Copper for a coach roof

Individual copper sheets were attached

with a folded seam and soldered.

Most early 20th Century railroad coaches had canvas roofs.  Some railroads specified that the entire roof be clad with canvas while others preferred copper cladding on the car ends. Copper was not an afterthought but an option specified when the cars were built.  Oxidation and the limitation of black and white photography often make it difficult to identify this in the 1912-era photos, but the Museum is confident that coach 218 was built with copper hoods. 

Completed lower hood.  One improve-

ment over 1912 materials is the use of

marine calking to seal edges.

Certainly one of coach 218's distinguishing features is this copper cladding on the roof ends, but unfortunately the original surviving copper was brittle and riddled with perforations.  So restoring these to their "as built" appearance and condition has been one of the project priorities. These "hoods" feature compound curves and are areas where it is more difficult to keep out rain water on this design of railroad car.  The copper cladding improves durability and reduces long term maintenance. (Some years ago, Spike had an opportunity to work on two Canadian Pacific Railway passenger cars that featured full canvas roofs and can attest to the fact that the canvas fails first on the compound curve at the ends of the cars.)

Bob M. attached the last of the clere-

story cladding to allow the final piece

of copper to be attached.

The design of the hoods is simple but the tin smith skills to install it are no longer common.  Fortunately, Gary J. is a highly accomplished marine carpenter and this work was an easy adaptation for him.  To begin, copper sheets were cut into small rectangular sections that would conform to the roof curve.  The edges were bent up or over to allow a folded seam with the adjacent roof panels.  All the seams were tapped flat and then soldered to provide a watertight seal.  The final product mimics the original roof but the appearance of the soldered seam is slightly different, probably because of the difference in performance between an internally and externally heated soldering iron.

Completed copper hoods debuted dur-

ing Railroad Days 2013.

Work continues on coach 218 but completion of the copper hoods allowed its use during Railroad Days 2013 where it carried an estimated 120 additional passengers.  Work is being funded with the generous support of 4Culture, the Nysether Family Foundation, proceeds from GiveBIG 2013, the Snoqualmie Tribe, and individual contributions from people just like you!

Chapel car milestone

Chapel car 5 Messenger of Peace has been undergoing rehabilitation for over 9 months. A full time crew of carpenters and other preservation specialists has been reversing the effects of 112 years of deterioration and decay. Considering the car is just 78 feet long, the scope is massive. Frame repairs, new or repaired exterior cladding, new windows, repaired interior paneling and new trucks are just a few of the work categories underway. And to undertake the work, wood species were identified and replacement material sourced, fasteners duplicated, and cutting jigs prepared.

The most intensive aspect of the rehabilitation project is the frame (side sill) repairs, including the replacement of over 60 feet of sill material, 16 feet on the right side and over 45 feet on the left. This work required the car to be extensively jacked and blocked up to restore it to its original profile. The roof and walls were supported with false work installed in the car’s interior and supported by the center sill.

Work began with removal of the exterior cladding and the underlying blocking. Braces, ties rods and compression trusses were removed to provide access to the side sill. New sections of sill were created while the southern yellow pine timbers were supported by saw horses. After machining window post mortises, holes for tie rods, and a rabbet for the truss plank, the sill was installed. Then the real work began: installing window posts, fitting the compression and auxiliary compression planks, reinstalling the belt rail, and fitting and installing old and new blocking. Months of work later, the car superstructure is back together again and it can support the car’s weight. With this category of work completed, the car has also had its "camber" restored to a condition not seen for more than 60 years.

The chapel car rehabilitation will be continuing into 2012. Work is being funded by Save America's Treasures, Washington State Heritage Capital Projects Fund administered by the Washington State Historical Society, 4 Culture, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and American Express.

Images (from top to bottom):

Carbody together again. Right side received 16 feet of new side sill.

Left side sill repair began with removal of cladding, blocking, compression planks, and the damaged side sill.

Meg G. begins installing bracing in the new side sill. A missing section of the truss plank evidenced in the foreground will be spliced in. The truss plank is made from Douglas fir and was the only Northwest wood used in the 1898 construction.

New section of truss plank mentioned in previous photo caption is shown in place along with new section of side sill.

Duane S. installs the last of the screws in the compression plank on the left side of the car.

Siding for coach 218

Rehabilitation of the coach 218 has been underway for two years now. This comprehensive project is addressing nearly every aspect of this 1912-built coach to prepare it for its return to passenger service.

The Barney and Smith Car Company applied everything they knew about coach building to the 218; it was one of the last wooden coaches built for service on an American railroad. This allowed it to reliably serve as a coach for the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway for nearly 40 years, and then for another 35 years as a dormitory for track work crews.

Work efforts to date have completed replacement of floor sills, roof carlines, lower roof decks, all missing or damaged window posts and studs, repair of carbody blocking, and repair of the letter board. Application of new exterior cladding/siding is now underway and approximately 25% of the carbody application is complete. Thousands of hours have been contributed by project volunteers including Alan W., Roger S., Hugh H., Bob M., Bob Mc., Russ S., Mike G., Kaila, Dan D., George H., Chuck S., Dan C., and Chuck M.

Rehabilitation efforts will continue into 2010 with substantial completion planned by summer 2010.

Barney and Smith Car Company

So what was the Barney and Smith Car Company? It was a railroad car builder. Chapel Car Messenger of Peace (and indeed many of the passenger cars in the Northwest Railway Museum Collection) was manufactured by Barney and Smith.

Barney and Smith was the premier car builder of the 19th Century and was located in Dayton, Ohio. Its car building efforts began in 1849 as the E. Thresher and Company and the initial organization included $10,000 of capitalization with partners Eliam Barney and Ebenezer Thresher. They gradually expanding production, weathered several recessions, added several more partners and by 1867 had expanded their capitalization to over $500,000. In 1867, this was a truly vast sum and is indicative of the prominence of railroads in the 19th Century.

During the Civil War E. Thresher and Co. expanded production to fill orders from the United States Military Railroads and in that era added many modern manufacturing facilities including their own steam kiln to dry lumber, a facility to manufacture coke, and an iron foundry. Then as now, war time production work was very lucrative.

By 1864, Mr. Preserved Smith joined as a partner and the company was henceforth known as the Barney, Smith and Company. In 1867, the Barney family gained control of the enterprise when Eliam Barney and his son Eugene bought out two earlier investors. Reorganized as the Barney and Smith Manufacturing Company, the officers were all family relatives except for Preserved Smith.

Illustrating the importance of B & S in that era were orders from Pullman. Beginning in 1859 George Pullman ordered sleeping cars from Barney and Smith and continued as a customer until 1881, when their own manufacturing facilities were able to meet all their requirements. Similarly, Pullman’s competitor, the Wagner Palace Car Company, also purchased many of their sleeping cars from Barney and Smith.

In 1892 Barney and Smith became a publically traded corporation. An initial stock offering of $4.5 million was purchased in part by a group of Cincinnati, Ohio investors. The company was reincorporated in West Virginia – though operations remained in Dayton - and the name was changed to the Barney and Smith Car Company. Certainly for the Barney family, this was a wise move because by 1893 the world economy was beginning to feel the effects of a major recession.

Barney and Smith manufactured both freight and passenger cars. By 1896 and the end of the global recession, it was clear that steel was the emerging technology for all car construction but unfortunately Barney and Smith was slow to adapt. For example, by 1906 Pullman had converted most of their manufacturing to steel while Barney and Smith was just beginning to make the shift. This resulted in substantial orders for competitors who had switched from wood to steel.

The failure to adapt to steel construction was arguably the greatest factor that led to the deminse of Barney and Smith. Other issues included general management blunders, the rise of competitors such as American Car and Foundry and Pullman, a car shop fire in 1905, and a devastating Ohio River flood in 1913 that effectively shut down remaining production in a fashion that never fully recovered. Nothing the company could do compensated for what was a gradual but ultimately substantial loss of market share.

The company was in serious jeopardy by 1913 but managed to remain in business - albeit with few orders to manufacture - until 1921. The remaining assets of Barney and Smith were auctioned off in 1924.