Profile time again...Profile II : Peter Joyce.

Peter is one of our administrators who will lend a hand to any aspect of the 696 project. Peter is an retired officer from the Canadian Armed Forces which explains his love of orange and red. After all those years wearing drab browns and greens Peter has come out of the closet (wardrobe wise) since retirement. I feel I don't have to post a picture of Peter because he is easily spotted in all the previous photos in this blog...just look for "le grand orange".

Peter Joyce: administrator, greeter, sales star, helper, modeller, answer guy, story teller, painter, Bruce Dudley's commander and chief

Peter the Timetable Printer?

Pete the Track Supervisor  Photo Bruce Dudley

Sales Manager Pete 

Photo: Barry Thomas Collection 

Pete the Administer. Photo: Barry Thomas Collection

Peter is from Montréal and is a big fan of the Montreal & Southern County Railway. He also is a modeller and has scratch-built a beautiful model of a M&SC car.

M&SC Rly  107

Pete works all our fund raising events like Railfair, Open Doors and promotes the 696 project at OVAR meetings. 

He is always on hand to partake in our field trips to the Halton County Radial Railway Museum...working by day and operating their streetcars by night.

Always fearful on missing "coffee break" at Timmy's, Pete the Timekeeper always makes sure we all know the time is 20:45 and the clean-up process must commence. Once we are all gathered at Timmy's, Pete the Story Teller regales us with stories of his military experiences all over the world...these stories I enjoy immensely.

Pete the Painter and his painted Peter Witt car. Photo: Peter's Photography

Peter the PCC car operator.  Photo: Bruce Dudley

Other things I do besides just taking great photos!

As I mentioned in the last entry, Georg is working on the trucks at the east end of the shop; one streetcar length away is my work area. We have no drawings for the car so the first thing I want to do is transfer the all the components from the old 696 beams to the new 696 beams.  With the aid of old photos, new photos of other Ottawa streetcars I have taken plus looking for old rust stain marks on the 696's beams I was able to figure out where the air compressor, brake cylinder, air cooling rad, line switch and resistor grids should be mounted. I have proceeded to drill the holes in the beams where they will hang from.

Ottawa Car 854 at the Canada Science & Technology Museum

854's rusty underbelly. Here is one half of the set of saddles that hold the air reservoirs, and above that is the radiator which cools the compressed air from the compressor before the air reaches the reservoirs. Westinghouse recommends at no less than 25 feet between the two points.


The shot below is where the line switch hangs, just ahead of the air compressor on our car 696.

By doing things this way I will be able to hang the individual parts and in a manner of speaking,"connect the dots" with black pipe (air system) or wire (electrical). Because the sides of the car still in need a fair amount of work before the floor can be installed, I am using 2¼ inch shims in the interim. These shims are equivalent to the thickness of the car's floor.

Here I have started the transfer process. The little wedges between the carriage bolt heads are the shims I'm using to make up the difference of the thickness of the floor. This is the new rad and air reservoir saddles.  The shot is from the top this time and not from the bottom like the one I posted from car 854.

Mike is giving a hand to mount the brackets from which I'll hang the air compressor from. He loves making holes in things. Photo: Bruce Dudley

The National Research Council re-wound the electrical end of the compressor for the group.  I still have to attend to the air end of the compress with a good cleaning and oil change. Photo: Barry Thomas Collection

Westinghouse HD-16 bungalow type motor driven air compressor.

This is the plate from where the main brake cylinder will hang from.

It was a great feeling to finally start adding things to the car rather than taking pieces off.  As the next two photos show, I get to connect the various components to each other with black pipe.  This will involve a little time as the pipe has to be cut, threaded and fit.  I will not be using the pipe dope just yet as the final assembly will take place after the floor is installed.

This shot is of the same assembly but this time taken from under the car. The wooden saddles for the air reservoirs have not been installed yet but I have hung the air compressor and started to "connect the dots" with new black pipe.

The air compressor with its 8" suction strainer installed.  The wooden saddles have also been installed. Once the new air reservoirs have been fabricated I will cut the arches in the wood and make the straps that hold the tanks.

The line switch has been added complete with new base-plate. The switch cover has been removed in order to make the photo interesting. When the cover is on the switch looks like a black box...very uninspiring!

"Truck"ing with (the way he spells it) Georg

One of the two trucks being moved from the 696 shop to 805 Belfast Road. Photo: Barry Thomas Collection

One of the two Brill 27-FE-1 trucks from OTC 696.

Georg like me, chose a specific job.  He took up the task of rebuilding 696's two(Brill 27-FE-1) trucks.  But unlike me, he was for some unknown reason, banished to another part of the OC Transpo empire, 805 Belfast Road.

Georg's sea container "shop" came equipped with labour! Please don't tell the folks at Citizenship and Immigration Canada .

Over the years, perhaps because of good behaviour he has been allowed to move closer to the rest of the group, first to a sea container outside  our car barn, then finally after his full rehabilitation, into the car barn with the rest of us!

Georg and his truck (frame) has moved in with the rest of the group.

The truth is I do not know why the trucks went to one building and the car body to another, my guess is lack of space in the car barn.  I will find out and add to this chapter later.

 ** I asked Georg and he confirmed, the trucks were sent to 805 Belfast because of lack of working space at the car barn.  This was confirmed by Barry Thomas as well...but I like my version of the story better...sigh!.**

As one can see from the first photo the trucks were in a dire need of a rebuild, the wheels are in fairly good shape but do have chips.  The motors have been sent out to Grant Electric but the shop was closed and the motors were returned to us unfortunately missing a few parts.  We may have to find replacements motors, I will let the readers know what action will be taken when the time comes.

Jim and Georg installing truck bolster to truck                                                                                Photos by Bruce Dudley

If you are thinking that man taped to the lawn chair sure looks like Jim...you would be correct.  Long story, I could write a whole new blog on the "adventures of Jim" but I digress.

Here is a better view of the side frame with elliptical, coil springs and the pedestal wear plates installed  Photo by Bruce Dudley

Georg first had to disassemble the trucks, clean and paint the components.  All the springs had to be rebuilt then re-installed.  The pair of elliptical spring were very difficult to install but Georg managed to find a way to compress them and with the aid of Jim, they were able to set them in place.

Inside view of the elliptical springs and the coil springs. Thanks to Malmberg Truck Trailer Equipment Ltd for rebuilding the actual springs.

Two brake beams being readied to be installed on the truck.

We were able to pick 8 brasses from the Halton County Radial Rly.  These brasses are the correct size for the journals on 696 but have extra protrusions which had to be milled off.  The milling machine given to us also by Halton, first had to be fixed (you guessed it...) by Georg before he could do the work on the brasses.

Next on the list for Georg is to install the journal boxes and wheel sets then it is back to square one, rebuilding the second truck.

People Profile I : Gilles and Kevin Lafreniere

Sometimes too much emphasis is placed on objects or projects and not enough on the people involved, therefore I decided that every so often I would profile the gals and guys who have been involved in the 696 Project.  The order in which these personal profiles appear are totally random. To be included in the People Profile, the person selected had to been involved in the 696 Project post 2005, secondly I would have to have a good photo of them.  (Jim, don't hold your breath!)

So the first name to be drawn from the hat...is...Gilles and Kevin Lafreniere????

The father and son team of Gilles and Kevin Lafreniere

 

Yes, I realize that Gilles and Kevin are two names...but I do not think I ever saw one without seeing the other. 

Kevin, a transit bus enthusiast was the first to join after attending the Open Doors** display at OC Transpo's St Laurent garage back in June 2005.  The show not only featured OTC 696 but also a bunch of Ottawa transit buses.  Kevin thought, "it would be nice to see 696 on the streets again." pretty much sums up the reason for him joining the group.   

At the time of joining Kevin was a student studying to become computer system technician.  Kevin involves himself in helping with all the prep work, riveting, organizing the paper work and reluctantly helping when heavy things need to be lifted!

Lafreniere "No.2" joined  not because of his great love of streetcars but more because he had to be there anyways.  Gilles had to drive his son Kevin to the 696 shed after Kevin joined the group.  Rather than go home and then return to retrieve Kevin, Gilles just stayed and helped out as a general labourer. 

Also both Gilles and Kevin look after OTC 905 the groups other streetcar.  This car is parked outside behind the 696 car barn with an extra roof to protect it from the elements.  Gilles and Kevin put in a ton of work cleaning the car, adding paint and getting the 905's headlight operational.  OTC 905 can be seen from Belfast Road and in the evening with the headlight glowing, 905 looks as if she is ready to depart on another run. 

Gilles & Kevin riding TTC Red Rocket 4600           Photo by Bruce Dudley

Gilles is a retired library technician from the RCMP and brings to the group his vast knowledge of World War history and his sense of humour.  Famous quote,"I'm the good looking one of the two."

I'll let the readers be the judge.


NOTE :  Open Doors** for those who may not be familiar with event, it is a weekend when the water works, heating plants, churches, homes, railway stations, service facilities, garages and other institutions all over the city open their doors to the general public.  Ottawa this year had over 100 places where one could come and have "a look-see".

Starting to Rivet, on site



Bruce Dudley will be manning the oven. "Air" courtesy of OC Transpo's compressor.

Although the group had started to rivet the bolsters and other parts of the car body, now it was the time to start on the heavy duty riveting.  This job primarily consists of the construction of the main car body.  The previous photos that I have posted showed the car side(s) erect but they were only bolted together. This aided in the drilling and reaming of the hundreds of holes needed to construct the car body.

The key to "hot riveting" is having rivets that are "hot'. The idea is not just have them red hot on the outside but you want to have them red hot in the middle of the rivet also.  This means "baking" the rivet so the heat is even through out the rivet.  One also has to be careful not to end up melting or burning the rivets. 



WARNING! Hot,very,very hot!

From the oven to a hole in the side of the car.

...and another one.



...another one,up close.



Rhéaume and Pete with the bucking tool, Georg with the riveting gun.

 



Hot,smelly and noisy...why I enjoy riveting!             Photo by Bruce Dudley



The above work was completed in June 2008, there still remains a few small hot riveting jobs to be completed plus removing/replacing a couple of poorly done or loose rivets on the sides of the car.

With the bulk of the riveting done, Georg will return rebuilding the trucks, Rhéaume will resume working on the car body and I will start rebuilding and installing components on the under body of the car, before Mike wants to install the floor.

Starting to Rivet, outside help

"Riveting", as I have stated earlier was the main reason I joined this group.  I had done a limited amount of it at the National Museum of Science and Technology back in the mid-seventies and looked forward to doing some more.  Better yet this was my first chance to use a kerosene fired rivet furnace.

The first rivet oven we used was a small propane one which was used to heat ingots to be made into horseshoes.  It worked very well, so well in fact, that the oven started to warp and melt because of the intense heat created and the length of time we had it operating.  My main concern was that the flame kept disappearing down the manifold.  This manifold was connected by a six foot hose to the propane tank.

The rivet furnace was an artifact the NMST had donated to them from Devco Railway when they closed their shop in Sidney,NS.   One Saturday, my friend Ed Bowkett invited me to help him get the furnace going.   My "help" included drinking coffee and sharing the latest gossip with him.  Ed had the furnace up and running in no time.  Both Ed and I noticed the flame was sputtering quite a bit and concluded the fuel line must be drawing air somewhere.  I took my spanner and tightened one of the two fittings on the fuel line, problem solved.  The furnace now roared like a lion.

The reason Ed wanted  the furnace operational was because the Bytown Railway Society were in the process of rebuilding their ex-Central Vermont tender.  This tender is to be part of BRS' work train and would be coupled next to the crane.

Quite interesting to think that there would be two fairly large riveting jobs going on simultaneously and   within blocks of each other here in Ottawa at the beginning of the 21st century!

Ed Bowkett checking if enough heat is being produced...

...and the answer is yes!

                                                        

Bolsters, Part deux

Body bolsters are a lot of work, and they are heavy...very heavy actually.  Once they were completed they have to be fitted between the sides of the car body.  After the fitting and after all the holes were marked, the bolsters were removed and the drilling of the holes commenced.  There are six 3/4 inch mounting holes per bolster which attached the bolsters to the sides of the car body.  Once drilled the bolsters are once again fitted, nuts and bolts installed then removed.  The bolsters had to be removed once more so  I could install the upper center plate.  This job is easier to do with the bolster resting upside-down on a couple of saw horses. 

Oak blocks are used to mount the center plate to the car bolster.



The centre plate is installed to the car bolster, now the bolster is ready to install to the car body.

Body or Upper Bolster installed

The wooden block is basically a giant washer.  I imagine it would also dampen the sound and vibration between the trucks and car body.

Before the final tightening, Rhéaume checked to see if the car body was "square".  This is something I would not have thought of...but Rhéaume's years of experience working in a body shop straightening buses showed.  A chalk line down one side, a tug with a come-a-long here, then a chalk line down the opposite side, more pulling by the come-a-long results in one square car body.

Rear body bolster installed. Mike looks on as I take some critical measurements!  Photo: Bruce Dudley

Upper and Lower...bolsters I'm talking about, yes bolsters

The title sounds like something one might hear at their dentist's office.  I was going to make a reference to a railway ticket office but neither VIA nor Amtrak use the term "upper" or "lower" any longer, the younger readers may not have any idea about what I was making reference to.

Again I apologize for not have taken the time to photograph the riveting process when we fabricated the two upper bolsters.  These are relatively small projects but do take up a large percentage of the group to complete so finding someone "extra" to shoot the photographs becomes a problem.

**Thanks to Barry Thomas a photo was found of the group building one of the upper bolsters.**

 

Jim Stitt(gun), Jim O'Shea(bucking tool) and I (tongs) working on the upper bolster May 11/06. Photo: Barry Thomas

What is a body or upper bolster?  It is defined as,"the transverse members of the underframe over the trucks which transmits the loads carried by the longitudinal sills to the trucks through the center plates".

What is a truck bolster?  It is the cross beam in the center of the truck to which the lower center plate is fastened and on which the car body rests. This point is of course just below the upper or body bolster.

The top photo is a upper and lower bolster from a standard freight car in 1905.  696's bolsters are not exactly the same but close enough to illustrate a point.

Here is the completed upper bolster sitting upside down and beside the old one.

The new upper bolster was build in house by the 696 group while the lower bolster fabricated by an outside firm.  As you can see the original was cast while the new one is welded.

The original cast truck bolster....

....and the new fabricated truck bolster.

Erecting Sides

By 2006 one half of the lower body of 696 was nearing completion.  Two end stiffeners, two upper bolsters and the riveting still remained to be done. The lower body consisted of wood ribs fish-plated with 1/4 inch steel, two upper bolsters and the two stiffeners, one at each end of the car body.  These three components kept the two sides of the car equal distance from each other along the length of the car body.

In the beginning(2004)...the frame is laid out.  Photo: Barry Thomas Collection


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Each side is made up of an angle iron as a foundation, one 1/4 inch plate, a rub rail then a 1/16 inch plate.(yet to be added )



This was a new type of car construction (circa 1912); the car weight was reduced but its strength was retained. The weight was important factor since the track infrastructure was not ideal.

Building a 40 seat car by this method reduced the weight from 53,000 lbs to 44,000 lbs a difference of 4 1/2 tons.

Most of the important components will be hung from these ribs, the air compressor, resister grids, brake cylinder, line switch and air reservoirs.  These ribs also hold the car floor.

The stiffeners or end pieces complete the car body box.  They were the first pieces we started to rivet.  This was a good place to start because if they did not turn out perfectly, no problem they will not show when the car is complete.  These parts became the practice pieces for the next project, the upper bolsters.

The sides are up. (2006) Photo: Barry Thomas Collection