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From: Dlw1el2 AT aol DOT com
Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2014 16:34:29 -0400
Subject: As Always, A work in progress.
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Everything is always a work in progress. Some take longer than others,
but when
the long ones are completed they can be even more rewarding. My association
with this little item takes place over about a 35 year time frame, so lets
start from the beginning.

Stuff this far back starts to be a little fuzzy, but this it what I
remember. I went west one night through Newark on the Morristown line on either
a light engine move or the freight that went up to do the one customer left
on the Montclair Line, which I got stuck with repeatedly because no one
else was qualified. Anyway, between the Passaic River Drawbridge and Newark
Tower I spied this laying along the tracks. I had never seen one, and
thus knew it was a rarity to say the least. So on the way back east that same
night, with the help of my engineer, it happened to fall onto our engine.
I have since weighed it, and it's in the 105-110 lb area. I have no idea
how I got it home, but it must have fit in one of my old Honda wagons with
the rear hatch open.

Its place and purpose came together a few years latter when a surplus five
foot section of rail from the Oak Island receiving yard, also found it's
way home in one of my Honda wagons. The rail dolly now had a piece of rail
to sit on and both became fixtures in one of my flower gardens, often with
a flower box riding the rail dolly every summer. I don't remember doing
anything to it, and because it was left outside 24/7 the wood started to
deteriorate. By the time I removed it and stuck it under the Cover It (a large
canvas shelter) where I used to keep my 1949 Chevy 1/2 ton, it was in so-so
condition, but still whole. One winter a large tree came down over the
Cover It, smashing the rear bed and fender of the truck, and also broke one
of the runners on one end of the dolly. The truck and Cover It were
repaired that year, but the dolly was put on the back burner, for a someday
wood-working project. These can be almost as numerous as some day model projects
and of course the all-encompassing home owner projects. The truck has
been long gone, so when the Cover It collapsed under heavy snow this past
winter, it was not replaced, and thus it was a now or never for the old rail
dolly.

The first thing I did was measure all the existing wood. Then I tried to
get the bolts off, which proved to be one of the toughest jobs, all being
rusted solid and imbedded very tightly in the hard wood. Literally cutting
into the wood at numerous locations so that they could then be cut, yielded
what I needed to know on their replacement, the wood needed, and exactly
how everthing went together. I would need a large piece of hard wood over 2
inches thick. When several cross members were separated it was clear that
they were mortised together, which was beyond my expertise, given the tools
that I have at home. I now needed enough wood to give me two 52" runners,
and four additional cross members. The handle was still in decent shape and
I decided to keep it. Finding such a piece of wood didn't come easy, but a
tip from one lumber co pointed me to Forest Lumber in Mt Lakes, NJ who had
a lot of aging Oak, and I was able to find one board that was 2" thick
but 10' long. I had to by the whole board, thus for $60.00 I now have a lot
of White Oak. I later realized the edges had a slight curl, but to keep the
two inch thickness I couldn't plane it down to be perfectly square, but I
worked through it. I cut the 52" I needed, and via Tom Schmieder's table
saw was able to cut the three additional runners, and used the middle one,
which was perfectly plum, to became the four cross members.

I thought I had a wood shop lined up to do the 8 mortis joints that I was
not about to attempt, but when they found out they were mortise and tenon
joints and not just mortise joints they backed out. Hours of calling
every millwork shop I could find in north Jersey yielded nothing, but finally
Garfield Lumber and Millwork, in Garfield, NJ came through. At a very
reasonable $100 all eight joints were secured. After getting the glued and
assembled frame back home I touched up the pre-sanded wood and proceeded to
mark and drill all of the 37 holes of four different sizes .

Because white oak is really white, and I wanted it to have some natural
wood color, thus I bought a quart of Sherwin Williams best outside semi
transparent stain. It just happened to be called Vintage Wine,which I thought
was appropriate for my vintage rail dolly. After one coat of stain it was
ready for its topping. My original plan was to use a really high end
Marine Varnish, but after hours of reading material on the Internet, I learned
that even the very best, if left in full sun, will not last more than two
years before it needs to be sanded and redone. The shape of the dolly and
the small area's that would have needed to be sanded had me switch to a
simple oil that I could easily reapply once or twice a year with out
sanding. At the last minute I went with teak oil over tung oil.

Although I couldn't remember any marking on it, it was found in former
DL&W territory, and thus I wanted it to be mark it as such. Through Paul
Tupaczewski I got good D.L.&.W R.R. lettering that I was able to print out on
good photo paper, and then with a scalpel cut myself the appropriated
stencils. They were traced on one side beam and with the use of a small artist
brush the dolly received black lettering. I might add that just to keep
the authenticity of the whole project appropriate, I used my hand punch kit,
and punched REBUILT IN 2014 BY ROBERT R BAHRS, on one of the end cross
braces. Didn't ever want anyone in years to come to think this was a 1930
La Salle that was just found in someone's barn, with 9 actual miles on the
odometer.

Both wheels don't have grease fittings and thus both had frozen solid,
but were returned to working order. I had purchased about $38.00 worth of new
carriage bolts, plow bolts, washers, and square nuts that I pre painted
before assembly. I managed to save the four half inch end threaded rods that
are used as cross supports. This saved me about a hundred dollars. The
final assembly with all the other original metal parts went quickly. So
after about 35 years in mid September the rail dolly was put on display out
front with my other railroad artifacts, all of which continue to get nice
comments from passers-by. As built these were meant to ride on one rail, and
to carry one 39' section of rail , that one man could push down the track.
I can't do the 39' rail because my neighbor would not appreciate it
extending into his driveway, so it rides on and 8' section and is carrying an 8'
section . I originally placed it on an 8' section of DL 105 rail I have,
but I felt that would be the more appropriated piece to carry, so it now
rides on a section of 136 Lb RE rail When positioned properly it will ride
on one rail without tipping to either side, and is an easy roller for one
guy, but because I don't ever want anyone to get hurt tipping it over, I'm,
attaching a removable stanchion under the handle just to stabilize it when
on display. There are few additional people need to be thanked, that I
can't publicly do. You know who you are, and as always, your assistance was
appreciated. So, it's on to the next work in progress, of which there are
always many, but for this very old, and now new rail dolly, life will go on
for many years. With a new coat of oil every year, its second life should be
a lot easier than it's first. Oh, and as always, thieves need not apply,
appropriate precautions have been taken. :) For the few remaining wooden
pieces of the original, a Viking Funeral in the fire place at Christmas will
probably be their fate.


Bob










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