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Where she belongs...
Date: 12/06/2007
...on the rear of a long passenger train. St. Nicholas Mountain looks good at the end of the string of stored cars in this early morning shot. On the horizon we see the headlight appear of the switcher that's going to switch the car to a better accessible location.
Coupled on
Date: 12/06/2007
Soon our switcher couples on to the round end. Ready to start the move and my first ride aboard St. Nicholas Mountain!
Vestibule end view
Date: 12/06/2007
This is the first time the front of the car is fully visible. Note the handbrake. It was moved to the outside of the car when it was moved from Seattle to the Eastcoast. During this move the vestibule was completely welded shut due to the missing door to the interior.
Marker light connector
Date: 12/06/2007
I purchased several parts from Dave Varilek to replace some missing items in the vestibule area. Before doing more windows I got busy installing several of these parts: The marker light connector on this side was missing from the car since before I purchased it. I installed a correct replacement which will for now mainly serve to prevent water from running into the socket. Eventually it will get cleaned up further and repainted.
Lower vestibule door catch
Date: 12/06/2007
The right side lower vestibule door catch was missing its locking lever. I replaced it with parts taken from another catch I bought from Dave Varilek.
Upper vestibule door catch
Date: 12/06/2007
The upper vestibule door catch on the left side was broken. It is attached from the inside of the plate visible behind it. Although repaired from the outside before, I decided to install the new one the original way using machine screws from the back and nuts and lock washers on the front.
Locking center pin and cover
Date: 12/06/2007
Among the parts received were also two locking center pin covers. Visible here is the locking pin seated in the hole with the cover ready to be installed.
Cover 'installed'
Date: 12/06/2007
The cover smoothes out the floor and solves a tripping hazard that existed before. The cover will need to be screwed down still but all four screws were found broken off (at both). This will make a nice project for later.
Second vestibule door
Date: 12/06/2007
Done playing with parts I'm back to replacing windows. This is the new right vestibule door window. The old cracked pane had until now been covered with a steel plate, as can be seen by the paint outline around it.
Finally...
Date: 12/06/2007
The conductor's roomette window has given me the most problems up till now. It took over three days to just get it out! That’s how frozen solid all the screws were. The outer pane was mostly gone and the inner pane was bulging to the inside of the car by about four inches, only being held together by duct tape. What a difference with how the window looks now!
No such luck...
Date: 12/06/2007
Last October I replaced the bathroom window and applied a self adhesive film to simulate the original frosting of this window. Although promised differently by the supplier the foil did not like the temperature changes and contraction and expansion of the Makrolon much. Bubbles have formed behind the foil leaving the window looking quite bad. Thankfully I did not attach the foil inside the airgap. I will have to come up with a different way to frost this window.
Starting on the other side
Date: 12/06/2007
We moved to this side of St. Nicholas Mountain to do more windows. This photo by Eric Hopp nicely shows the car before any windows were replaced.
Happy to do windows?
Date: 12/06/2007
Having done so many windows on his own car one wonders why Eric Hopp is still smiling doing even more windows...
Rust problem
Date: 12/06/2007
As could be expected the windows located around the patches would have more rust related issues. It turned out to be pretty bad. When the window was out we found this pile of rust and insulation. The insulation is of course the reason the rust got so bad here. It serves as a sponge trapping water long enough for it to do this kind of damage to the window sill. Note the thinned out flange peeling away from the outer skin.
Damage cleaned up
Date: 12/06/2007
After cleaning out the rust and dirt this is what's left. The lower flange located against the outer skin of the car is completely gone. The flanges to which the window sash attaches are very thin in places. It will have to do for now until the car gets to the shop and this area can be rebuilt.
Flange gone
Date: 12/06/2007
Here is a close up view of the lower channel. Visible is only a low ridge what used to be the flange the outer skin attached too. Also note the heavy pitting of the outer skin. This part of the outer skin will also have to be replaced.
Years of dirt accumulation
Date: 12/06/2007
Once the sash is out and disassembled its time to clean up all the dirt and crud that has accumulated on the sash over the years. Visible in the corner is a screw hole that didn't survive an earlier attempt to remove the sash.
Windows between patches replaced
Date: 12/06/2007
Eventually, after taking care of the rust problems, the windows were put back in. They will come out again when the window sill area will get rebuilt. Due to the forming of rust the outer skin had bulged outward underneath the windows. I attempted to bring it back into alignment but with the windows back in we discovered the outer gasket didn't seal well at the bottom. Eric took the honors and sealed the remaining gaps with Windo-weld. This will do until the necessary steelwork can be done at the shop.
Tint difference
Date: 12/06/2007
After taking the backing paper off we discovered that the two windows were of two very different tints of green. Too big a difference not to notice. I will contact the supplier to find out what had happened and what can be done about it. (The window on the right has the tint used on all previously installed windows.)
Curved window assembly
Date: 12/06/2007
While I was fighting with the other windows, Eric took on the challenge to replace the first curved window. As shown in the photo the window sash is a standard straight Adlake sash. Added to it is a filler strip which rounds out the gap between the sash and the outer skin. It is attached to the straight sash with small screws. The gap between these two pieces is sealed with rope caulk. We found that Homax #18 Window and Door Caulk worked best for us because of its thin cross section.
The first curved window is going in
Date: 12/06/2007
Still with its backing paper on, the first curved window is getting installed. Another five of these windows are waiting to get done.
Curved window inside
Date: 12/06/2007
The window is in. It turns out that these 'curved' windows use different mounting screws. Half of them are round head screws instead of the usual flat head ones. Why this was done is unclear, but there is more room available for them here as the window trim doesn't mount flush against the sash.
Straight and curved window
Date: 12/06/2007
This photo clearly shows the difference in size of the tall windows on the straight side and those on the curved end. It also shows the straight sash on both.
First curved window done
Date: 12/06/2007
Also on the outside the first 'curved' window looks good. The curved filler piece on this window is not very visible as it is quite thin at this location. The further towards the rear of the car the thicker these filler pieces become.
One more...
Date: 12/06/2007
...window done and the last one for this work session. We chose deliberately for a window away from the patches to avoid running out of time putting it back in. We did a total of six windows this session. Not bad considering the problems we encountered. Note the first hobo is already checking out a place to travel underneath the car... Somehow he looks familiar...
Three windows done
Date: 12/06/2007
We ended up doing three windows on this side. The two windows between the patch and the one located three windows to the rear of the small patch. I can't wait to get the rest done.
Fluorescent lamp holder
Date: 12/06/2007
Having the old restaurant lights working again I started thinking about replacing the regular bulbs with fluorescent tubes. This will give a much better look to the lighting and be like the original. Luckily I found one remaining fluorescent lamp holder - all the others had been stripped from the fixtures. The one shown here will serve as a pattern for new ones.
Stripped perimeter light fixture
Date: 12/06/2007
The orginal lamp holder brackets were broken off during the conversion for the restaurant and the wires leading to them snipped. Visible also is the old starter socket. Please enlarge for a better view.
Pin stripe painting in progress
Date: 12/06/2007
For a change of pace from doing windows we decided to repaint the pin stripes on this side of the car. The original stripes were painted over in places in 2005 when I was addressing peeling paint. We masked the stripes using the original reataurant pattern (which is close to the GN pattern) and used a roller to paint the stripes on.
Looking sharp!
Date: 12/06/2007
With most of its windows replaced and the bottom two pin stripes repainted St. Nicholas Mountain is starting to look sharp. Next time I'll add the upper pin stripe.
Artsy view
Date: 12/06/2007
Although a hard worker, I did find Eric laying down at times... grabbing this beautiful shot of St. Nicholas Mountain. Nice shot Eric!
Another artsy view
Date: 12/06/2007
...and again grabbing this great shot. Photo courtesy of Eric Hopp
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