Wood

I'm a (retired) civil engineer with some experience in wood structure design, bridge maintenance and repair, and finally, wood boats. On a recent visit to Chama I was surprised at the rather rapid deterioration of some of the restored cars. It seemed to me that at least some of it was due to the failure (no blame intended) to seal the ends of boards. That would at least prevent moisture from entering and rotting them so quickly. WEST system products I know are particularly useful, but somewhat expensive, for this. It looked as though on some of the cars an attempt had been made to seal the ends of some boards.
Walking through the yard and looking at the large numbers of cars made me think of painting the Golden Gate bridge: when you finally finish, you go back to the satrt and do it again. Sealing the end grains may not be a cure all but it might help.
Finally, how about using glue lam beams to replace the massive pilot beams and end beams , and maybe center beams of cars? That would eliminate checking and splitting and may last longer than the wood used now?
Forgive me if I'm being a Monday morning quarterback.
Again, the Friends have done a GREAT job; maybe next summer I'll bring my weed whacker and help.
Ned.