New York Central - DOVER STRAIT

We are again fortunate to have some images from Roger Kramer, this time to give you a peek inside the DOVER STRAIT.  To start out, here is repeat of a roster shot photo taken with the car newly painted and lettered.

Roster Shot

The DOVER STRAIT is heavyweight passenger car riding on six wheel trucks manufactured by Pullman in 1924 to a six double bedroom-buffet-lounge floor plan.  The above picture was taken shortly after completion of its exterior restoration and lettering.  For those not familiar with the work, go to the category listing on the right hand side of these BLOGS and click on the small plus sign in a box to expand the Passenger Car Department CATEGORY, then click on the DOVER category to see the entire log of entries for this car.

Lounge Photo

As you enter the car you are greeted by a framed NYC poster.  Bob Hunter is the Project Manager and he has been assisted by Gene Mackowiak.  Other assistance has come for special tasks from the Freight Car Department, the Steam Department (yes), and the Wednesday Special Projects Group.  After largely completing the exterior work, efforts have been focused on the interior, and it is getting close to completion.

Lounge

The car will be stunning as can be seen from this recent photo of the lounge - repainted, trim installed, and lighting working.  Of course, you will expect a request for donations. In this case funds are needed to acquire and install the carpeting, table lamps, furniture, other furnishings, and finishing touches.  The fund is RDOVER.

There was some good news as the Dover Strait was able to be moved outdoors for more work.

Underbody

Gene Machowiak is visible in this picture if you look closely.  He is working on the underbody gear, needle chipping and preparing for fresh paint and primer.  This has been on their TO DO list for some weeks, but weather does not always cooperate, and a locomotive and crew are needed to pull the car out of Barn 3 and return it at night.

Project Manager

We caught Bob Hunter on the north side, fussing with some wire and cabling, to get it back in place before Gene moves to this side.

It has been awhile since we have shown any progress reports on the DOVER STRAIT.  Bob Hunter works on this project year around, with summer help from Gene Mackowiak.  Much of the recent work this season has been on the car interior.  So - here are some images courtesy of scans made by the intrepid staff at the Strahorn Library.

Vestibule Entry

There is only a vestibule at one end of this heavyweight car and this is the entry, all trimmed out and nearly complete.

Hallway

One end of the car is occupied by bedrooms and there is a hallway along side those.  All painted and with lighting complete, it looks terrific!

Lounge

The main lounge/seating area has also been refinished and lighting installed.  WOW!  Still work to be done, add furniture and details, but a real milestone in the restoration effort which has consumed years of volunteer work.

Underbody

Not much gets posted on some restoration projects.  Bob Hunter is the project manager for this car and he works on it year round in almost any weather.  In the summer he is assisted by others.  In the above image Gene Mackowiak is needlechipping many layers of paint and crud and will later paint some of this.

New Lights

With a lot of the car interior painted here are some of the restored light fixtures working on the north wall of the lounge section

Installing More

Roger Kramer is busy adding another fixture.

Interior Painting

The lounge area interior is really taking shape with nice glossy finish after more spraying today.

MORE PAINT

Actually MORE PAINT is needed to continue and complete the spraying.  Still, a big change and big improvement is noted as the project moves along.

After the spectacular completion and display of the car's exterior last year, the restoration team has not been sitting idle.

Hallway

A lot of work has been focused on the car interior.  Here you may view the newly painted hallway, which runs along one side of the car past the bedrooms.

Lounge

The car's lounge has a lot of walls, trim, and complexity and Bob Hunter continues to work in there.  Here you can see much of the results - new finish painted walls.

Shade Covers

Bob Hunter is hand painting the inside of the shade boxes, or metal covers that will be installed prior to the last coat spray painting of the lounge.