Museum Overseeing Vibrant Restoration of 140-Year-Old Rail Car
A multi-year project dating back to the train relic’s acquisition by Hinsdale County Historical Society in 2017 is nearing its close, thanks to a multitude of donors and institutional funders, and skills of carpentry staff at Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge (D&SNG) Railroad in Durango, Colorado. Combined passenger and freight Car 211 is shown in deteriorated condition in storage in Monte Vista, Colorado, in 2016 and as viewed last month with new mahogany exterior siding and reconstructed platform in the narrow-gauge train workshop yard in Durango. Precise carpentry work includes restoration of the car’s c. 1882 paneled and arched rear doorway, details on the door’s restoration explained by D&SNG Railroad’s Randy Babcock to the historical society’s Karen McClatchie and Glenn Heumann, center below.
