Dining in Style

Today happened to be a holiday for me, so there was more surface prep and painting on the 36. We've now finished about five windows' worth, so that's about a third of the side of the car. Of course, there will be several more coats of paint needed with sanding in between, but that goes much faster.

So I went over to visit my old friend Jack Biesterfeld, who is still working on the B&M diner. Here he is stripping paint from one of the side doors, using chemical stripper and all the associated safety equipment. Yecch!

All of the kitchen equipment was removed when the car was converted to camp service, and he's still cleaning up. The cabinet in the foreground was just removed last week. He hopes to put in a display of railroad china and other artifacts, to show how railroad dining cars were equipped.

Here's an example of the beautiful finish job on the interior woodwork. The lower window frame and the brass rail are new, everything else Jack refinished.

There used to be an identical window next to it, but it was removed and now looks like this. We discussed what needs to be done to remove the unwanted 2x4s and replace the window frame.

On my way into the city, I stopped to get some more ceiling paint for the CA&E cars, and got a gallon of orange matched for the final coat on the IRR 205. Frank hopes to finish repainting it this summer.