This unusual model is an example of the sulfur gondola produced just before WWII by the Hawk Model Company of Chicago. As I mentioned in the book, the company had been founded in 1928 by brothers Dick and Phil Mates as Hawk Model Airplanes, and they produced a wide variety of products over many years, moving to plastic models after the war (one of their best-known products was their line of “Weird-Ohs”), and was ultimately purchased by Testors in 1970.

This was the only wood sided gondola kit ever offered in American OO, and it is not an old-time car, it is contemporary to the pre-war era. The wood construction of the prototype cars was due to the (sulfur) load type. It was in a way a smart choice by Hawk as it suited wood kit construction.

Examples of the prototype cars were owned by the AT&SF and T&NO, among others. In the book I have an example decorated for the T&NO, and I have decorated several stock versions of the model for my Orient (see here for example).

Another example came in and I wanted to decorate it and modify it a bit to be more accurate to the ATSF cars. Online I managed to find photos of a brass model that I presume to be accurate to the prototype. The most noticeable modification of the Hawk model is the supporting piece at the top of the sides. For decals I struggled and finally pulled something together that is about 85% accurate. As close as anyone is going to get without custom printed decals. It is a nice model overall and one I may upgrade to better trucks at some point.