East Broad Top Combine Passenger Car #16
Combine #16 was one of the East Broad Top's earlier cars, very similar in design to combine #17 (disposition unknown) and combine #18 (owned by the FEBT and currently stored inoperative at Rockhill Furnace, PA). The car was retired from the EBT in 1941 and sold. It then passed thr class="bottommargin"ough different owners until being purchased by the New Jersey Museum of Transportation's Pine Creek Railroad in Allair State Park, Farmingdale NJ. By the time the car arrived there it was missing it's trucks and had been stored outside for many years. In 1986 FEBT acquired a 99 year lease on the combine with the intention of restoring it to operating condition.
Progress Summary
The Combine #16 car body is currently stored under cover in New Jersey. Since the original trucks are long gone, the first project in the restoration of the car is to build a set of reproduction trucks. To do this, FEBT has leased the original trucks from East Broad Top coach #5 from the Tweetsie Railroad in North Carolina (#5 currently rides on other trucks). The original trucks have been used as patterns to create components of replica trucks for #16. FEBT has made arrangements for the assembly of the reproduction trucks and the manufacture of wheelsets. Despite a delay caused by issues around the 99-year lease of the combine, it is now estimated that work will resume on the project in early 2008.
Once the trucks are completed, FEBT will look into moving the car from New Jersey to Pennsylvania for the remainder of the restoration. Cleanup and preliminary restoration was performed on the car early in the project and many replacement pieces have already been fabricated and stored awaiting the arrival of the car in Pennsylvania.
2006
No further work done this year.
2005
We have not yet resolved issues relating to our lease of former EBT combine no. 16 with the New Jersey Museum of Transportation. For this reason our directors have agreed to continue the suspension of work on the reproduction trucks for this car.
2004
The Strasburg Rail Road completed work on the engineering drawings needed to assemble the reproduction trucks and reassemble the original leased trucks. Completion of this engineering work permits assembly of the reproduction trucks to begin. However, until the outstanding issues related to the lease agreement for former EBT combine no. 16 raised last year by the New Jersey Museum of Transportation are resolved, the FEBT board has decided to suspend further work on the trucks.
2003
Transportation of both the reproduction trucks and the original trucks components to the Strasburg Rail Road was completed. In early May FEBT contracted with the Strasburg Rail Road shops for the fabrication of the four wheel–and–axle assemblies needed for the reproduction trucks; we also commissioned additional documentation and engineering work needed to assemble the "new" trucks and reassemble the leased original trucks.
We had hoped to start assembly of the reproduction trucks in 2003, but the FEBT board delayed this work while we resolve questions related to our lease of combine no. 16 raised by the New Jersey Museum of Transportation. The body of the combine itself is still stored at the New Jersey museum.
2002
FEBT received a $5000 heritage grant from the National Railway Historical Society for manufacture of the wheels and axles needed for combine #16. Negotiations are under way with ORX in Tipton, Pennsylvania to work our the requirements for this work. ORX has supplied thr class="bottommargin"ee–foot gauge wheels–and–axles to other museums and railroads so we anticipate no difficulty in completing the work required. The four wheel–and–axle assemblies are expected to cost approximately $11,000, including necessary machining and transportation to Strasburg, Pennsylvania.
Transportation of the metal components for the reproduction trucks to the shops of the Strasburg Rail Road was started. The wood truck frames and the original trucks from East Broad Top Railroad coach no. 5 are still stored in Maryland, but arrangements have been made to move them to Strasburg also. Strasburg Rail Road has contracted to assemble both the reproduction trucks and reassemble the original trucks leased from the Tweetsie Railroad. We estimate this work will cost $25,000.
Since 1990 we have expended or committed $23,088.65 to this project.
2001
Not including costs related to leasing the pattern trucks from the Tweetsie Railroad, the FEBT has spent a total of $19,730.63 for reproduction truck components; an additional $2,557.82 was used to transport the leased truck frames from North Carolina to Maryland and to disassemble and clean parts from the pattern truck frames. The parts from the original trucks were then used by our contractors to manufacture the reproduction parts we need to put wheels underneath the combine.
Some additional minor parts will be required to assemble the reproduction truck frames, but these small metal pieces can be fabricated when we assemble the truck frames. Putting together this full-size kit of truck components is the next step.
2000
All the major truck frame components are completed and the trucks are ready for assembly. The bolster end caps and a few other small metal pices will be fabricated later this year. The reproduction trucks now need assembly and the leased reproduction trucks need to be reassembled and returned to the Tweetsie Railroad. The FEBT is investigating sources for wheelsets that can be used in the reproduction trucks.
FEBT has started exploratory discussions with the Strasburg Railroad about contracting work related to the trucks and our restoration of the car to operating condition.
1999
After many delays, our contractor completed all work on the journal boxes, the last major component needed for the reproduction truck frames. The final cost for these parts was $11,547.00, approximately $4,000.00 more than their projected cost when work started in 1997.
Trail Tool Company, who has manufactured most of the metal components needed for the Combine No. 16 truck frames, discovered, once work began, that the journal boxes required far more labor to manufacture than estimated. The more labor-intensive fabrication also required an extra year to complete.
1997
Upper and lower spring cups were completed.
1998
Journal Box work continued. The complexity of the boxes caused many delays.
1996
Contract work on the last major truck components began. These include the leaf spring assemblies, journal boxes and upper an lower spring cups. The leaf springs were completed.
1993-95
Focus shifts to the manufacture of replica trucks for the car, necessary prior to contemplating a move from New Jersey to Pennsylvania. The variety of components were contracted out in order of importance. The wood truck frames were completed first followed by brake levers, journal box covers, journal box guides, and other misceleneous pieces.
1986-92
A number of on site cleanup sessions were held which brought the car out of a deliapidated condition and surveyed the car in detail to determing what work was needed.
Some preventative maintenence was done on the car and many replacement wood parts for the carbody were fabricated for eventual installation in the car. They are stored in Pennsylvania pending the cars arrival.
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