Tuesday, February 16, 2016

M-35 Report

Back in the seventies, my friend Gregg Wolfersheim was working on the restoration of our UP gas-mechanical car, or "doodlebug", the M-35.  This car is historic as a prime example of the development of internal combusion railroad equipment.  It was built in 1927 by the Electro-Motive Corporation, which later became the Electro-Motive Division of GM, or EMD.   EMC's early designs used a lot of contemporary electric car technology.  The body was built by St. Louis Car, and it has Brill trucks. 

Gregg had to take a few years off when his job with the railroads took him elsewhere, but he has recently returned to the area and is working on the M-35 again, which is stored in Barn 2.  Gregg writes:


Here is the front window rebuilt and in primer. Note the "missing" center window and outer drop/slide window. These are being worked on.  Buzz has been helping with advice on this project.


 Next is a roof shot of the top of the walls and carlines being painted before we attach the wood carlines to the metal ribs.


This is the same, showing the roof over the coach section.


And last is the men's room stripped down to metal with the sill already painted. The floor has had the linoleum removed. It's a small area that I'm learning how to restore before doing the rest of the car's interior.  The plan is to put some of the roof back together before taking anything else further apart. Some gauges and other items including piping have been finished since being removed in 1977! Also, I've done some touchup in the engine compartment.

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