Doug Welding a Gondola
My son, Douglas was home for Christmas vacation and didn't have much to do.
So he asked if I had anything he could work on. I always have stuff to do.
I told him he could build that gondola I bought three years ago but never built.
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Tap Tap Tap...
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Bonk Bonk Bonk...
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Ready, Aim...
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You guessed it!
This car is a fairly simple kit from Precision Steel Car Company.
If you want one for yourself, just select the link. If you'd rather look at
the kit instructions first, just select the drawing below it to go there.
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This is my second kit from Precision Steel Car. My first kit was their coil car.
And although nothing can ever beat the coil car in the "fun" category, this car
is fun to build. I think it's a great kit for anyone who wants to learn welding.
The coil car was my first welding project. For the pro, this kit is a snap.
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Putting the sides on.
But alas, Doug had to go back home to Pennsylvania, leaving me to finish the car.
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A completed gondola end.
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JB Welding the gondola end on.
Hey, Did anyone happen to notice what I am using for a welding bench?
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This is a pair of fifteen dollar saw horses from Sears
and the table top is the box the gondola kit came in!
"We don't need no stinking welding bench".
And the car passes the Tom Bee frame squareness test.
Would anyone like to guess where I'm going to get the plywood from to
put in the bottom of the gondola and glue the flooring to?
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Yes the frame is welded on and the bolster plates are nice and square.
Oh don't worry about floor not touching all of the cross members.
The floor is a little wavy and I am not going to weld it down.
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So the frame is on, couplers are on, details are on. So we are ready for trucks.
And speaking of trucks - I bought a pair of Tom Bee freight car trucks about
three years ago to use on the gondola. But they are the WRONG gauge.
Most of the hobbyists in the United States use seven and a half inch gauge
track. But here in the northeastern United States and in England, France,
Germany, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, and the entire rest of the
world - we all use Seven and a Quarter inch gauge.
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So I have to pull all eight wheels off and machine 1/8th of an inch off each
end of the back gauge of every axle and put the wheels back on.
So I built this handy dandy wheel puller out of 1/2 inch bolts and barstock.
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It's really quite simple. Just tighten the puller between the end of the axle
and the back of the wheel until "click" the wheel pops off. It's that easy.
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Well I guess I'm done with that job. I'll probably never use the puller again.
February 6th, 2012
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OK. So here are the four axles with 1/8th of an inch removed from each end
of the wide part, setting the back gauge to six and seven eighths inches.
This makes the running gauge seven and a quarter inches.
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But I was wrong. I thought I was done with the wheel puller. Nope. Ever
see in those auto repair manuals where they say "assembly is the reverse
of disassembly"? So why not use the same tool to drive the wheels back on.
It turns out - that is exactly what I did!
February 9th, 2012
Time to set on the rails.
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So the trucks are back together and installed on the gondola. Now
it's time to put it on the track and get it out of the garage. Turns out it
was more anxious than me. I didn't quite get to the rail head and the car
rolled off onto the track on it's own.
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So I roll it onto the bridge for a photo.
And what a nice car it is!
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Sorry. no primer, paint, or Rock Island decals yet.
It's much too cold to paint. (select photo for hi-res version)
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With the river frozen solid, it is fairly clear why we aren't painting today.
Bill.
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