Have any roofing tar that comes in a gallon paint can? I think it might contain fiberglass, too. That would work until you can do a proper repair.

PMC -

Will pass that idea along. Thanks.


Les

There's a type of Bondo that has fibres intermixed in the epoxy which do wonders on less wide holes. Cat Hair is the unofficial name.... for the larger holes Great Stuff can fill the holes leaving a surface that can be sanded to just below the level of the steel, and then covered with Bondo. Neither will last for decades especially in service, but will buy you years in static display. Another possibility is a type of elastomeric roof coating that is used with a strip of fiber tape which is bedded in it, than covered with paintable elastomer. Leaving the holes open for water infiltration is a higher priority than a paint job for long term preservation - try some of these and see what works for you.

Thanks Dave. Will also pass your comments along.

Les

That's a good idea about the Great Stuff Dave. For those who haven't seen it it comes in a can like whipped cream topping does, it actually has the same consistency as whipped cream when wet but dries in a few minutes into something like a tough Styrofoam. If you could reach the bottom of the holes you could spray about a fist sized bunch of that stuff up there so that it plugs the hole from below, and then paint over the top of it.

More than a couple minutes. Great Stuff is a polyurethane foam that uses water vapor in the environment as the catalyst. After you fill the void with the foam as it comes out of the can, it will swell as it sets up... and continue to swell for the next day or so until it is completely cured. I used this years ago to fill the holes where knots had fallen out of the "rustic" siding on a house I bought. The missing knots exposed the black Celotex sheathing board behind, and all those black circles were irresistible to house sparrows and several other species of birds, who would start pecking at the Cellotex to enlarge the hole and provide nest site.

I filled the holes with Great Stuff and tooled it off as best I could as it set. The next day the house looked like it had warts, as the foam had continued to swell 2 to 3 times in volume. After it stopped swelling it was easy enough to rasp it flush with a Stanley "Sure Form" tool, but if it hadn't fully cured, it would swell out again. Once it stopped swelling and was smoothed off, it took solid color oil stain well enough. It's soft enough that the birds could easily peck it out; the secret is they don't see the resulting surface as a hole, so don't try.

I've also used it for lightweight scenery on a portable model railroad, using it to fill the gaps between pink foamboard. If it gets trapped, the resulting pressure is enough to bend 1" rigid foam, or blow the joints apart. But once cured it's stable and doesn't shrink. It would indeed be excellent for providing a backer than can be cut back to provide a recess for one of the polyester auto body fillers, but definitely leave it sit and cure several days before covering it.

Can't hold moisture that can't get in once the holes are filled and sealed.

Mark continues to make progress on NKP 344. He opened the automobile doors on the one end of the car, as can be seen in the first two photos he took on 6/16. He also managed to clean and then paint the two trucks on one side of the car and the results on one of those trucks is shown in the third shot which I took earlier today (6/17). The green highlights are a reflection of the jade green paint from Penn Central box car #153177.

Les

Mark cleaned off the vestibule door hardware as shown in his attached photo and believes it is brass.

Locks and door hardware were traditionally brass; no reason to suspect it isn't.

Mark has furnished these two photos as he starts on NKP 344's roof.


Les

Man, it looks like y'all are doing a hell of a good job. Can't wait to see the finished product!

Mark spent about 4-1/2 hours of this first day of July working on number 344 in the 90 degree heat and humidity. He reported that the rivet belt around the car and the windows in each of the 4 baggage car doors received 5 and a half tubes of calk. There was a 1/4" gap on these door windows allowing water to drip in rusting out the door faces. Two of the doors have Plexiglass windows while the other two have wood replacements for the original glass. Mark primed and then painted the two wood windows. The photos below show the results of his work.

Mark also painted the one side of the car using 2.2 gallons of Sherwin-Williams Pullman Green paint. He reported that the top of the roof and sides below the celestory strip took 3 gallons of gloss black and he used 1/3 of a gallon of MAB Pullman Green paint on the celestory strip itself.

Les

This is an amazing show of what a group of dedicated people can do with facilities and individuals who a) know what they are doing, and b) show up for work.

That roof is tremendous.