The Fairmount A6 speeder is owned by the Railway Museum. The ¾ plywood floor under the cab rotted away at the corners of the cab. The problem was to replace the floor under the cab without removing the cab.

I looked at it for a while and saw that the floor was made of several pieces of plywood. On either side of the motor box was a piece of plywood 6 foot long and 16 inches wide. On the motor box side was a piece of angle iron connecting the motor box to the plywood. The motor box could be jacked up and the angle iron removed. On the cab side there was a 2x4 on top of the plywood and bolted to the side of the cab. With the cab jacked up and the 2x4 out, the plywood should drop in place. I did the right side first and sawed out the old plywood. I was able to slide the new piece of treated ¾ plywood under the 2x4. On the left side the 2x4 was rotted out and the railroad welded pieces of steel in here and there to take the place of the original wood. I removed some of the steel and all the bolts from the old 2x4. I was able to get the new plywood down. I replaced the 2x4 and bolted it to the cab.

In August the LSRHS had a steam weekend. I was there and signed up to operate the Viscose company number 6 steam engine. It took some effort to move the johnson bar and coordinate the brake, throttle and whistle but it was awesome fun. Here is video of Chris who ran the engine after I did.

The plywood floor rotted out at the corners of the cab. Because the cab sits on top of the floor, it looked like nothing was holding the cab on. Replacing this plywood was a job that I didn't want to do, but after looking at it and measuring everything twice, I started in on it. I bought the wood and cut out the cross members and the plywood.

I finished putting the boards around the rear platform. I put a key ignition switch in the dash instead of a toggle switch. A battery from the museum was put in the battery box.

Monday April 29, Steve drove me over to Add lumber in his pick up truck and I bought a 4x8 sheet of ¾ treated plywood. I painted both sides of the plywood and cut it to fit the rear platform of the speeder. I put the left over piece in the front platform.

I went up to the museum April 4,5 I removed the old brake shoes and blocks. I mounted the new brakes shoes. I need to work on the adjustment so that the two sides come in contact at the same time. I drilled holes and bolted the new cross members in place. I put a manual choke on the carburetor.

New wood on the front & rear platforms

I had previously bought and cut out six 2x6 treated lumber cross members for the platform on the front and rear of the speeder. I took them up to the museum. I removed the rotted wood from the front and rear platform. I had planned to put the new 2x6 on the platform but I didn’t have time so I put them in the cab. I put a new air cleaner on the Ford motor.