El Nehi Wrote:
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> ...I thought...it just had 2
> I-beams holding it up. No bolsters, no brakes, I
> didnt think it even had truss rods...

The wood frame has always been complete, but with some rot. We replaced the end beams, scarfed a new end to one side sill (from the bolster to end beam), and added some new lumber to the top half of the ends of some other sills in the late 1980's. The rest of the sills seemed fairly solid. At the same time, we added the needle beams and two truss rods with queenposts. Prior to this, it just sat on the trucks, sagging without any center support, and nothing was holding what was left of the end beams in place. The bolsters have always been there, but the side support castings and rollers had been removed. Jason found replacements in the late 1990's or early 2000's. The other two truss rods were added around the same time. It didn't have brakes - that's always been on Jason's list for upcoming projects, and I think he's found most of the parts needed. Remember that this caboose had been set on the ground as a shed, and all of the original hardware below the sills had been removed, not to mention the rot in the sills and wall framing. The bottom ends of the siding boards were very rough as well. The trucks are the freight trucks that were under RGS 0401 when it was blown up.

>...Would this ever be a candidate for
> operation?

It's reasonably solid now, but all things considered, I don't think I'd feel comfortable with it in commercial operation (even if brakes were installed). It should be perfectly capable of being moved around a museum or display area. This car was in extremely rough shape when it was placed in the park, so it came a long way before the fire, and even farther with this latest work.