Windows In, Windows Out

The cosmetic restoration of Indiana Railroad 205 picked up after a five-month hiatus with a flurry of activity on Wednesday. Of the two window projects, the first was an installation: Portland Traction, the last company to operate the car, had replaced one of the small windows to the left of the motorman with a steel panel, and this was replaced with a new pane of glass to backdate the car closer to its IR appearance. The other project was removal of two of the end windows at the east end of the car. Of the car's six (originally brass sash) end windows, three were replaced by Portland Traction with wooden sash windows. Besides being rotted out, these are inaccurate for 205's target restoration date of the late 1930's, so Bob Bruneau supplied us with three spare brass windows that will be modified for use on the 205. The two end windows removed will be used as patterns; next up is installation of plywood blanks to keep the car secure while window work is done off-property. To the left, yours truly installs the new pane of glass. Note that there is no folding step at this location, as it was removed and these doors closed up permanently when IR converted the car to one-man operation in the mid-1930's.


Other work on the 205 included some more Bondo application on the car itself and another coat of varnish on the two new door leaves for the car, which were constructed last year. Below is a photo of the east end of the car after removal of the two end windows; along the bottom some of the new Bondo can be seen, and note too the plywood blank in the doorway.














And a photo of the new door leaves with a second coat of varnish:














Plus a bonus photo of work being done on the clerestory windows on the 309!

Randy adds: On Monday it was raining heavily, so I checked for leaks in the barn roof over all three cars: there was a slow leak over the 309, which I then caulked up on Wednesday. I also patched up one of the display signs, and got everything ready for the barn to be open for visitors. And plenty of miscellaneous tasks on the interior of the 309: more molding strips installed in the ceiling as shown, gluing and repainting of loose veneer on the walls, and so on. And Gerry Detloff helped us move some heavy car parts, stored along the wall of the barn, so Max can continue installing conduit in Barn 8. Thanks, Gerry!