As 715 is the museum's work horse, it was decided to do some much needed body work. The entire car needed a paint job. Also three of the four end panels were severely rotted away from the anti-climbers. (bumpers). 

Above you can see Dave, working on removal of the red along the top. He had spent the day working down the side of the car, just on the red.

Below, a full view of one side primed with epoxy primer. In the middle where the herald (logo) goes, there was old body filler that we initially decided to not completely remove. Well the epoxy did not take well to that area. So we sanded down all the way to find out just what the heck was so deep. It turned out there were about seven bullet dents under all that body filler. Most likely from long before we got the car. 

Below, all rotted areas were ground out, and first prepared with a rust encapsulating epoxy. This will stop any future rust. Then the top coat of light body filler to make a nice smooth finished product. 

All the above illustrate the various stages of grinding, sanding, body repairing, paint prepping, and finally epoxy applied. 

Above, the retrievers had about a dozen coats of paint that had to be removed. So deep in spots, that the raised lettering could not be read. 

Below, the various stages it took to remove the old body filler and rot, then rivet in repair panels, and finally prime and seam seal them.

Big shout out to Buzz and Richard at IRM (Illinois Railway Museum) for helping with electronic files of the numerals and the heralds. Thanks, and watch for the decals to be installed soon.

Below, Kathleen wondering if everyone left her....lol

Joe and Mike worked quite hard to repair the south train door. It had fallen apart at the bottom from rot. They removed it, repaired, and epoxy filled the areas needed. 

The project got a little bit bigger than, just a paint job, but with doing these repairs correctly, 715 will serve us well and with a great new shine for years and years to come.

Thanks to so many people involved with this. There are over a dozen active folks helping to see this through, and we are very thankful to have them!