Re: lost in time.... reefer 39

Thanks for all the nice complements on reefer 39. We put half a gazillion hours into the rebuild, and we started with a pretty good car to start with. When we got her, there was zero metal under the car. No bolsters, truss rods, piping, brakes, queen posts... Nothing. We had to build patterns from pieces we pulled off the side of the mountain near the Ames slide on the RGS to make the bolsters. We had to start from scratch to build the inside brake trucks, and all the brake rods too. New Murphy roof, and all the roof hatch hardware had to be cast and machined. All new ice bunkers, as they were removed for storage when she was used as part of a storage shed. We were really lucky to have had the door latching hardware donated to us. And thanks a ton to the "Friends" for the use of their stencils to letter her.


Though she is a real beauty, and road worthy, The Plans are to have her be the centerpiece of our restored freight car display in Silverton, joining the 8 other restored cars of The Durango Railroad Historical Society.

Arriving in Durango to start the rebuild.