Thursday, September 19, 2013

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.