Caboose home in Maine need foundation advice

[MaineCabooseHome]

Hi all. My name is Vince and I am finally making my dream of 30 years come true. I purchased 16 acres of virgin forest, built a deep gravel driveway with. "T" at the end, and then purchased an ex Pullman Troop Sleeper passenger car that the local railroad had converted to a large caboose. The car is on site, positioned where it will be permanent on one leg of the T and sitting on railroad ties up off the ground. Here are links to a pair of YouTube vids showing the prep and showing part of the actual moving down the road to my land. I found a contractor who shared my vision of using outrigger type dually wheels on custom axles plus build a hitch that he could hook up to his big rig and she hauled like a trailer.

https://youtu.be/2wEq-SxJUlE       Prepped for move

https://youtu.be/vK4NzN6Q6qI     On the road

So I have questions now about how to proceed with the crucial step of permanent placement in regards to how to set it. The car itself has a solid steel beam center sill frame running the whole length of it. It has bolsters where it used to ride on the wheelsets ( called "trucks" in railroad parlance ) so those are great points to start. It  also has 2 lift pads on each side in case a crane needed to lift it for repairs or replacement of wheelsets. The car weighs approx 20 tons as it is all steel and built with reinforced ends to withstand heavy stress loads while traveling in military trains loaded with equipment. The outside edges and lift pads are about 32 inches off the ground, the bottom of the center beam is about 16 inches off the ground.

The gravel pad it sits on is about 6-8 ft deep.

Should I be considering concrete piers either sunk down into the gravel or could I do something similar to mobile homes and use pressure treated pads, then stack cinder blocks and fill with concrete and some rebar? I envisioned 4 piers on each side plus a solid concrete block under the center beam every 10 feet. I would really welcome suggestions!

[cbc58]

very cool.  i don't have the technical knowledge to suggest a foundation - but I saw one of these in the VA mountains once sitting in someone's side yard.  they had built up a gravel base and laid railroad ties and tracks down and then set it on that to distribute weight.  they didn't have to deal with New England frost though.  looking forward to following your progress.

[MaineCabooseHome]

Frost and ground movement are something us way up northern folk have to contend with, so I chose gravel and went deep. A Concrete slab would prob crack and my land is somewhat moist especially in spring melt. It has been cribbed up on some railroad tie sections and has not moved since mid February. I am not sure if using ties only would be a long term solution or not but thank you for at least giving me the idea!

[Don_P]

I'm sure Rick will chime in when he sees this. I'll try to post a pic of one nearby. The gravel sounds like the ticket with a section of ties and track to distribute the weight. Reattach the trucks and a few welds to keep it in place and she should be good to.. stay  .

[MaineCabooseHome]

Unfortunately when I purchased the rail car did not have the wheels in buying them would cost me at least $15,000 so I am not planning to use any

[ChugiakTinkerer]

I think I'd go with railroad ties and mobile home anchors.  She's got the structural rigidity to withstand some heaving so just let it heave.  Although having a good gravel base will probably eliminate that.  Just make sure you've got enough square footage in ties to get the ground load down around 2,000 psf or less.  Ties would give it an authentic look, if you're going for that.

[cbc58]

here is a precast pier system:  http://www.e-zcrete.com/ez-tube

[MaineCabooseHome]

I had thought of a foundation of railroad ties but that costs a lot compared to the pressure treated plywood I was planning on for skirting it. Maybe in the future. I still would like to have the concrete columns to keep movement to a minimum.