KatysBlog

John and our neighbor Felix (who has his roofer’s license) have been
working on the caboose roof all day today. We realized last weekend
that we had to redesign the original roof framework. The 1916 WP668
roof was painted canvas over a wood and steel framework. It only had
to bear weight down the middle of the roof where railworkers would walk.
We will be putting both heavier roofing down and potentially walking
on the edges.

John and Felix got most of the remaining insulation and framework in
today as well as most of the plywood sheathing. We had many discussions
on how to handle ventilation, heating, and cooling. We will have a
stovepipe for the gas stove eventually but we do not need it until the
caboose is in active use during a cold season (probably next winter).
The question for this weekend will be whether we frame in the place for
the stovepipe or not.

We have been shopping on the net for gas stoves just to see what the
clearances and installation requirements are. There are many stove
designs available. We had planned to convert the antique pot belly
stove we own to gas but some research indicated that while this was
possible, it was probably not safe or insurable. So, we are now
looking around for a modern free standing small gas stove with a
suitably antique design.

John and Paul worked on the caboose roof yesterday. Of course, the job was
more complex than anticipated.

Before we bought the WP668 caboose, the
Golden Gate Railroad Museum (GGRM) had started
work to replace her roof. They had gotten as far as tearing off some of
the roof boards and cutting some replacement edge boards when they got word
that the museum had to move out of San Francisco’s Hunter’s Point. WP668
was pushed out of the shop to make way for more urgent projects. She had been
sitting in the rain for about four months when we bought her.

The edge boards cut by GGRM came with WP668 when we bought her and John was
able to use half of them yesterday. He got the first board bolted down when
he saw that the steel under it needed work. He unbolted the board and ground
the rust off the 40 foot steel roof edge then painted the edge with rust
preventative. Each side of the caboose roof edge needs three boards bolted
down. John got one side done but thinks he will take the boards up again
and put caulk between the wood and the steel. We are seeing a great many
yellowjackets buzzing around and we don’t want them nesting in the roof
once it is on. Caulking the gaps may help keep them out.

John also got some of the insulation batting down. We want to have rigid
foam insulation panels on top of the batting but we went to two stores and
neither had any. We are going to insulate and roof over where the stovepipe
will go for now since we haven’t found anyone who can sell us the right roof
flashing for a stovepipe.

We gave a newly-lighted caboose tour to both my brother and mother yesterday.
My brother, who successfully completed the

“Alcatraz Sharkfest Swim” from Alcatraz island to San Francisco on
Saturday without a wetsuit, braving Great White Sharks, currents, and the
cold, still thinks our caboose project is crazy. There’s all kinds of crazy.

We were working on our WP668 caboose all day today.

WP668 Today:

Other Side:

Door to Door:

John finished the ceiling wiring, we adjusted the can light fixtures, put
in bulbs, turned on the generator, and everything worked! The soft row
of new lights down the center of the ceiling look great. They blend in
well with the original lines of the room.

Before Light:

Fiat Lux:

Prometheus:

The next project was to finish tearing off the original fir tongue-and-groove
roof boards, then remove all of the roof nails and tar paper. This was my job.
I sat on the stringers and ridge boards with my roofer’s crowbar, pulling up
nails and prying up boards. I carefully collected all the nails in a cardboard
box but flung everything else off the roof. Of course, I picked
it all up and swept later but flinging is fun. It was clear
that there had at some point been a roof fire on WP668. The wood immediately
around the stove pipe was plywood (not tongue-and-groove) and the tongue-and-groove
around that was charred. I have splinters in both hands and legs.

Caboose Roof:

Tar Paper, Nails:

Nails Out:

John and I put the shop vacuum up on the roof so I could take off all of the
bits of wood, tar paper, leaves, rust, dead bees, scraps of wiring, sand, and
other mess. Vacuuming a 400 square foot surface covered in
wood stringers, nailers, and ridge boards held up by steel joists is a fussy,
filthy job. The joists had deep 90 year old pockets of rust flakes to be
chipped off and vacuumed up. Some areas had a light coating of gritty dry mud
where water had pooled. The 4″ vacuum hose clogged about every ten
minutes and had to be unplugged, dangled off the roof, and beaten against
the caboose wall to dislodge the latest blockage. The cleaning took hours but
the results look great (and a clean roof will be much more pleasant to work on).

After many unsuccessful attempts to loosen the bolts on the edge boards,
John finally cut them off with a grinder. Lots of noise and sparks: we both
wore earplugs. Except for the rotted edge boards and a few rotted ridge boards,
the wooden roof framework is in excellent condition. The steel joists are
also sound.

John on Ladder:

Clean Roof:

Under WP668:

Tomorrow, we insulate, replace the rotted ridge and edge boards and,
if there is time, start to put on the new roof covering. We will put in two
levels of insulation above the ceiling. The can lights we bought are
made to have insulation around them. A moving caboose is naturally cool and
does not need air cooling equipment but we need to plan for very hot summers.
The original Western Pacific colors for WP668 include a black roof, the worst
choice for a hot climate. However, with good insulation and an overhanging
silk tree (which will get planted as soon as it starts to rain), I have hope
of minimizing our need for air conditioning.