Post
by Greg_Lewis » Tue Jan 16, 2018 11:13 am
Thanks, Jerry, Glenn and Makinsmoke. Every bit of evidence is worthwhile. Robert Williams forwarded to me some info from a website UtahRails,net on a roofing material called Mulehide, introduced in 1906 by a company that is still in business. While this pertains to Union Pacific cabooses, not Baldwin cabs, the Mulehide apparently was a common roofing material:
"Mulehide is canvas that is laid over the wooden roof, with hot asphalt brushed on to seal it. Usually, two or three coats of canvas and asphalt was used. This treatment was very waterproof, and very durable, thus the "mulehide" name. But, it also weathered rapidly and needed regular maintenance, which explains why metal roofs were used on freight cars. The color of mulehide would vary from new asphalt black, to highly weathered, old asphalt gray. It was never to be painted. At times, and depending on when it was last treated, the fabric pattern of the canvas is visible."
Greg Lewis, Prop.
Eyeball Engineering — Home of non-interchangeable parts.
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