Joshua Tree Flat Car Rehab

I'll call it a Rehab because in no way do I or did I intend to rebuild the Skoglund/Joshua Tree flatcars to a once new condition. They were built out of available material in the late 80's and early 90's when Gene would 'winter' at the railroad. Gene could make a silk purse out of a sows ear. Using what he had and enough home spun talent to full a modern university football stadium; he whittled out patterns, melted down aluminium cans and lawn chairs poured his own castings. His wheel pattern for the cars is one of the best profiled wheels out there to be found. And in a time when there were no suppliers of what we call 'jewelry' for detail parts, he made his own. After they left Joshua Tree in the mid 90's they went back to Colorado; nice place in the summer if you're a flat car but they spent the winters there too, outside, under snow. After Gene's passing, the train set of cars Gene built came back to the Museum, worn and weathered but home again. The flat cars have seen some use, the yeoman of cars, flat cars catch the short stick on treatment. they get loads dropped on them, too many people at a time ride them, they get left out while the pretty cars get rolled inside during the weather. But, they have character, the decks are worn like their full sized brethren. I do not recommend sliding around on top of them unless you have a trusted friend with a pair of tweezers. They are in need of a paint job but in the same light that is why they are so appealing. The museum purchased new trucks so that the old ones could be refurbished to modern roller bearings instead of brasses that become dislodged in derailments or improper handling. They will definitely roll better and be easier on themselves in the same time. They came home to Rat's Garage for the work, as I have some new found idle time. The old cars have no steel sub frame, the couplers are screwed into one end of the wooden beam and all stress of pulling, pushing and whatever happens when cars are in a string go through the wooden beams, as old as they are. Well, the Three Companies cars, you might know them as our 24' Westside flats have a steel center frame. This frame allows the forces off pulling, pushing or whatever to be carried through the steel frame onto the next car. Well if all the cars have steel frames it looks like one of those kinetic ball toys, the ball hits the static ones and the end ball pops up. If you have a weak car in the middle, you figure it out. Back on the subject, I found a piece of tubing that would fit nicely between the frame sills without having to compromise the wooden structure, I installed new couplers so that they would mate well with all the other rolling stock that frequents the railroad. The new couplers attach to the ends of the tubing, the truck bolsters are welded to the tube and now the car has a steel skeleton to bear the stress and help support the load without rebuilding the car and loosing its character.A quick coat of Linseed oil on the top will help arrest the weathering and preserve what is left of the wood, while leaving the texture untouched. Boy, I sound like Bob Villa. I'm trying to get them finished by this up coming Run on the next weekend, January 18-20. It should be a good weekend, with all the weather we have had in Southern California the past few weeks, come out and enjoy the outdoors. See you there.