No more opening hatches on MTL Centerflow hoppers?

[bbussey]

Someone is reporting on Facebook that the latest MTL Centerflow releases now have sealed hatches. I'm guessing in order to reduce production/labor costs. Other than losing access to some well-detailed parts that can be used for various covered hopper scratchbuilding and kitbashing projects, I don't see this as an issue since the various Centerflow models probably should have been designed with sealed hatches to begin with. I don't know of anyone who has modeled a siding with MTL Centerflows being loaded, let alone running with the hatches open.

[mu26aeh]

I just went down and looked at new Halloween cars.  They aren't sealed but are also no longer hinged.  The hatches now insert into the roof and do not snap in place in the hinge location as before.
20160925_165105 by Adam Henry, on Flickr

I have a couple of cement and grain loads for the cars.  Same thing goes for the round hatch 2-bay covered hoppers.

[bbussey]

Some just clarified that on FB as well. No harm then, since the hatches still are separate parts.

[peteski]

I always thought that the opening hatches (using not too-out-of-scale hinges) were a cool feature on MTL models, but I'm sure they were a nightmare to assemble (and in large quantities). Lots of very delicate manual labor.  Even though they were a neat feature, it was probably seldom used by modelers.  I guess it had to go eventually.  But I'm glad to hear that the non-operational hatches are still separate parts.

[nkalanaga]

Maybe, since they're no longer hinged, MT will do a continuous trough hatch version?  Many of the western grain cars used them, rather than separate hatches for each bay.  For the major grain haulers it was unusual to try to put more than one type of grain in a car, even if it had fully separated bays.

[Denver Road Doug]

Headline: Micro-Trains Becomes Un-Hinged!!!  More News at 11...

 

[Angus Shops]

Every time I've assembled MTL couplers I've wondered about the prospects for the youth of southern Oregon; get a college degree and get out of town, or spend your life assembling couplers...

Talk about unhinged!

Geoff

[ljudice]

A nice touch you can add using the removable hatches is to mismatch the paint on some - as many cars end up with repairs or replacements.

IMRC's hoppers are separate too, though usually glued down...

[Missaberoad]

A nice touch you can add using the removable hatches is to mismatch the paint on some - as many cars end up with repairs or replacements.

IMRC's hoppers are separate too, though usually glued down...

Only the 4750's and 4550's have separate hatches, the ACF hoppers are cast as part of the roof IIRC...

[bbussey]

All of the ACF Centerflows have/had separate hatches, as they were a common part among all of the various models.  The Evans car does not have separate hatches.  I don't own any of the P-S hoppers so I can't speak to those.

[Missaberoad]

All of the ACF Centerflows have/had separate hatches, as they were a common part among all of the various models.  The Evans car does not have separate hatches.  I don't own any of the P-S hoppers so I can't speak to those.

I was refering to the second part of his comment about the IMRC hoppers

[ljudice]

Right, I forgot about the IMRC ACF's ...

The Trinity 5161 are also separate, BTW....