The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 1, Issue 4 (August 24, 1926)

Finishing Bench

Finishing Bench.

Where doors, windows, and partitions are assembled, every facility should be given for handling and glueing the various parts. As much work as possible should be done at the finishing benches, where it is made easier on account of having every convenience, thus saving time and building.

It is self-evident that when we come to the actual building of a car the work should be the very best that we can put into it. All tenons should be of such a tightness that the framing hammer, or cramp, would have to be used to put them in position. No tenon should be allowed to be put in hand slack, for it is in the framing that we want strength and rigidity. These two features are essential to a railway car on account of the many movements and shocks it has to withstand. It is here that one sees the necessity of dry timber. A frame built with half dry timber, be it ever so well fitted and braced, soon becomes loose through shrinkage, a fault which cannot be rectified afterwards.

While assembling the car it is necessary to keep a strict watch on the cost. But, as already said, cheapness should not be sought at the expense of good work. If soundness of construction is sacrificed, our cheapness, in the last analysis, will not be in the interests of economy.

When side sheathing, it is a good practice to glue the joints. This process is certainly more expensive, but given dry timber, with good fitting T & G, the outside sheathing becomes as one board, acting as a brace to the car. It adds lasting qualities and gives a better foundation for the painter to work upon.

The same argument used in regard to labour may be applied to material. When covering the roof with canvas, white lead putty should be used, and the canvas stretched just enough to take out the creases. Too much stretching weakens the canvas. No substitute, such as whiting and oil, can take the place of white lead. If this is done you will find that as soon as the oil has perished the whiting will powder between the fingers. The consequences are a rotting canvas and a leaky roof, and more repairs that would have been avoided by the use of the better material.

When we come to the interior finish of the car, our motto should be “Rich, not gaudy.” A neat, plain finish, such as a thumb moulding with a high polish, which can be readily kept clean, is preferable to a more elaborate finish with many quirks and corners that are always more or less dirty. The plain finish is the more desirable from both a sanitary and an economic point of view.

The salient points in our search for economy in car construction are:—

Dry timber. As much machine work as we can possibly put upon our wood work. Facilities for glueing and finishing. Good work in construction, always with an idea of building to last. Interior fittings, designed for easy fitting up and removal.

If these points are borne in mind from the start until the finish, we will then have a car that will be economical right throughout its life, and even although it has cost a few more pounds to construct, its cost card will show that it is both cheaper and more economic in the end.