Cass train seats get a facelift

Suzanne Stewart
Staff Writer

When Mountain Rail West Virginia took over operation of Cass Scenic Railroad State Park train excursions, the fleet grew to include a 100 year old Western Maryland Railway coach with plush, velvety seats that harkened back to an earlier time.

Those seats, while comfortable, have aged – some up to 100 years – and the wear and tear was beginning to show.

In preparation for the new season, MRWV president and vice president John and Kathy Smith reached out to skilled upholsterer Melondy Phillips, of Marlinton, to breathe new life into the antique seats.

Phillips, who has been a seamstress and costumer since 2007, took her sewing skills to the next level of upholstery on set in 2014.

“I started during film work,” she said. “I started helping with set deck. They needed a chair upholstered and because I could already sew, they figured I could do it, so they said ‘here do this,’ and I was like ‘okay.’ I got thrown into the fire, but it turned out really good. I’ve been doing it ever since.”

Phillips met with the Smiths and the contract went from fixing 10 seat bottoms, to doing all 40 seats for one car.

Because she works out of her home, Phillips takes two seats at a time and when she is finished, she trades them for another set.

In addition to being her largest commercial job, Phillips said working on the seats has been very interesting and a glimpse into the materials used in the past.

Just like a box of chocolates, Phillips didn’t know what she was going to get when she disassembled the seats. Each was different – from materials used, to age, to condition.

“I’ve been trying to figure this out,” she said of the seats’ ages. “The reason I can’t tell is because some of these seats have been reupholstered at different times and the styles and materials used are different in all of them. One of the foams that I pulled out – the ones that were really in bad shape – from what my research shows – the foam was used in the 1930s. So, it could have been the 1930s was the last time those particular seats were recovered.

“Some have this type of foam and horsehair and cotton,” she continued, showing the interior of a seat. “I think these are some of the newer ones because these actually have staples. Some of them use tacks. Staples became more popular in the 50s, so some of these seats were done way before then.”

There are also springs in some of the seats, while others just have a wooden frame. Regardless of the condition, Phillips takes great care when removing the old fabric, assessing the quality of interior materials and either replacing those with foam or returning them to the inside before adding the new fabric.

Most of the materials are still in good enough shape to use and it is mainly the foam that Phillips has had to replace.

“Horsehair lasts a long time and is really good,” she said. “Cotton usually lasts pretty good. The ones that I found that did not have any foam in them are sometimes in better shape than the ones that had the foam from the 30s.”

Although they knew it would be impossible to find the same fabric that was on the seats, Phillips said she and the Smiths searched for a fabric that would not only match the aesthetic of the train car, but also last a long time.

“We actually spent over a month trying to track down the best fabric to use for this because not only was it the color, but you also have to look at the quality of the fabric,” she said. “You want high quality upholstery fabric. You can’t just put quilter’s cotton on it because it will break down.

“These seats are so old that it’s impossible to match a hundred percent, but one of the ones [Kathy] picked out did really well,” Phillips added. “It actually matches really well.”

This is the first project Phillips has done for the train, but she said she would like to do more seats and other projects with the Smiths.

“It’s been great,” she said. “They’ve been really great to work with, too.”

Both the Smiths and Phillips share a common goal – to be as historically accurate as possible. With this project, it seems they have succeeded.

“When it comes to these seats, it’s pretty impossible to make them authentic just because of the fact that some of those materials are not even available today,” Phillips said. “That’s why I try to use the horsehair and cotton again if it’s still in good enough shape.

“It’s not really that I’m restoring them, but I’m taking them to a state that they can be used, hopefully, for a very long time.”