Poking through Eric's amazing treasure trove, I came across an AAR car code I'd never heard of, and that isn't listed in my 1/1943 ORER: XV. What is this?

(P&R 19885-19924, built 1/1901: p 11 in the book. There may be more.).

Al Brown, Melbourne, Fla.

    Dittoo that about teh Signode heavy paper grain doors. The first ones I ever saw

had some sort of roughtly 1/2 in. metal strapping to give them additional strength

with one placed near the bottom of teh door opening, another in the middle and one

a bit below the mark beside the door indicating how high the particular type of

grain could be loaded, given its volumetric density. Later on these straps evolved

into the sort of fiber based strapping often seen in such uses today. The color of

those that I saw were the typical brown of kraft paper as opposed to the lighter

color of manila folders. Actually I thought that Manila Folders was the intended

new name for the Boston Red Flops, as my father always refered to the team,

once they move to the Phillipines!

Cordially, Don Valentine

I cannot work out how to reply individually anymore on Yahoo but I have been waiting for an order seven months now. 

Regards

Ben Scanlon

Like so many have already related, Richard had a huge impact on my freight car modeling. I expect at least 1/3 of all the freight cars on my layout have a connection to Richard: Westrail kits, cars based on articles Richard wrote, cars I purchased from him when he was thinning his inventory or kits he contributed to. When I am modeling a freight car, in my mind Richard is looking over my shoulder and as I work through the project I find myself explaining to this image of him why I am doing things the way I am.

But I will always primarily remember Richard for the exceptional human qualities he exhibited. I never knew him to pass work off onto others, what ever he did he did with quality and completeness and he seemed to always see things as if through the eyes of those around him. A couple of examples:

A number of years ago Richard was unhappy with the quality of the photo coverage of the annual NMRA Region contest in the regional Newsletter. Rather than complain, he suggested he would take photos of top contest entries. For several years Richard showed up at the Regional Convention with all his photo gear and a small diorama for photographing track equipment. A week or two after the convention an envelop would show up with beautiful B&W photos of all the top models in the contest room (not just the freight cars), all apparently the product of Richard's darkroom. (This was in the era before digital, when pages would be pasted-up in hard copy and sent off to the printer.)

Several times I went to Richard to get his ideas on a Convention Car that was prototypically correct and fit the Convention theme. Not only did he come up with ideas, but once we had agreed on a good candidate, he contacted the manufacturer, providing them with photos and number series, all with out anyone asking him to take on this added responsibility.

One stormy night Richard and I bumped into each other at the baggage claim area in Madison, Wisc. on our way to an NMRA convention. We had apparently both been on the same hop from Chicago but had not noticed each other during boarding. He asked how I was getting to my hotel and replied I was going to grab a cab and he quickly said he had a rental car and would be happy to drop me off at my hotel, although it was nowhere near where he was staying..

Richard, I expect you will long be looking over my shoulder as I model but most of all I will remember you as an exceptionally fine human being.

Dave Connery

San Ramon, CA