Richard Hendrickson’s lumber loads

Awhile back, I showed photos of several dramatic freight car loads built by Richard Hendrickson, loads which required two or more cars to transport (see it at: http://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/2015/03/richard-hendricksons-multi-car-loads.html ). Richard was obviously intrigued by those kinds of loads and thus built a number of them. He also was intrigued by lumber loads, and built several different kinds, which I want to show in this post. (You can click on any of these images to enlarge them.)
     After packing up all of Richard’s freight cars, I photographed almost every one, before distributing most of them to his many friends. Thus I have the photos to show, even of cars I no longer have. One thing to realize: he almost always glued loads onto or into cars, partly so he could freely model tie-down or other attachment methods, without having to worry about removability. All the ones shown here are glued on. For his diorama-style layout design, there was to have been little or no switching, so there was no need for removable loads.
     I will begin with one of his oldest models of a lumber load, a converted Athearn 40-foot flat car with upgraded details. It is lettered for Great Northern 69534, the prototype for which is indeed quite similar to the Athearn model.

The lumber load here is a triple stack, a common practice which is seen in prototype photos. The load is entirely built board-by-board, though it is hollow.
     A similar load in terms of lumber size is this one, on a Tichy 40-foot flat car. The Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis is one of the prototypes for which the Tichy car is an almost exact match, thus this choice of NC&StL 70153 lettering.

This load also is board-by-board, and is hollow.
     Sometimes prototype photos do show much larger timbers being moved on flat cars, and Richard modeled an example, in this case using one of the WestRail models from his own company. It is a 53-foot, 6-inch car, lettered Northern Pacific 62148.

     Another interesting variation is creosoted lumber, such as bridge timbers or other kinds of uses, modeled here on an SL-SF flat car (modified from an Athearn 40-foot model). Lettering is SL-SF 95470. In this case, Richard applied cast brass stake pockets on the car to replace the rather oversize pockets molded by Athearn, and as you can see, was able to represent side stakes extending through these pockets. These same pockets were provided in the WestRail flat car kits.

     Finally, not really lumber but certainly forest products, is this striking load of creosoted poles, again on one of Richard’s own WestRail models. This too is  a 53-foot, 6-inch car, numbered UP 57255. Here, he chose to use very fine wire for the cross-ties on the stakes, something often seen on the prototype but rarely modeled. The poles are sanded-down chopsticks.

     The variety of these loads, and the fine modeling achieved to represent them, including the accurate load securements, are another testimony to Richard Hendrickson’s skills. They have given me modeling ideas, and I hope you may have a few also.
Tony Thompson