January-February 2020

The start of the New Year saw an increase in the number of work sessions in order to ready 470 for the move to Antonito in the spring.  Plans are in place during 50th anniversary celebration of the C&TS to run 470 on special trains, so not only must we finish the interior but trucks, brakes, couplers, etc. must be installed, the latter being done in Antonito.

Work continued on installing the ceiling.  Here Mike (nailing) and Don are at work.  It helps to be tall for this.

 Subsequently Don worked on the ceilings in the lavatories.  The holes for the vents had to be made so the vents were vertical.

Then the ceiling boards fitted around the holes.

Looks good from below.

Continuing with the lavatories, this is a view of the partitions in the men's area.  The toilet will be located in the far area on the right and the hand washing area is on the left behind the seat.

Craig is finishing up the toilet area.  The door is hung, and he is closing off the area over the door.

They are not very roomy, but no worse than an airline lavatory.

A view of the area over the door.

Men's toilet in place.   Looks good, but non-functioning.

This is the hand washing area next to the toilet.  There will be water tanks for washing and drinking on each side wall.  A sink will be located in the middle of the platform.

The women's lavatory is nearing completion.  It is less "luxurious" than the men's, i.e. the toilet and hand washing facilities are in the same small space.  A heater is located in the corner behind the entrance door to the car.

Here is a detailed view of the area over the door.

Craig made doors for the lavatories and is hanging the one on the ladies' in this photo.

The toilet is installed.

The hand washing facility on the opposite wall to the toilet.

The door hardware looks authentic and was available online.

Now on to the partitions between the seats.  First the posts were installed.  A double ended screw was placed in the top cross member of the seat.  Here Craig is using a needle nosed vise grip to turn it in.

Then a brass cap was placed over the screw.

A hole was drilled in the bottom of the post and it was rotated over the screw until it was seated in the brass cup.  Here Bill L., Craig and John E. are doing the turning.

The cast iron arch was then screwed to the wall.

Bill L. is checking the plumb, Craig the stability, I guess.

The partitions between seats are mostly in place, but incomplete and supported temporarily by boards cut to length.  The posts will provide permanent support for the inner part of the partition.

Trim pieces were nailed to the posts above and below the brass fitting.  The upper one will help support the partition while both will help close the opening when the sliding doors are in place.  Don is doing the fitting an nailing.

This photo shows how the post is supporting the upper boards of the partition with a piece of wood extending from the post to the underside of the boards.

The space under the arch is filled with boards cut to the form of the arch and routed to fit in the groove of the arch.  These were pre-made and glued together.

The arches were loosened and the panels inserted, then the arches replaced.

Here is a closeup of the upper post and partition.

The sliding doors in the partitions between the seats were made by Craig in his shop.

There is a routed out hand hold to slide the doors open and closed.   A brass fitting will be placed in it to finish it off.

Metal track will hold the doors in place.  The lower track is a squared off "U" shape and the upper track is "Z" shaped.

Here Dean is screwing the lower track in place.

In this photo a door is in the open position.  The upper track has not yet been fastened in.

This is the closed position.  The gap along the post will be filled with a trim piece.

This photo shows the door partially closed with the brass hand hold installed.

The arm rests were installed on the seats.  Here John C. is using a right angle drill in a tight spot.

The arm rests against the outer wall had to be trimmed slightly since there was no room for an overhang.

Those on the aisle are a bit wider.  They all  have an interesting grain pattern.

The curtain rods to hold the curtains covering the berths were made from pipe fittings.  A coupling with the threads removed on one end was place over the protrusion on the base of the arch and the pipe screwed into the other end.

The installation process was a coordinated effort by tall people.  John E. and Larry are at work here.

Getting the geometry right for the upper berths was a bit of a challenge.  They had to rest on the brass fixture on the posts when down as well as clear the curtain rods above and meet the edge of the clerestory where they will be fastened when raised.  Craig made a partial pattern to check the dimensions, here in the down position with the hinge held in approximate location on the wall.

This photo shows the pattern in the up position.  It looks like it will work.

Next a full sized prototype was made.  The outer framing is in place here.

Platform boards were added and the completed berth looks like this in the down position.

This photo shows the up position and it looks like it fits.

The berths rest on pads which have been inserted into the cavities in the brass casting.

The pads were cut from mounting material (think motor mounts) and inserted over spacers to get the correct depth.

Drawings of the hardware are available and this photo shows the hook catch that holds the berths in the up position.  There will be a ring fitting on the berth to fit the hook.

The catches have been cast, thanks to Ron S.  In this photo the hook is in the up position to  release the berth.

Tom has the flashing on the clerestory windows completed.

Next is installation of  water and ice dam material around the pillars and into the window openings.  Wood blocks are then placed over the dam material as shown here.

The window frames had to be individually fitted into the openings.

This was mostly a two person job, here Tom is on the outside and John E. inside.

Finally, John E. assembled a couple of the pull cord straps.

This fitting on one end is screwed into the ceiling of the clerestory.

On the other end is a ring with a roller on it for the pull cord to be passed through.  There will be several of these along the length of the car.





Thanks again to John E., Tom and Don for contributing photos.

November-December 2019

Work on the interior of 470 was accelerating as plans are to move it to Antonito in early spring.

Assembly of the seats was completed and considerable progress was made on the partitions between the seats.  Flashing on the clerestory windows progressed nicely and installation of hardware on the lower windows was begun.  Also wind damage to the protective structure was repaired.

 Dean is working on seat assembly near the end of the car.  It seemed to be easier to put one of the frames on the floor, fit the cross braces, then place the second frame on top.

 Bill L. and Don are attaching hinges to the seat and seat back.

Tom was able to take some aerial views when he was working on the clerestory windows.  (A peeping Tom?)  Don and Bill L. are assembling a seat.

Arm rests were screwed on to the frames.

The arm rests next to the walls had to be cut slightly narrower since there was no room for an overhang.

We started work at the west end of the car and this photo shows several seat assemblies in place, as well as some of the partitions between the seats partially constructed.  The photos on the seats are used for guides in the rebuild along with plans that are available, the Carbuilder's Cyclopedia, sister cars, and other sources.  The photos are also used as displays on tours that come through the Trolley Museum.

This is a closeup of the photo on the right above showing the details of the dividers between seats, the posts to support the upper bunks, the raised upper bunks, and the sliding doors in the partitions between seats.  This photo was taken of a sister car after construction and prior to delivery.

This is a view of the ladies restroom and heater areas in the southwest corner of the car.  The heater area is behind the curved wall next to the door.  In front of the curved wall will be a toilet and wash basin.

This photo shows a detail of the base of the curved wall with a grooved strip of wood that has been curved to hold the boards.  In the photo above curved pieces of wood are placed on the convex side of the wall for reinforcement.

In this photo we have moved to the other end of the car, to the area of the men's "saloon" in the northeast corner.  The partition between the hand washing area and the seat is being built.  Craig, Dean, John E. and Don are planning the next move.

This is a better view of the same partition.  There will be a seat backing up to it on this side and the men's wash station on the other side.

Another sky view showing Craig fitting the end cap on the partition.

In this photo the partition separating the men's wash station and toilet is being started.  The grooved pieces for the boards are being installed.

We began assembling the posts between the seats.  Brass castings were made on which the bunks rest when in the down or sleeping position.  Some burrs were present on the insides and needed to be filed down, which is what Bill K. is doing here.

This photo shows an assembled post.  The bottom (to the right) is screwed into the top cross frame of the seat and the top of the post is inserted into the bottom of the arch casting which is fastened to the side of the clerestory.

A close up view of the casting.  The top part of the post is square and the bottom is round.

This is a top view of the casting.  The bunks rest on the flanges on either side.  A rubber bumper goes in the smaller square hole.

This photo shows the lower part of a post installed adjacent to the ladies' lavatory.

This is the upper part of the same post.  The bunk lengths will be limited by the distance between posts.

The window hardware installation was begun.  On the window sill on the left is a latch that goes on the side of the window to hold it open.  There are several stops to have them open different amounts for ventilation.  On the right is a hook shaped handle to lift the window up which goes on the tab in the center on the bottom of the window frame.

Larry is installing the stops on the window opening.

Scott is installing a latch on the window frame.

Meanwhile Tom continues work on the clerestory windows.

When new these cars had a cord running the length hanging from the ceiling to be used to stop the train in an emergency.  Air is released from the brake lines and the train comes to a sudden stop.  The cord was suspended by leather straps with brass hardware on each end.  In this photo there are three straps between the chandeliers.

This photo shows a reproduction of one of the leather straps that will be used in 470.

A better look at the strap hardware is seen here.  The upper piece is fastened into the ceiling of the car and the pull cord passes through the ring in the lower piece.

Craig tapered the ends of the platform end sill on the east end of 470 to match photos of similar cars.  The west end was done earlier.

Now John can secure the railing on the east end.

Meanwhile, the couplers were being assembled by Russ and Patricia Hanscom in their shop in New Mexico.  I wasn't there, but this looks like a drill press on steroids, drilling holes in a 1" piece of steel.

The steel pieces with wood spacers were attached  to the coupler.

Rivets were seated with a hydraulic press.

Everything fits together nicely.

Lastly, the west end of the structure has been repaired and is being replaced in this photo.  John E. is on his way up to put the end material in place.

Here the end piece is being secured with clamps on the piping, then the top and sides will be brought over the end and tightened.




Thanks again to those who contributed photos, John E., Tom S., Don A. and the Hanscoms.