[PRCo] 1711's Roof

[Fred Schneider]

A week ago I raised the question of mounting a pantograph in the PAT
days and how they may have had problems with the union of the carlines
and side posts ... obviously they did.  Copied into this message is Dave
Hamley's comments in response to my query.  And you can pretty well
assume that 1711's condition was not radically different than any of the
other 1700s.

Dave speaks:

Yes indeed we did have that problem, big time.  About 2/3 of the length
of the
blind side the only connection between the roof ribs and the window
posts was
the exterior roof sheet, and even that was loose in lots of places.
They cut
away the roof sheet about a foot up from the bottom and spliced in
several dozen
new connectors from rib to post, plus the longitudinal ties between
them.  The
door side forward of the center doors was just as bad and got the same
treatment.  Aft of the center doors it wasn't nearly as bad, and only a
few new
connectors were needed.

Next time you're in town, ask Ed Lybarger to get out the Elmira CD-ROM
with
several hundred images of the work there.  He has an index to them, so
you
needn't hunt for the right stuff.  You'll then appreciate the extent of
the work
on 1711.  They were not kidding when they said it was likely near to
collapse in
some areas.

You can now run the car up the valley at balancing speed and not worry
about it
falling apart.

End Hamley.

And back to Fred ... I've not run it up the valley at full speed.  But I
have had it wide open on the new track along Chartier's Creek to the
East Side.  I've had it moving fast enough to get flange squeel on the
banked s-curve.  The car is tight.  The trucks are tight.  It probably
hasn't been that good in more than 45 years.