Re: Eight wheel Caboose on C&Sng?

Posted by Jim Courtney on Apr 06, 2015; 5:29pm
URL: http://c-sng-discussion-forum.254.s1.nabble.com/Eight-wheel-Caboose-on-C-Sng-tp488p2002.html

I'm not even sure that my argument is convincing!

All that I'm saying is the diagonal "corner braces" vs. "safety rails" only appear in proximity of the lateral roof walks.  Your 304 (later 1003) only has the "corner brace" on the B end of the cupola, over a lateral roof walk.  The cupola is no more than 3.5 years old, so it shouldn't need bracing from age and past motion.  

The fact that there is no "corner brace" at the A end of the cupola of 304, and no lateral or longitudinal roof walk, further strengthens the association of the 2 elements (but not proof of a causal relationship).

The "corner braces" disappear from the cupolas after all the USSA hardware is applied by about 1915.  The cupola roof grab irons, all the way around the perimeter of the roof, may have supplanted the function of the "safety rail" for the trainmen. If the "corner braces" served some essential structural function, why weren't they needed from 1915 to 1940??

But, taking the counter argument, the sides of the cupolas were pretty much all windows and little structure; as such, they would have been prone to longitudinal / diagonal sway in the plane of the side, so perhaps some sort of diagonal bracing was necessary.  Perhaps the little strap metal "X's" in your picture above, supplanted a structural function of the "corner brace/safety rail".

Is there a period of time when C&S caboose cupolas have neither "corner braces" nor "internal "X braces"??

Heck, you guys are the architects and engineering types--I'm just a Baby Doctor, who models what he sees and tries to make sense of it!!