From The Headlight November – December 2014

December 31, 2014

Central Pacific 29

Truck Assembly Continues

By Mike Manson

Progress continues on rebuilding the trucks, although it may seem that nothing is happening. The replacement bolster beam is drilled for the king pin and the bolts used to mount the various steel parts. Several of the spring-plank hanger-carriers salvaged from B&O 20 are an inch too long, so Jeff Millerick shortened them at his workshop in Sebastopol. They will be installed at the next work session, along with the spring planks.
The bolster springs consist of triplet elliptical springs, which are three sets of upper and lower leaf springs connected at each end by a single bolt. Each spring supports an end of a bolster beam. They will be supported by the spring planks.
Jeff will send three of the four bolster springs out for sandblasting. The fourth spring will be replaced, because it contains fewer steel leaves than the others. The bolster would be lopsided within the truck frame if the weaker spring is used.
All technical terms are from the 1895 Car Builders Dictionary, which is available on the Internet.
As mentioned before, we are financing the creation of a pattern and the casting of the eight pedestals with our “Buy a Pound of Pedestal” campaign. Over $1800 has been raised so far – Thank you, donors! But we need still more donations to cast the pedestals. Your generous donation of $10 will cover the prorated cost of the patterns, steel, sales tax, energy and labor needed to cast one pound of a pedestal for CP 29 and bring it to the De Carli Trolley Museum. Please send a donation today so the Society can continue the restoration of CP 29.

The planks are notched for the spring seats, painted, and ready for assembly and installation on the trucks. This and the next photo are by Steve Atnip; the rest are by the author.
Photo 2: A spring-plank hanger-carrier (top) and spring-plank hangers support the spring plank. The plank will, in turn, support a bolster spring at each end. The bolster springs support the bolster.
Each bolster spring consists of triplet elliptical springs from B&O 20 that will be sand blasted and painted black. Each of the bands shown here contains six steel plates.
This disassembled triplet contains only five plates per band. It will have to be replaced to maintain the proper height of the truck.
The new oak beam at left is the replacement truck bolster. At right is the other bolster for CP 29. When in service the broad side is horizontal. Each bolster will support one end of CP 29, transferring the 18,000 to 20,000 pounds of weight to the bolster springs beneath it.