The Tichy 4042 pulpwood car is an infinitely useful kit to HO scale modelers who model the pulpwood industry. The kit as built represents an ACL W and W-3 series wood rack with 29'3" truck centers, a 40' length over the strikers, and an overall length of 43' 2.5". The evolution of the pulpwood cars can be traced back to the venerable P-11 flatcar and its many sub-groups.
The P-11, which can be constructed by way of the Tichy 4040 kit, was divided into 6 groups:
P-11-H, ACL 71000-71199
P-11-J, ACL 71500-71599
P-11-E, ACL 73800-74069 / ACL 74100-74399 / ACL 75000-75514
P-11-C, ACL 76000-76992
The P-11 was first constructed in 1916-17 by Smith and Barney Car Company which featured a 29'3" truck center, a 40' length over the strikers, and an overall length of 43' 2.5". In some instances, not all of the cars were converted resulting in a mix of car types for that group, nor were some of the series fully used. ACL rostered many examples of additional pulpwood cars from builders VB&I Company (Virginia Bridge and Iron), ACF, and Barney and Smith Car Company.
ACL 70000-70199 and C&WC 4100-4199 (renumbered to ACL 70400-70499) were constructed by American Car and Foundry in 1949. The cars were installed in the ACL W-2 series which featured 38’ interior length between the bulkheads. This car is slightly longer than the Tichy W-3 series kit (part number 4042) which was used as a basis to construct the model. This car will become ACL 70404 when complete.
