Page 114 - 39. MRH13-05-May2013

30: Now to
determine, or
guesstimate
of the size
of the roof
needed. In
studying
the photo of
Erie 75893,
and knowing
that the rivet
spacing is
approximately 2”, I began counting rivets. Yes, the
dreaded rivet counter! Anyway, it looks like the roof
sets in approximately 2” from the side of the car.
From the freight car diagram, the width over the
sills is 9’-4 ¾”. That information, along with my
guesstimate on the offset, I came up with 9’ for the
roof. I used masking tape to mark the edge of the
cuts needed to reduce the width of the roof.
The tape provided a better line to follow than a pencil
line does. My experience has been that the plastic
lost from the width of the X-acto saw tends to cover
over the pencil line and make it harder to see.
STEP 8: The Radial Roof for the 76500 – 76999 Series
Continued ...
The Erie Railroad Boxcars Part 2 - 3
31
31: The Central Valley roof, trimmed down to the
proper width.
32: Next comes determining the length. I measured
the thickness of my ends and the length of the sides
of the car. To have the same inset on the ends as
the sides, the roof needs to be 40’ long. This makes
the final dimensions of the roof 9’-0” wide and 40’-
0”. I tapped off the ends and made the necessary
cuts to reduce the length of the roof. Remember the
old saying, “measure twice, cut once”, well I didn’t
and I had to pay the price! I had an error in my
measurements, which I discovered after the cutting
was done and the ribs were sanded off. I was 12”
short on my measurement.
STEP 8: The Radial Roof for the 76500 – 76999 Series
Continued ...
32
30
index contents
MRH-May 2013