thunderhillservices

Kalamazoo Car in Need

A friend is starting to bring a Kalamazoo gang car back to life. It had a tough existence on the railroad. At some point the Wisconsin air cooled 4 cylinder engine was replaced with a Chevrolet six cylinder! I was asked to assist with new assemblies to stop this speed racer. All the existing OEMContinue reading “Kalamazoo Car in Need”

Work at the Foundry

We got a date from the foundry a few days ago. They will be pouring our order the week of 19 September. The order includes our new M/MT-14/19 flange brakes as well as standard tread liners for A-3/4/5 and M/MT-14/19 and S2 cars. It’s a big order consisting of nearly 900 pounds of iron. AnContinue reading “Work at the Foundry”

Blocks, blocks, blocks…

We shipped our last set of M/MT-14/19 blocks on the shelf today. We are behind! Thirty-two more are getting the spar urethane coating. They should be done by Monday morning. This humid weather in New Hampshire this past week has lengthened the drying time. On deck are A Series car blocks as well as ourContinue reading “Blocks, blocks, blocks…”

The War Comes to Motorcars

So I have learned recently that the supply chain for cast iron is affected by the war in the Ukraine. It seems that the Ukraine is a major supplier of pig iron to the US and Canada. Pig iron is a major component of the more refined cast iron that we use to make brakeContinue reading “The War Comes to Motorcars”

Flange Brakes for M14/19 Series Cars

The patterns are done! We’ve had requests to manufacture flange brake assemblies for M/MT-14/19 Series cars. These are not common in New England where I typically run. However according to customers they are more common in the northern Midwest and northwestern states. All the wood blocks are cut and ready for final finishing with sparContinue reading “Flange Brakes for M14/19 Series Cars”

A Car Assemblies – Out of Stock

So we’ve had somewhat of a run on A Car assemblies lately. We had an inventory that would typically last 3-4 months become depleted in three weeks. As of today we have 12 liners and two blocks in stock. Blocks are only about two weeks away. However, the cast liners are still around nine weeksContinue reading “A Car Assemblies – Out of Stock”

Stocking the Shelves

Final prep on M/MT Series brake blocks before the urethane finish

M Series Castings Update

The foundry has contacted us. The castings are ready for pickup this Wednesday. We do some light machining and coatings to minimize the flash rusting. Casting only purchases and complete assemblies should be ready to ship by Wednesday, 3 November.

Delays in casting M Series Liners

We are still awaiting our pour of 200 M Series liners at the foundry. I was told that it could slip to the week of 18 October. It takes several days to cool the castings and do some light grinding before I can get them. It would be several more days before my final lightContinue reading “Delays in casting M Series Liners”

Fairmont M9 Flange Brakes are here!

It’s been a while in the making but the day has finally arrived. We suffered a few setbacks with casting schedules. We’ve made the needed templates and jigs. We have produced the labor intensive special wooden blocks. With some help from fellow motorcar enthusiasts and friends we started building assemblies this week. It’s a goodContinue reading “Fairmont M9 Flange Brakes are here!”