The odor of the day was . . . ethanol, which was used to dissolve shellac flake. Specifically, a 2.5 pound cut, which is 2.5 pounds gossamer shellac flake per…
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Chapel car 5 Messenger of Peace is a signature exhibit in the Museum’s Train Shed exhibit hall. Constructed in 1898 by the Barney and Smith Car Company, the Messenger of…
Coach 218 will be 102 years old this summer. This Barney and Smith coach is one of the last wood coaches built for service on an American railroad. It served…
Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway coach 218 has been undergoing rehabilitation and restoration in the Museum’s Conservation and Restoration Center. Reports detailing this work have appeared in this blog for…
Clerestory windows are a distinguishing feature of early 20th Century coaches. Obviously, these windows let light in but their primary function was – and is – to provide ventilation in an…
Coach 218 was built in 1912 and is now being prepared for its second century of service. Historic rehabilitation of this former Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway coach has been…
Well, not quite, but at a price that felt like a donation! “One (1) Estey reed organ, cottage or schoolhouse model, mahogany, circa 1885. Fully functional but missing one knob. …
Something old, something new, something borrowed, something . . . carbon black! Later this month inside the Conservation and Restoration Center, the chapel car 5 Messenger of Peace will be…
A distinguishing feature of many 19th Century railroad cars is an open platform or vestibule on one or both ends. For chapel car 5 Messenger of Peace, this platform was…
Documenting an historic structure is an essential element in any rehabilitation, and is a concomitant of the Secretary of the Interior Standards for the Treatment of Historic Structures. This allows…
