addition to serving as an inspiration to railroad prototype mod-
eling at meets around the nation, Hendrickson was an active
technical consultant to authors and numerous manufacturers
of model railroad equipment. A partial list includes Balboa
Scale Models, Train Miniature, Life-Like Proto 2000, Walthers,
Atlas, Branchline, Kadee, Tangent, and others.
Hendrickson was a marvelously well-informed historian and
modeler who authored more than 400 magazine articles on
freight car history and modeling. For five years he wrote a
column critiquing commercial models in Rail Line News. He
authored or co-authored four books about the freight cars of
the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, and co-authored
“Billboard Refrigerator Cars” with Ed Kaminski. He figured
prominently in the creation and development of the current
Santa Fe Railway Historical & Modeling Society and its prede-
cessor organizations. Arrangements have been made for his
railroad library, photographs, and collection of reference mate-
rial to be donated to the California State Railroad Museum at
Sacramento.
In addition to a compelling interest in railroads, Hendrickson
pursued other activities with equal vigor, including fine food,
wine, travel, skiing, hiking, bicycling, sailing, and the theater
– particularly Shakespeare. He also loved flying and occasion-
ally performed aerobatics in his classic Citabria airplane. He
remained interested in sports cars which he raced competi-
tively as a young man.
Hendrickson served his nation during the Korean War as an
electronic technician aboard a destroyer. Following his service
in the U.S. Navy, he studied at the University of Connecticut
where he earned his Ph.D. in English linguistics. His 31 years
of teaching at the university level included time at San Diego
News column - 2
MRH-Aug 2014
