Micro-Trains February 2021 Releases

[samusi01]

I bet a lot of people here want to keep politics separate from trains.

Agreed. Enough of politics here; there is the crew lounge or other fora available for one's personal views. Recently we had politics get into model railroading locally and one of the results is a layout owner chose to remove himself entirely from the local model railroading scene. I don't care what your views are - go elsewhere with them.

[mu26aeh]

Agreed. Enough of politics here; there is the crew lounge or other fora available for one's personal views. Recently we had politics get into model railroading locally and one of the results is a layout owner chose to remove himself entirely from the local model railroading scene. I don't care what your views are - go elsewhere with them.

Even in the crew lounge, politics/religion are a no go.  But they still show up, posted about HL cutting out the 40% off coupon and half comments are on politics/religion.  And in true TRW fashion, it drifted into talking about chicken at Chick-fil-a, Popeyes, and KFC

[bman]

bman:  Was the hopper itself built at Raceland, or just the Hopper Topper?  If it was just the cover, that would make more sense.

The hoppers were built at Raceland from what I've read. A couple of Chessie modeling websites and The Color Guide to Conrail Freight Equipment all mention that Chessie and Conrail were possibly the only users of the system.

For the Conrail Hopper Topper..

Were those cars treated like free running grain empties or were they assigned to a specific seasonal business?

I'm tempted to get it to run with my conrail grain cars.. but if they ran in groups for specific service.... then nevermind.

I've no idea that's not mentioned in anything I own nor have I found online. My plan is to run it as a single car or in my grain train as the mood stikes me. CR rostered 130 of the cars w/covers and the intent was to be able to switch between coal and grain service. This leads me to believe they would be sent where needed during harvest season. Just a guess on my part I've not found any info on that. The Conrail Color Guide to Freight Equipment does mention that, "As it turned out, the first time the roofs were removed was the last. They were never reapplied." Which is interesting looking at the dates listed on photos on the CRHS website.
Hopefully someone more knowledgeable than I am chimes in.
https://conrailphotos.thecrhs.org/galleries/class-h1g

[learmoia]

In theory, its a good idea.. except...

The gates would be the biggest issue... Grain customers aren't setup to operate unload coal hopper doors.. Plus I assume an open hopper door doesn't seal itself as tight as a grain hopper.. and your more prone to leakage of a seed or kernel type product vs a lump/small rock sized product.

If the idea worked.. or grain terminals had rotary dumps.. then the idea would be a great repurpose for the coal fleet that is currently being scrapped.

[jargonlet]

Are there any special markings on the conrail or chessie releases of those hoppers that signify the use of the cover? If not then I may pick up the car to run in a conrail coal drag and transfer the cover to a chessie hopper

[bman]

Are there any special markings on the conrail or chessie releases of those hoppers that signify the use of the cover? If not then I may pick up the car to run in a conrail coal drag and transfer the cover to a chessie hopper

Chessie's covers were yellow where the CR covers were white. I didn't see any special notes on the CR cars.

[learmoia]

I find it hard to believe the covers stayed on from 1979 to the late 1980s..

Side queston: Did Conrail ever purchase/build any 'new' covered hoppers?
.. I know they were selling hoppers (or letting leases expire) in the late 1980s and 1990s..)

~Ian

[ai5629]

I find it hard to believe the covers stayed on from 1979 to the late 1980s..

Side queston: Did Conrail ever purchase/build any 'new' covered hoppers?
.. I know they were selling hoppers (or letting leases expire) in the late 1980s and 1990s..)

~Ian

The only covered hopper class that Conrail purchased that I am aware of are the PS built C13A cars.  Thanks.

Jeff

[ai5629]

Are there any special markings on the conrail or chessie releases of those hoppers that signify the use of the cover? If not then I may pick up the car to run in a conrail coal drag and transfer the cover to a chessie hopper

The only special marking on these cars was the AAR code HTR.  Otherwise, I believe all markings were the same as a standard H1G hopper car.  Thanks.

Jeff

[nkalanaga]

Bman:  Thank you.  If CR was the only other railroad buying hoppers from Raceland, it was probably an add-on order to a Chessie batch.

If I remember right, BN (or maybe BNSF) also tried hopper covers for grain service.  They used plastic seals (probably heavy plastic sheeting) to keep the grain from leaking out.  Actually, regular covered hoppers sometimes leak, as we used to see piles of grain in Pasco Yard where one had sat a while.  Since my father was retired from the yard, they knew him, and let us collect the grain for chicken and pig feed.


I believe the BN/BNSF also had covers for some of their coal gons, and used them to haul "spent grain" from ethanol plants to feedlots.  It makes great animal feed, as it partially pre-digested by the production process.

[Mark5]

C&O is one of my favorite roads, so I had to look into the model MTL released this month (HW Baggage #307).

Has the round roof been out for a while? Coolness: https://www.micro-trains.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=63_64&product_id=3923

Interestingly, WOT has already released this same road number: http://www.wheelsotime.com/display/ShowImage?imageUrl=/picture/co-200-202ts.jpg?pictureId=8693252&asGalleryImage=true&__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1298065758104

I could not find a photo online, but the somewhat famous sister car #314 is at the B&O museum: http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1014940

Not sure when these were retired - probably when Amtrak took over (314 was retired in 1971).

Mark

[Philip H]

That Concrete crosstie set looks interesting, but at $170 its a bit steep.

[sd45elect2000]

C&O is one of my favorite roads, so I had to look into the model MTL released this month (HW Baggage #307).

Has the round roof been out for a while? Coolness: https://www.micro-trains.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=63_64&product_id=3923

Interestingly, WOT has already released this same road number: http://www.wheelsotime.com/display/ShowImage?imageUrl=/picture/co-200-202ts.jpg?pictureId=8693252&asGalleryImage=true&__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1298065758104

I could not find a photo online, but the somewhat famous sister car #314 is at the B&O museum: http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1014940

Not sure when these were retired - probably when Amtrak took over (314 was retired in 1971).

Mark

I did the same thing looking up the car number. The car caught my eye.