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)
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