Tourist Sleeper 470 - ready to move!

[Chris James]

It's been a long haul - eleven years worth - restoring 1889 Tourist Sleeper to its former glory. All the work took place in the Friends Colorado Springs restoration site at the Pikes Peak Trolley Museum. Most of the time it was stored and worked on inside a cloth "cocoon," out of the weather. Over the years the interior work progressed, piece by piece, to create (actually recreate) some of the most beautiful woodwork on the planet. As that was completed, along with all the exterior work, painting of the exterior began.

The painting was completed this last week and the "cocoon" has now been dismantled to show the almost-finished car to the world. Next up, the car will be loaded and transported to Antonito to receive its custom-built historically accurate passenger trucks and will spend the winter getting fitted out with brakes, air lines, couplers and more.

The car is a sight to behold. There will be a complete story of the restoration of #470 in a future issue of the C&TS Dispatch.

What follows are a few representative images of the completed interior, the painting and the final car, ready to head to Antonito!

[Craig Kumler]

Very nice pics Chris and thanks for the info on what comes next! Looking forward to see lettering soon too!