Sunset NSL Silverliners #10B – 415 Introduction & Operation

The next set of photos is a walking tour of the interior of the 415. The photos with the painted interior were probably taken at the Fox River Trolley Museum while the photos of the bare wood were probably taken at the Seashore Museum.

Don't worry about how the walls are or their dimensions in the photos. I've made an O scale drawing of the walls which will appear in the next post.

Starting from the door going to the #1 vestibule, you are looking towards the vestibule as the car was in service facing north towards Milwaukee. The door to your left is the door to the heater locker. You will see more regarding this area of the car in other photos and when we get to the exterior. The door to the right leads to an electrical (?) locker. This is a guess as the electrical lead into the car for the trolley poles is above on the roof. BTW - It was very common to have a water tank in the ceiling of the car above the lavatory.

Tom Matola Photo, J. Terrell Colson Collection

If you open the door to the vestibule and turn around, you'll see an angled wall of an equipment locker with a door in it. Walking forward and to you right will lead to a corridor on the west side of the car past the kitchen to the tavern-lounge area.

Tom Matola Photo, J. Terrell Colson Collection

As you walk a few feet into the car and turn around you see the door to the lavatory with a frosted glass upper panel.

Tom Matola Photo, J. Terrell Colson Collection

Turning around this is leading to the tavern-lounge section of the car. The window in the wall on your left is above the grill in the kitchen. The glass in the window is frosted. The window can open. A guess would be, if smoke from the grill became too much this window was open as well as a hatch on the roof for a quick venting of the kitchem.

Tom Matola Photo, J. Terrell Colson Collection

As we walk by the door to the left in the photo above, this is what we would see. Viewed through the door to the kitchen are coffee pots on what looks like an electric or perhaps propane warming surface. Propane was used for heating water used in the kitchen and for cooking.

Tom Matola Photo, J. Terrell Colson Collection

Walking a few more steps and looking back here is the complete Dutch door to the kitchen.

Tom Matola Photo, J. Terrell Colson Collection

Turning to look back to the #1 end of the car this is the corridor. Note the lack of a safety bar along the interior of the windows on your left side. Most railway passenger cars with a corridor along one side of the car usually have a safety bar going along the interior of the windows. Photos of the 415 as originally built show the safety bar. Also note the lighting in the corridor.

Tom Matola Photo, J. Terrell Colson Collection

Finally here's the tavern-lounge section of the car. We can see the walls with decorations plus the chairs, tables, and the J shape couch. The door to the vestibule on the #2 end can be seen in its new position along the west wall of the car.

Tom Matola Photo, J. Terrell Colson Collection

Tom Matola Photo, J. Terrell Colson Collection

This concludes what a passenger would see in the interior of 415. The interior of the lavatory has been skipped.


The next post will include my drawing of the walls separating the lavatory and kitchen from the balance of the interior and points of interest ragarding the exterior.

Cheers,

Ed