the new ExactRail 53' bulkhead flats

One thing I remember for sure about railfanning in the 70's and 80's in the Seattle area was the high frequency of lumber loads in the PSC 53' bulkhead flats. Over the years I've built a few of the Walthers models of this car for my layout, but have eagerly awaited a more detailed alternative, which has now presented itself in the new ExactRail cars ( www.exactrail.com ). These cars are beautiful. Here are some shots of the first run of 5 of them (plus a Walthers model at the end, in case you're counting) taking their inaugural run, carrying lumber south from Vancouver BC to Seattle and beyond:

The end detail on these cars is excellent (even if my focus isn't!), and since the wood decking is actual laser-cut wood, you get to see the texture of wood grain on both sides of the bulkhead.

Here the cars are making their way south across the Stillaguamish River bridge north of Arlington. The BNSF loco belongs to Dave Enger, and I don't know how it got into a train which is supposed to represent 1973. The lumber loads, by the way, were made by Dave MacKinnon of www.detailnscale.com 

South of Everett now, the cars are making their way along the bluff near Golden Gardens Park in Seattle. The track at the far left is the cutoff to the "Fremont Branch", which to this day serves customers in Ballard and Fremont.

After crossing the Ship Canal Bridge (#4), the cars have passed under the Nickerson St. overpass (upper left corner) and are moving through Interbay/Balmer yard. The double-stack cars also hadn't been invented yet in 1973, nor were they decorated with stickers by children, but there they are.

Our inaugural run is now approaching the North Portal in downtown Seattle, passing the Wall St. grade crossing. If anyone has a skyline photo taken in 1973 taken from the Pier 66 vicinity, let me know. I didn't think of taking this backdrop photo until the '90's, when the condo building boom had started and the Columbia Tower had been erected.

The inaugural run was a success, with no derailment or clearance issues, and these cars are now in service on the HO Burrlington Northern Seattle Region (in 1973).