LEEDS HORSE CAR 107

The roof structure

The upper deck floor is also the roof of the lower saloon on 107 and is in 3 parts. The main part which you see here is the suporting structure of 12 rib assemblies.  Thesea re made from ash and are bent to their correct radius before assembly.  On top of these goes a layer of pitch pine cileing planks which are stained and varnished and then covered with waterproof canvas.  The final layer is tongue and grroved floorboards which overhang the ends of the tram.  here the old structure hs been reoved in April 2006.  3 of the ribs had rotted or been cut where a stove chimney had been put through when the tram was a summerhouse.

The monitor rib structures.

The roof is known as a monitor roof as the two side parts above the seats are planked and the central raised part is on the main roof sticks.  This gives height in the saloon and also adds much strength to support the wieght of the 18 upper deck pasengers. Here the roof stoicks have beenr eoved and the monitor ribs can be seen.  There are internally glazed windows in between each vertical rib.

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Initially we hoped to save some of the original roof sticks but they proved to be very brittle, especially around the variosu mortice joints so we reluctantly decided to make new ones.  Here the two monitor sides can be n seen after the removal of the roof sticks.  They were carefully kept in the right alignment to each other.

Cleaning the monitor ceilings

The two monitor ceilings were turned upside down and Jim Soper spent many weeks carefully cleaning all the remains of the anaglypta paint from the arious nooks and crannies.  The alternate light and dark staining can be seen.   They were then cleaned with witre wool and white spirit.

A steamer is made.

The new roof sticks ahd to be steam bent to the correct radius and here is the piece ofnew drainpipe that we bought to make a steamer.  Knitting needles were used to make a support for the sticks. A barrel nipple allowed a wallpaper stripper to be connected to the pipe and a piece of 2" angle iron was placed over the nozzle inside to distribute the steam.

The mould for the ribs

Various trials were done with moulds aof varying radii till we found the right formula for making a rib of the radius that we needed (11 feet 11 and 5/8 inches).  We ended up making two moulds, 1 of 9 foot radius and one of the final radius and transferred the stick to the final one after 2 hours of initial cooling.

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The steamer in use.

We found that the steamer worked better when it was insulated so we laid it on the floor of the tram and managed to produce 2 sticks a day.

A well used steamer

After we had steamed 15 sticks the steamer showed signs of the use we had put it too.  The wire hops helped it to retain a sort of circular shape.

Fitting new ribs

The new ribs were carefully cut to length and marked then the 4 birds mouth mortiuces were cut as well as the two end tenons.  Then each one was fitted to the roof structure but now secured at this stage.

Carrying the roof out

At long last in March 2010 we had got all the new ribs fitted and wedged into position using a specially made jig.  We then wioted for a fine day when we could take the tram outside and fir the roof.  We first had to carry the roof structure down to the tram shed.  I was a bit nervous and hoped that it retained it's shape.  The structure was surprisingly light and strong.

12 new roof sticks

here the structure is carefully laid on the driveway before refiting.  Compare this to the first photo.

107 emerges.

We first had to pull 107 outside the shed on it's temporary wheels.  The track was made from two old pew seats and we only had 6mm of clearance under the door frame.  Everything had to be kept level as we had very little ground clearance.  It was great to see the progress with all the pannelling, the waist rails and the d end platform in place.

Persuading

With a little gentel persuasion, and the removal of two false ribs from the rear of the bulkhead we got the roof to settle into position.  If it had not seated properly it would have been too high to go back in the garage. 

The interior.

What a difference some roofing makes.  Even without the central ceiling planks the roof structure made a big difference to the appearance of the tram especially when viwed from inside.  It is really coming on.