The Southern California Chapter of Railway and Locomotive Historical Society is working on the windows of the former NKP 6 business car, aka Pullman Carleton Club, a solarium, lounge,sleeper.

The question is what is the purpose of the hardware on the outside of the windows? See examples below. Are reproductions available so that we can fully restore all the window hardware. What is the source of the hardware?

Ventilation. Before your car was air conditioned or if the system failed.

I've seen this on other cars like the CORYDON at Orange Empire.

Raise the inside sash up a few inches (there should be latch stop for that height) and you will see the inside of this insert. If I recall correctly there is a slide that moved sideways and opens up the openings to allow air to flow into the car.

When I was doing research on the Circumnagivators Club, I saw the Pullman AFE for installing the window vents. They were installed in 1931 and removed in 1933. I believe when they installed because with air conditioning they had condensation problems between the windows. The vents were added to address the problem, but failed to do so. If you take the grill part off, I think you will find a piece of sheet metal under it blocking the vent. I would recommend that you do not cut the hole for the vent in the wood, but you can put the sheet metal and vent cover back on for the appearance. If you need more vent grills, this is probably a good application for chemical etching.

The other bracket was to use a stick or lever to raise the windows. I have been told that the porter could open the exterior windows from the platform with a long stick. Every Pullman car was equipped with a hinged lever device used to pry the windows open, as they were always stuck. This could have also been used on the outside, but using it on the inside after the inner window was opened seems more practical. After air conditioning you would not want the windows open. I think the cars lost the cinder deflectors when they got A/C, another problem with opening the windows.

What wood are you going to use for the sash?

I, at IRM, have remanufactured about 70 to 80 Pullman hvy wt windows over the past 40 years. All with the correct hardware. First, I would contact Ted Anderson at our Pullman library for window drawings. All exterior wood[mahogany]windows are of one of two sizes. The large exterior brass vent w/ holes in question are made of brass, where as the other window lift can be made of stamped steel. As I just said they are LIFTS. The maintenance people in the Pullman yards would use them to raise the exterior window sash to wash windows and fix any possible problems. They where used before A/C with a moveable brass vent secured with brass wood screws attached to the interior of the exterior window frame. These are hard to find! When most sleepers were converted new windows were made and the lifts were reattached: please use only oval head slotted brass screws. When Pullmans were made there was no such fasteners as Philip Heads. Do not use them, they look terrible on any restoration. IT IS NOT a restoration if you use them!!! Another point, I noticed in your picture, on either side of the rotting wood frame are flat pieces of metal. They were installed by shop people to keep the window frme from falling apart. Many times they are also brass. Do not reinstall them on your new windows!
Any more questions, please contact me thru IRM. 815-923-4391 I would be happy to help you. Good Luck Roger .

There are many pieces to that window including the bottom rubber gasket attached to a 33 or 34" brass strip. Don't throw those away! It's an insulating and gasket piece [for lack of a better term] that sets between the sill and is fastened to the underbody of the wooden frame using again brass wood screws. On the top of the window is an example of efficiency of the shops. It is a piece of old carpet nailed to the top of the window frame to keep out any noise and drafts. Pry that off and reuse. It is VERY dirty and dusty. Use a mask, clean and reattach. On the interior are two window lifts one on either side of the lower "style" Lookup styles and rails,its part of the terminology of wood working. Anyway, Most of the time they are made of brass but I have found some stamped made of steel. Save them paint strip them and reattach again with brass wood screws. Save all the hardware. I have some but it takes a lot. For instance; on a thirty window coach/ sleeper their are maybe 50 to 60 of these interior lifts. You have to a lot of locating to get all the correct parts. Remanufacturing windows then installing them could take years unless you have a full time crew. Installing them is another difficult problem for most are a custom fit. Have fun ! Roger

It looks like your window sash / glass was sealed at some time with a window putty. This also should not be replicated.

The quarter-round (or triangular) glass stop needs to be on the inside of the inside sash and the outside of the outside sash.

Rodger writes about every window needs to fit its opening. Typical way is to oversize the width of the side members and then plane to fit. This is the reason that the railroads stamped ID numbers on the window sashes (both car number and location) to get them back in the correct location.

Ted Anderson will want to know the plan and/or lot number of your car.
Carleton Club:
8 Section & Restaurant-Lounge
Plan 4025H
Lot ?? (4690)

rebuilt from
Mountain City:
10 Section & Observation-Lounge
Plan 2521D
Lot 4690