I was just wondering what's easier to do in the long run (in the north)? Replace rotted wood, or sandblast the rust that keeps coming back between the riveted steel?
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What's easier to maintain, riveted steel or wooden cars?
- General discussion about locomotives, rolling stock, and equipment
Moderator: John_Perkowski
Since nobody has bothered to reply, my guess of rivited steel is based on the relatively quick replacement of wooden freight car designs with 'riveted' steel designs (excluding special cases like Ice Reefers for insulation, or Vinegar Cars to prevent the acid from reacting w/ the metal, or composite cars built during times of steel shortages/rationing). Yeah, you had to have a steel underframe after the 1920s anyway, but I think by the 1930s new cars were predominately steel. Many reasons, obviously durability, but also remember with regular painting rust would have been keep to a minimum (except in cases where you have brine, like the ice reefers mentioned above which had wood sided to begin with, or salt, or acids like tanned hides - I think these services tended to get the old, worn out rolling stock anyway). Then when welding becomes reasonably common (looks like the late 1930s, or at least that's when many patents came out), there's no contest - just torch out the rusting area, cut and weld in a new patch, and grind it smooth - guys who welded during WWII in the shipyards could do this in their sleep...
Sir Ray wrote:Since nobody has bothered to reply, my guess of rivited steel is based on the relatively quick replacement of wooden freight car designs with 'riveted' steel designs (excluding special cases like Ice Reefers for insulation, or Vinegar Cars to prevent the acid from reacting w/ the metal, or composite cars built during times of steel shortages/rationing). Yeah, you had to have a steel underframe after the 1920s anyway, but I think by the 1930s new cars were predominately steel. Many reasons, obviously durability, but also remember with regular painting rust would have been keep to a minimum (except in cases where you have brine, like the ice reefers mentioned above which had wood sided to begin with, or salt, or acids like tanned hides - I think these services tended to get the old, worn out rolling stock anyway). Then when welding becomes reasonably common (looks like the late 1930s, or at least that's when many patents came out), there's no contest - just torch out the rusting area, cut and weld in a new patch, and grind it smooth - guys who welded during WWII in the shipyards could do this in their sleep...Thanks for the reply!