Rutland Railroad combine car #255
Built by the Rutland RR, in 1898, as coach #515.
Rebuilt by the Rutland RR in 1915, as combine #255. A steel under-frame was installed at this time and
was never renumbered after conversion.
Dimensions:
Height 13'8"
Width 10'6"
Length 62'8"
Approximate weight, 37 tons.
Approximate seating capacity is 32.
O. W. Link acquired this car, date unknown, and did extensive restoration work in the 1961-1965 time
period. Included was the re-upholstering of the seats, interior and exterior wood replacement, and
paint and varnish. The roof and windows required extensive repairs after years of neglect.
RHSNNY acquired this car, along with the N&W Caboose #518508, from the estate of O. W. Link in April of
2001. A fund drive was conducted to move this car from Whippany, NJ to Croghan, NY during the summer of
2001. Arrangements were finalized for the move by truck, and was completed on Nov 30, 2001.
The Combine is presently stored at Lowville, in the old Lowville & Beaver River RR enginehouse.
(References: Jeff English at englij@rpi.edu and Rutland Historical Society at
bcurry@cyberus.ca)
The following items need to be corrected before we can operate this car.
- The roof needs repair.
- One of the trucks needs to be removed, repaired and reinstalled. A spring on this truck is out of its pocket and will have to be fixed.
- The interior needs a good scrubbing, with hopes of removing some of the graffiti.
- The steps and guardrail will need to be re-installed.
This list is just the start. As indicated, this is what needs to be done to just get it rolling again.
We expect to be working on this car for several months to come. Click here for photos of the Combine
Current Update:
The bad area of the roof has been stripped, and has been prepared for re-roofing.
There are no visible signs of deterioration, so at this time, we'll just be covering the bad area.
At some point, we will be removing the entire roof covering, and will replace it with a new type of
material. The truck assemblies need repairs but that will wait until we get word of operations. General
clean up has taken place, but a major effort will be undertaken at a later date. We will also contract
to sandblast the underside of the car when we remove the trucks. This should add to the beauty of the
car and prevent further deterioration.
(Photo taken on November 29, 2001)
|
