Museum Carbarn Assignments.

[Fred W. Schneider III]

That sort of problem is a perpetual problem.  It generated over 3/8ths
of an inch of printed e-mails last week! Car 1138 was already restored
once at PTM and then allowed to sit outside and rot.  This is the second
restoration.  That is why the PTM horse car is being stored temporarily
in a member's factory. 
 
And you are right, Ken.  Tarps are good but not totally effective.  The
do contain the moisture. Have you ever been to the Strasburg Railroad? 
They have an inventory of wooden cars that were covered in a plywood and
tarpaper enclosure, with a series of ventilators to allow the inside of
the package to breath.  All you see is a large box on trucks.  

And truthfully, you cannot let equipment sit out in the weather.  I'm
not sure what Strasburg's maintenance practices are today and I've
probably forgotten the details since I worked there.  Of course all
service coaches (probably about 15 cars) need to sit outside.  There is
no way to house them all. The farmers in the area never, to my
knowledge, went on a binge breaking glass.  The only problem is
weather.  And during the winter, most rolling stock would sit for months
without use while some was used weekly.  

Strasburg would overhaul a coach (all new exterior wood, rebuilt sashes
where needed, framing parts if needed, step treads, platforms, then it
would get a liberal number of prime and finish and varnish coats. From
then on, cars would be varnished I think every two years.  But I recall
that the south side had twice the work becaue it faced the sun.  After
about six years the car would be painted and light patching would be
done.  And after about twelve years, the cycle would start again. 
Usually about two cars a year would go through the shop for overhaul. 
And, of course, Strasburg also had to retube a locomotive a year (with
some exceptions).  They've also done some very heavy work replacing
firebox side sheets, throat sheets, stay bolts, driver tires on both 89
and 90.  They've also taken a BEDT tank engine and rebuilt it into an
entirely plausible British looking Thomas the Tank Engine.  They also do
a lot of subcontract work for other carriers such as the East Broad Top
and the Union Pacific.  And right now the shop contains a contract
project to build a new 4-4-0.  That place was a perfect example of
turning an amature railfan run operation into a full-time business
employing up to 50 or 60 people in season!    

Kenneth Josephson wrote:
> 
> "Fred W. Schneider III" wrote:
> 
> > You're right....  We've already got the next carbarn filled, and we
> > haven't even broken ground yet.  I'm really happy, Ken, that we don't
> > have anyone arguing over M-454's priority in the next building, after
> > reading 70+ e-mail messages in the last week on the subject of what goes
> > in the new building next year.
> 
> Here's a tough one to show other choices a museum may have to face:
> 
> The local transit system donates a car that has been totally restored (we are talking
> an Elmira 1138 type of job.) All this car will ever need for the next fifty years is
> routine maintenance and to be kept clean, providing it remains indoors when not in use.
> 
> The complete, but fragile first car to run in the museum's city of focus has been
> discovered. It needs a complete restoration, but should not deteriorate much more until
> then, providing it is kept in the carbarn. Tarping it over on a siding will not provide
> adequate protection.
> 
> There is only room for one more car in the barn. Which car gets the spot?  Ken J.