first bend!

It lined up GREAT!

I had to fit a small riser support at the corner.

#'s 2,3 and 4 went way faster.

I actually bent all three of the remaining corners then welded them at the same time.

It saved these old legs a lot of ups and downs 

I laid the rail over the mounting locations and marked the actual rail it self. No more templet.

Next was cutting the raiser height on the remaining three.

 #2

#3

1 , 2, 3 and 4!

Grind-ed to look nice and primed

Next... The ladders

Roofing it

The roof edge replacements are officially half way done.
This side was a bit of a pain considering all the work was from a ladder.
I am spoiled. I admit working from the top of a storage container is very nice.

Anyway... just a few picture. Its the same with little different from the first side. The metal was already in place, just had to drill it out bolt it up.

 

Before drilling all the way through, I inserted a sealer from the inside. The hope was it would hit the outside steel and spread out creating a " gasket" around the hole. Well...It worked perfect!!

I have a bit of clean up on the outside but that is fine.

Remember, the entire car will be sand blasted and primed when the shell repairs are complete. The primer that you see now is only to minimize the rust till then.

This little driver is the best!

I quick shot of primer on the inside and its clean up time.

Another Day...Another roof piece

So now two of the four lower roof edges are welded in place.
The morning started much like the others, I sized up the steel and marked the cut line.

It always amazes me to see how fast the rust starts. That is the new piece that I installed a few days ago.

One the old was cut out, I cleaned all the rust flakes from the inside.

I wanted to take the new steel past the edge because the old was all bent and nasty looking.

see

After cleaning the area, I primed the inside that no one will ever see again.

Grinded and ready for prime

I welded the backing strip inside first.

And primed the entire area when finished

I tucked a tab into the side to give a better look

The sealer is on and one more side is welded in place. Next to drill and bolt it down.

More roof work

Saturday and Sunday were spent wrestling with the roof steel and out press.
The steel is better to be fitted BEFORE it gets installed.
I want to get it as close as possible so there will not be a " fit " issues on the roof.
This side has no landing or platform so my legs are feeling it this morning.
I started by bending the steel. Once I repaired the press, this was easier to do.

I brought the pieces up onto the roof and dry fit them in place. I marked the cut lines and away we went.

Once marked it was time to cut. I did take the time to wet the interior of the caboose. I wanted to minimize any chance of setting it on fire...again.

There was an excess of rust flakes under this section. I removed them all and cleaned the area with a grinder and wire wheel.

After the grinding, the area was primed and ready to go.

The new piece is welded in and the grinding has begun.

The second section will be done later this week