The Home Machinist!

Thanks, Fender. Every bit of information helps.

I just got an email from the Calif. State RR museum and they say sheet metal was used on the Baldwin wood cab roofs.

By the way, those folks are so helpful. No question is too trivial for them. They deserve all the support they can get. The librarian I worked with, Lisa, seemed just as excited about my research as I was. She found all sorts of interesting things for me and had them ready when I arrived.

Greg,

Care to elaborate on the sheet metal roofs?

Climax used a folded seam sheet metal roof on the wood cabs around the turn of the century. I'm curious to hear more about what Baldwin did.

Regards,

Doug

Doug:

That's all I got. Below is a portion of a photo I got from the museum. If you look carefully, there is something peeling up along the edges of the roof. No way to tell for sure what it is, but the nature of the wrinkles, particularly around the front curve, suggests it might be sheet metal. The reply I got from the museum read: "I needed to refer your question out to our historian, Kyle Wyatt, who in turn asked other experts about what kind of roofing material was used for Baldwin wood cabs of that era. The consensus is that sheet metal was used on these."

Take a look at Dwight Ennis' sheet metal cab roof, albeit a little earlier period ( I think ) than you're looking for:

http://www.chaski.org/homemachinist/vie ... &start=120

Thanks, C. That's one gorgeous cab.

Late this afternoon I got an email from Kyle Wyatt at the CSRM with The Final Answer: A photo of the roof of V&T #25. It and my engine, #26, are sisters and were built to similar specifications within two years of each other. Here is the definitive answer to the question: sheet metal.

From Randy Hees, Director of the Nevada State Railroad Museum, Boulder City.

"Almost certainly turne sheet... this is a lead washed soft iron sheet metal. Sheets are about 18" x 24. The seams are folded and interlocked, then soldered. It was painted (color unknown). It is also used on passenger car roofs, on on bay windows of Victorian houses... "

Here's the V&T Tahoe at Strasburg at the Pennsylvania RR Museum.
(Ooops, I see that Kyle Wyatt has already weighed in with the V&T #25, my post in the V&T Yahoo group asked about the 25...)

John

Thanks, John. Your post led me to this description of terne sheet on Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terne

and a little more history: http://www.oldhousefix.com/terne-metal-roofs/