Athearn N 23404 ACF 2970 2-Bay Centerflow Covered Hopper,

[basementcalling]

Looks like these have hit the shelves at MB Klein, and maybe your favorite local or internet pusher. 

http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/N-Scale-s/3.htm

Are they a new car in N scale or a duplication of previous efforts by other companies, just with better detailing?

[mplsjct]

These are excellent cars, new tooling by Athearn a few years ago, they represent the pre 1972 (?) version, so they are the correct body style for GN, NP and other roads that were gone by then. They have the horizontal side reinforcement that distinguishes the early style from the later cars made by MTL, Atlas and Intermountain.

Recommended.

[sirenwerks]

+1. Superb cars.  Makes one wish they'd produce more varieties of the Centerflow brand, such as the 5250.

[sundowner]

+2 wish they would do more # than just three per release.

[jpwisc]

These are my favorite version of this car. Detailing that is on par with or beats IM, plus body mounted couplers and factory metal wheels. I just happened to be placing an MBK order tonight and picked up another BN one, just because I could. I don't need it, but I'll gladly remove an Atlas from the layout to make room for an Athearn.

[unittrain]

These are really nice models I have several of them might get a few of this release.

[wazzou]

I've got each of the NP cars coming.

[nkalanaga]

I wish they'd do the late 60s 4650CF car.  They were very common in Northwest grain service, and all of the current 3-bay Center Flows are the later version.  MT and IM both make nice cars, but without that rib, they just don't look right for the GN and NP.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

And think of all the 5250s we have.... Bachmann, Model Power, Atlas/Roco, Atlas... Not one of them are really good. I would love Athearn, ESM, BLMA or Trainworx to do a quality model. I would buy a ton! And what about trinity 2 bay and 4 bay hoppers? As much as I like to complain about too many grain hoppers out there, we still have giant holes.

[sirenwerks]

And think of all the 5250s we have.... Bachmann, Model Power, Atlas/Roco, Atlas... Not one of them are really good. I would love Athearn, ESM, BLMA or Trainworx to do a quality model. I would buy a ton! And what about trinity 2 bay and 4 bay hoppers? As much as I like to complain about too many grain hoppers out there, we still have giant holes.

+1... early version 5250s please.

[sdodge]

+2...would love to see a "premium" 5250 done by someone. Probably one of the most common hoppers around, hundreds of roadnames!

I have the Bachmann and Atlas versions but they are pretty clunky. I know the Atlas is a Trainman, clunky by design.

[wazzou]

I vote for early 4650's.

[nkalanaga]

Actually, the Atlas 5250 was a good car when it was introduced, it's just that our standards have progressed.  The Bachmann was clunky from the beginning, but I think it was designed for the toy market.  The only reason I ever bought any of them was that it was very simple to make a 3-bay car from it.  The car wasn't the right size for a grain hopper, but it was closer than a 4-bay car.  Just take the floor out, cut the bays apart, throw one away, and glue the remaining pieces back in.  The Atlas car could be made into a respectable 4650, but required a lot more cutting and much neater work.

The 5250 was one of the most common cars - in some regions.  Most of them were used in the plastic and chemical industries.  In the Northwest, the 4650 was much more common, as the primary use of jumbo hoppers was grain, which was denser than the plastics.  The only 5250s I regularly saw in Pasco were the GN's Glacier Green "Grain Loading" cars.  Once we moved to eastern Kentucky, the larger cars were everywhere, due to of chemical plants in the Tri-State and Kanawha Valley regions.

We really do need the early versions of both.

[sirenwerks]

The only 5250s I regularly saw in Pasco were the GN's Glacier Green "Grain Loading" cars. 

You make that sound like a bad thing.

How about both the 4650 and 5250 at the same time!?

[nkalanaga]

"You make that sound like a bad thing."  No, not a bad thing, just an observation, based on a previous comment that the 5250 was "Probably one of the most common hoppers around, hundreds of roadnames!".  In the Northwest, they seemed to be rare.

But you're right - both would be even better.  If the 5250s came with trough hatches, or better from a marketing standpoint, separate hatches so all versions could be easily modeled, I'd replace my GN ones.