Picture Galleries > Fitting a catenary rod
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drilling jig 1.jpg
One of the 6 brackets that hold each catenary rod onto the monotor ribs. These were designed by trcing the marks on the ribs and also incoroporating measurmenets from the Dundee steam tram trailer (No 21) at Crich Tramway Village. A drawing was then prepared, Gerald at Heritage patterns then made a pattern and got them cast and we fettled, drilled and cast them. The radius of the monitor ribs was exactly the same as a wooden coat hanger so that is what i used to draw teh first drawing with in my pre CADS days.
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Fitting the rod.
The rod was first of all put through the various holes at B end at the correct angle. Thenall the fittings that are needed were threaded onto it in the correct order. These were doors that go over the doors, a pattress, then 6 brackets, another pattress and the board fro D end. The the rod was bent and persuaded into it's hole in the D end bulkhead. Then two ratchet straps were put round it at the orrect angle and threaded through the wheelwells and around the solebars and tensioned. These pulled the rods to their correct position.
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rod fitting tube.jpg
The catenary rod comes through the bulhead at a very strange angle and has to be forced to assume the correct shape. It first goes thorugh the screen adn then the bulhead 2" further on. To ese this process Paul rolled a sheet of brass into a tube that ws put through the bulhead to capture the end of the rod and the rod was then 'persuaded' through the bulkhead with the thread damaging the bulkhead which is original timber.
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rod nut.jpg
Each end of the catenary rod has a special nut on it and a cast iron seating plate with an angled seat for the nut which has a rebate turned round one end. These two nuts enable the whole structure to be tensioned.
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interior with rod 2.jpg
When the rod had been 'persuaded through all it's various holes and tensioned to the correct shape the brackets were all screwed to their respective monitor ribs using 1 1/2" No 10 screws in the original holes that had been filled with stopper and varnished over at Kirkstall Rod works in 1901 when the tram was converted to a mess hut. This shows the resultant shape.