319 Update

Work is progressing on the 319, since I'm still on vacation for another week or so.

Some more filler was applied to the round beading over this alcove, which had to be removed and reattached. In another week or so I can finish painting this section. (And thanks to Tim for letting me borrow his caulk gun!)

Meanwhile, I did sanding, cleaning, and repainting on the lower section of ceiling in this part. Once the ceiling is done, the floor can be painted, and the smoker will be ready. But not for smoking. I believe the ceiling paint is noticeably dirtier, or at least browner, in the smoker than it is in the main compartment. This is the first car I've gotten to work on that was in good enough preservation to even notice such a detail.

And there was more paint removal in the vestibule. The ceiling is fairly complicated and has lots of inaccessible corners. Pfaugh.

On the 277, one thing I need to do before April 30th is to fix up this one section on the right side of the car. Both of the body posts rotted out on the outside of the car. I took measurements for getting new wood to install. Bob Bruneau earlier replaced the spacer blocks, as you may be able to see, but the posts themselves need replacement.

When finished, it will look like this.

In international news, our pictures of the Silver Pony attracted the attention of a Swedish railfan who maintains a site dedicated to the D&RGW, which is here. Click on "Prototype" to see various sites with Rio Grande equipment, including ours. So that's good. Now imagine what it would look like if I were trying to maintain a site written in Swedish....