Katy Dickinson

Caboose Wheels Moved Today

We rented a huge Hyster forklift today and moved the two sets of caboose wheels onto our backyard rail line. Each set of 4 wheels attached to a truck weighs 5-1/2 tons (11,000 pounds or 4990 Kilograms). We had to wait several weeks for the largest size forklift to be available: they were rented out for the "2nd Annual San Jose Grand Prix".

Josh from the Silicon Valley Lines model train club and John and I worked all morning moving the wheels. John did most of the driving but I got to drive the Hyster for a few blocks too. It was not as hard to drive as a little Bobcat since the Hyster has a regular steering wheel instead of levers. The turning radius is tiny and the ease with which the Hyster lifts unreasonably heavy and bulky objects is impressive.

One of the fascinating and unexpected experiences of today was the sounds. John and Josh were too busy to hear but I was standing further back to take pictures when the wheels were lowered onto the rails. This was the first time anything heavy had been on our backyard rail line since we built it in May. I could hear the ballast rock scrunch and the rails and ties creak as wheels rolled over them. Our 1916 WP668 caboose is 90 years old but the wheels rolled quietly and smoothly down the rails with three of us pushing against the axle. This is a very well made and well engineered piece of equipment.

After lunch, John and I hosed down the wheels and trucks. We found trash and sticks and leaves in some of the inner parts. There was also a yellowjacket bee's nest. When I turned my hose onto the wheels, they sang. I have heard train rails sing but the wheels themselves have a high chime of their own.

To celebrate today's move, John and I bought a brass HO scale model of our caboose at The Train Shop (1829 Prineridge, Santa Clara, CA). It is the only model we have seen of a Western Pacific outside braced wood caboose with a bay window, and it was in stock. The model even has the red brown with yellow trim color scheme we will be using for WP668 (not the orange and silver colors the line used later).

Tomorrow, we will chain down WP668's wheels. The leaf springs extend way beyond the wheels to the edge of the ballast and we don't want them smacking into anything or anyone.

Here is what WP668 and her wheels looked like this morning before we started work:

Image by Katy Dickinson (Copyright 2006)

Posted at 11:02PM Aug 05, 2006 by katysblog in Caboose Project and Other Trains  |