Re: Looking for information on narrow gauge draft gear

I agree that we relearn what others have forgotten. Wait till you have to work on the 4000 series M/W cars. For the most part they have a single rod continuous draft gear. Here at the Nevada County Narrow Gauge RR Museum at Nevada City, CA we have a former Florence & Cripple Creek RR box car built by ACF in 1899 that is equipped with a twin rod continuous draft gear. It is set up differently from the single rod gear. When the crew got the car disassembled down to the frame they realized they had never seen anything like it. I had a diagram for it and had it explained by the former master mechanic for NCNG many years before. We were able tor reuse the center sill and the compression sill. The car was so bad we had to replace nearly all of the wood and replace all of the metal inner roof. That car took a lot more time and effort than what was planned. It is the only F&CC box car that has been restored. It is lettered NCNG 142. NCNG bought some F&CC box cars from NCO Ry in 1929, 142 would have been the next number in the series. That box car has quite a history. It started life as F&CC 507, sold to NCO Ry as 507, sold to Southern Pacific as 26, sold to Universal Studios, then NCNG Museum. There is another complete F&CC box at the Colorado RR. Museum that is un-restored.