Matt DeWinkeleer

An Update from the Rails

Added 2025-04-11 17:47:50 +0000 UTC

Beams upon beams upon beams...

First, a quick and overdue update on structure, which I'm writing as we barrel across rural New Mexico with mountains and dry grassy plains around us.

The process of adding deck beams to the structural model has been ongoing. It started with creating a rough reference for where beams are, the type of beams, and beam directions. Once done, the actual beams could start being placed.

The actual process is fairly simple; create beam, copy that beam frame to frame, adjust for sheer. The beams also have their camber figured out, as they all have the same camber of 3 feet over 92 feet. With each beam is also made a set of brackets which connect the beams with the vertical hull frames.

The catch is there are a LOT of beams, some 2,200-ish, and their brackets get trickier once you get further fore/aft and lower. That said, most of them will be done fairly quickly, especially amidships. Work was slow and is currently stopped while we prepared for and are now on our trip to host the live event, but will pick up again when we're back. Attached are some images of the work-in-progress beams and the reference layout.

Riding the rails to the Queen Mary...

This post was longer with a section about our trip, but Matt walked away with my WiFi connection and I lost that part. So I'll keep it shorter before we lose connection again in the middle of New Mexico's endless fields of dry grass...

Some of us on the team (Myself/Kyle, Matt, and Nico) are taking Amtrak's Southwest Chief out to LA for the event in Long Beach. I'm not a plane person and they wanted to join me, so here we are! Can't recommend taking the train enough!

Once in Long Beach, we'll prepare for the event and use all the extra time we can to document more of the Queen Mary, and maybe I'll even get a clarification or two on some structural questions. Also attached are a few images from our trip so far.

We're excited to see some of you aboard the RMS Queen Mary!