With the arrival of the ex-CNR snow flanger, it gives a good opportunity to take some closer looks at this interesting piece of snow fighting equipment.? We will start with a few more pics of the car arriving at the Museum site.

Coming off the trailer, taken from outside the shop, as the first truck touches down at its new home

Where the flanger is currently living is the one track in the shop that has no track constructed outside of the shop itself.? This made this move quite easy, as the trailer was able to drop down and line up perfectly with the rail imbedded in the concrete floor.? Of course, once it was off the trailer, it need a bit of help to get inside the door. The tractor was on an angle that didn?t allow good traction, so 4 of the members, one on a manual car mover, the other 3 pushing, got the car inside the door enough to allow the tractor to push the rest of the way. With someone on the handbrake, the car was eased into position.

While the car came off the trailer fine, the shop floor is of course pretty level. Both the manual car mover (and 3 other members pushing) along with the tractor, moved the car inside the shop.

A look at the actual blades of the flanger. Originally, when in service, this car also had 4 short wings, which could be positioned manually to allow snow to be deflected further from the track.

Part of the floor gone shows the tin protecting the bottom of the floor.

With the tin removed, the frame cross members are now visible.

With the wood tongue in groove deck so badly deteriorated, it makes it very easy to remove the rotten floor.? A small corner has been started at one end of the car, and we can see the tin sheeting nailed to the bottom of the deck to protect the wood from the water that would be thrown from the wheels.? This tin was only over the trucks, not in the centre.? With the tin removed, the cross members of the frame can be clearly seen. This is the first part of the car that is being worked on, and it will be done one section at a time until the deck is gone. There is a lot of chipping and wire brushing to be done, hence the reason it will be done in sections.

The frame on the deck of the car is where the air cylinders once were. Because of the amount of deterioration in the deck, the wood blocks no longer support the weight of the blades and they dropped down to the rails. The ties in the photo are holding the blades off the rails.

The next part of this story will focus on some of the actual construction methods used on the car. Stay tuned for part 2.