Sounds to me like a group measuring excursion is in order.
;-)
Scott
Aldergrove, BC (formerly of Surrey, BC)
--- Rob Kirkham <rdkirkham@xxxxxxx> wrote:
Brian, I don't know if you have been up there before or not. In case you
have not, I have a few thoughts for your (hopefully) trip to Sandon.
First, there is a lot to be enjoyed there for a CPR fan, but the rest of my
family was done after an hour. So plan your strategies in advance. Also,
take long sleeve shirts and long pants and bug spray - the large flies hurt
when they bite, and they were persistent (but slow and easy to swat). If
there is a tendency to car sickness, pack the Gravol. Its not the toughest
road I've been over around there, but challenging enough that some would get
queesy.
Second, if you can fit a three or four foot folding step stool (or taller)
into your vehicle, it will give you better opportunities to see/photograph
than I had.
[I'm curious to see the roof of the car in detail. Slightly suspicious it
may have been a reefer, but I saw no evidence to support the idea. The
roof, which is covered in plastic, might shed a clue. Also, there were two
varieties of siding evident on the end that's suspended above ground. While
I measured the board width of the more common siding at 3 3/8", (hard to say
because there is so much gapping between boards), I missed the width of the
narrower boards. The last board at the end of each side was narrower, the
one I measured being about 2.5" wide. ]
[The side dimensions I obtained were from the left end to left door post,
164 inches, 4 inch door post, 5 foot door opening, 4 inch door post, and
then 162 inches to the far right end. These measurements were taken on the
lettered side of the car shown in the photos. I was puzzled by the uneven
side lengths, but didn't have time enough to double check or figure out
where the two inches was. ]
[The fascia trim was also interesting but out of reach for careful
measurements. Roughly, it measured (from top down) 4.5", then a bead about
1", then further fascia about 1.5 to 2", then another bead of 1". The ends
measured 104.5" wide (with a degree of uncertainty). I got 85 inches as the
side height to the bottom of the fascia bead, and 92 inches to the
peak/bottom of the fascia bead.]
[There is also obvious modellign info to be had regarding the work service
years of the car. I failed to measure the location or size of the window
openings and door openings. Too much to do and not enough time!.]
Third, if you are interested in the steam locomotive (as I was) be prepared
for a lot of brush on the engineer's side. A pair of rose-pruning shears or
the like would be handy. I did it the hard way. Again, the step
stool/ladder will come in handy, as they don't want you climbing on the
equipment and so I couldn't get the sorts of detail shots of the boiler top,
tender deck and coal bunker, etc. that I was hoping for. Still, I have
never spent so much time crawling under a steam loco before - what a kick to
figure out the suspension, check out the ash pan hopper, etc. I have a pile
of photos to work through now - some not even too bad!
Fourth, I'd also recommend taking along some well marked measuring stick as
well. My tape measure was a poor choice in the absence of willing hands to
hold the other end of it. And its really hard to take a photo and hold a
tape measure at the same time.
There are a couple of lovely old 230000 series CPR single sheathed box cars,
some flats and an odd tank car. With my film running low and my time
running out, I didn't spend any time with those more familiar cars, but
would have liked to.
Rob Kirkham
