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Posted - February 14 2019 : 12:49:09 AM
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The El Paso Railroad and Historical Society recently rec'd a donation of a prototype baggage coach. It is 65 feet long, and every part of it, from frame to supports and bracing are made of wood. It weighed out as 20 tons. There are no trucks with it.
The guy who found it, MacKenzie, knew it was old, but no one realized how old it was until it was discovered that the frame, down to its base frame, was made of wood. There is no iron or steel infrastructure or iron or steel undercarriage at all.
It has a classic clerestory roof.
The tie rods were long ago removed.
There is no builder's plate. Any identifying markings as to its home road or build date is under layers of paint and plaster (due to be removed for restoration).
One of the few metal fixtures in it is a sliding door hanger that is cast iron and emblazoned with the word, "Cincinnati." No date. We have no earthly clue, but it's design is typical of an early age with its artistic flourishes cast in.
The door hanger could have been off the shelf, or it could have been part of a repair at some later date.
Does anyone have any resources where to start looking to determine its provenance? Does anyone know when coaches started getting steel undercarriages? Is the all wood undercarriage an indicator of its age?
I am a bit of a Johnny-Come-Lately to this amazing project, and as such the project manager, MacKenzie, and the rest of us all quite clueless about this thing. As the paint comes off, maybe we will find a road name or other data that will clarify some of these questions.
Up until this point, all efforts have been directed at carefully moving the carriage to a site at Freeport-McMoran, who is graciously assisting with the effort.
Any preliminary ideas would be of much interest. I will post more detailed info and photographs under Railroadiana Thread as such information comes my way.
This coach is like finding a piece of the Titanic, and presents many mysteries to be discovered.
Edited by - Chops124 on February 14 2019 12:51:59 AM
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Posted - February 15 2019 : 12:23:00 AM
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You should post what you've posted here, along with some photos of the car, on the Railway Preservation News "Interchange" forum. There's folks on there from Railway Museums around the world. http://www.rypn.org/forums/viewforum.php?f=1
My Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/weekendrailroader?blend=1&ob=video-mustangbase
Edited by - weekendrailroader on February 15 2019 12:28:03 AM
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Posted - February 16 2019 : 02:09:41 AM
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Thanks for the link, I will indeed forward this information to them. This is what I could gather so far, more to come.
Many of the bolts have square, as opposed to hexagonal heads, which dates it to prior to 1880, I am told. Hexagonal heads did not come into use until after 1880.
Photo of some of the extended family that grew up in this coach, using it as a home. There were 12 children, the father, and the mother died young from cancer. Not to sure about the dates, but will locate that data, later.
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Posted - February 21 2019 : 11:04:48 AM
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Been getting a lot of helpful replies from antique railroad hardware dealers and with an online rail preservation site. The length, 65 feet, in my mind excluded this unit from being earlier than 1900 for the simple reason that 19th century track was relatively flimsy to the advances of later decades. The extant hardware also didn't get produced until around the early 1900's, per my sources. We also rec'd some good tips where to find the builders information: over the vestibules and inside the door frames. Once we get some paint off, perhaps we will be able to positively ID this car.
The windows and doors appear to match up with the builder's photograph, except there is an extra window on each end. Not known if those extra windows were added on by the guy who turned it into a home for his family of twelve. Maybe that, too, will yield its secrets.
Edited by - Chops124 on February 21 2019 11:08:00 AM
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