From The Headlight April 2013
NWP Baggage Car 605
By Mike Manson
Repair work continues on two of the baggage door frames. During conversion of the car to a dwelling these door openings were enlarged by removing a portion of each header. Scott Bowdish, Frank Moraes, Skip Rueckert and Dave Dietz have been measuring, cutting and fitting new posts and planks to make repairs. When these are done, the new doors built by Frank will be fitted into position. Eventually each of the doors will be fitted with a roller mechanism that allows proper operation.
As you know, Baggage 605 lost its trucks when it was retired and sold. The Society has a pair of caboose trucks from the Sumpter Valley Railway that have hardware suitable for use with longer-wheelbase passenger trucks. As this is being written in April the Society is preparing an application for a matching funds grant to the National Railway Historical Society. Like with CP 29, this application, if successful, will help pay for new oak beams for the trucks. We should hear about our application by August.
Later this summer the Restoration Team will remove the existing clearstory deck to replace the rotted and sandblasted wood. All 46 of the clearstory windows will be replaced as well as the window framing and the roof boards. Our goal this season is to complete the woodwork and windows. Next year we hope to install weatherproof roofing material similar to the rolled roofing used on Caboose 1.
