Wooden Roof on Steel Passenger Car?

[wabash2800]

I'm building a scale model of a Wabash combine built by ACF in 1912. There are no plans to be found for the car from the usual sources. Anyway, the car has a canvas type roof with wooden tack board around the sides and ends of the car where the canvas meets the side of the car. A sister car built a year later has a steel roof with riveting and no canvas. Would the 1912 car have a wooden roof? Victor A. Baird www.erstwhilepublications.com

[AgentKid]

I was recently reading where the CPR was building passenger cars with both wood/canvas and steel roofs all the way through the 1920's. At that time steel was still quite expensive. It didn't come down to the price relative to other materials that we know today until after WWII.

In the '10's and '20's, it was still a very serious issue of what the budget could stand.

Bruce

[daveklepper]

Many steel lightweight streetcars had wood roofs with canvass coverings.  I recall working on one or two at Branford (Shore Line Trolley Museum).

[rcdrye]

Chicago Rapid Transit had steel roofs on the 1913-1914 "Baldie" 4000 series.  The second series of 4000s that were equipped with trolley poles (in 1924) had wooden roofs.  The next series of cars to get poles (1-50, plus 6127-6130, all aound 1959-60) all had aluminum roofs.

[cx500]

I understand that in the initial phase of steel heavyweight production, steel roofs were popular.  (I wonder if in fact they were merely sheet metal instead of canvas, and still supported by wood ribs?)  In practice it was found difficult to keep the steel roof completely watertight at the joints, so many roads reverted to canvas.  Many of today's wonderful materials that could have solved the problem were yet to be invented.

John

 

[daveklepper]

And on a trolley-pole equipped car, wood is safer for repair if the retriever rope breaks and one must climb on the roof to pocket pole under the hook.  Most lightweight steel streetcars had wood and canvass roofs, including Birneys, Third Avenue homebuilts, Cincinnati lightweights.