Everything that Frank and David have said so far seems to be correct. The original roof structure and the upper sash frames are still in place. Cars 277 and 518 still have all of their upper sash stained glass in place, but for the 234, I'm nearly certain that all of the original glass has been replaced with Masonite panels which are painted on the inside. I will have to check next time I'm out there, if I get a chance. Until then, I guess that's a question well calculated to keep you in.... SUSPENSE!

Unfortunately, no stained glass in any of the IT cars. 277 and trailer coach 518 were both built as arch roof cars.

277, as modernized:

http://www.irm.org/gallery/IT277/aal

518, as original, when light bulbs were considered a thing of wonder and beauty:

http://www.irm.org/gallery/IT518/aab

234 shows its railroad roof heritage, with lights along the deck rail:

http://www.irm.org/gallery/IT234/aaa

Dennis,

Not to nitpick, but the stained glass on the 518 and 277 is there, though not visable. The IT merely covered the outer windows up with sheet steel on the inside, and blocked their view on the inside with panels of either masonite (277) or wood (518).

If you look in the bathroom of the 277 you can see the stained glass window in the wall, hiding.

Cool. I meant to say no stained glass VISIBLE, as opposed to the CA&E cars, where it continued to be a design element of the interior decor, even after the outside was covered.

I suppose, as desirable and valuable the glass is to collectors today, at the time it was being covered it was considered dated and absolutely worthless, and so wasn't worth the effort to salvage, and the sash provided the mounting ledge for the flat panels.

Thinking about it now, I wonder about the 518, since the easiest way to install the wood panels would be to use 3/4" mahogany face ply furniture plywood in place of the sash, retained by the same stops that had held the sash in. I guess we'll never know, unless someone wants to slip a bore scope up into the window pockets.

My theory about the glass:

In the winter, it probably frosted and contributed to a cool downdraft. In the summer, it just allowed the car to get even hotter.

The glass was probably only pleasant on moderate temperature days.

Removing the glass might have been extra work, especially if it broke in the process of removal, so just cover it up.

Let me be a little more precise. The 277 and 518 were both built with double sash. The lower sash consists of the storm windows, which are stored up during the summer, and the regular inner windows which can be raised by the passengers. The outer upper sash were leaded stained glass, and they are still in place. They are covered over by the exterior sheet metal, but if the lower windows are removed, you can see them. Not well enough to take a picture of, though. The inner upper sash were also leaded glass, but all of the glass was removed and replaced by pieces of painted Masonite mounted in the original frames. I suppose that was cheaper than replacing the frames with solid pieces of plywood, as Dennis suggested.

The 234 was built with single sash. In this case the outer upper sash windows were replaced with painted Masonite panels in the original frames, I believe. It's possible some of these are still (painted) glass, but I'll have to check. Of course the outside is covered with sheet metal.

The Peoria still has its upper sash. On the CA&E wood cars, the outer upper sash ("streamer sash") were all removed and replaced with wood - a single flat board covered with tongue and groove. Cars with double sash (309 to 321) retained the inner upper sash, although in some cases it was painted over.

There, that was probably more than you wanted to know.

I keep staring at the zoomed-in photo (above) of the #234, and it seems like there's a double reflection in one of the windows, which would imply two panes of glass. Is it possible 234 had double lower sashes at one time?