Athearn Woodchip hoppers

[unittrain]

Athearn just announced more woodchip cars and one of the schemes is Chessie so I was thinking on picking up a few. I was just wondering how common these were as obviously the Athearn one is a modified 70-ton hopper. Also Trainworx has some cool 86ers posted on their site some more GTW and PC this time.

[sirenwerks]

I know that pre-Chessie, converted B&O 70-ton hoppers could be seen running woodchips on the PRR's Delmarva line; but these cars were converted from offset-side hoppers. I believe the Athearn cars are rib-side cars only, right?

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I know that pre-Chessie, converted B&O 70-ton hoppers could be seen running woodchips on the PRR's Delmarva line; but these cars were converted from offset-side hoppers. I believe the Athearn cars are rib-side cars only, right?

That's odd. What was going on there?

[sirenwerks]

I stand corrected, by myself. I double-checked and the B&O highsides are rib-side cars, not offset-side. I must have been thinking of an image I looked at yesterday, of MP converted offset-side cars in Arkansas. Sorry.

Ed, there were several sawmills in the Millsboro DE area on the Georgetown branch. I believe there still is at least one but I am almost certain it's not rail-served (I remember it being near the now-shuttered Crown Cork and Seal factory in the area). I know I have spotted bunkered log trucks down there still and a conveyer system for chip storage too. But back in the 50s and 60s I believe they hauled the chips north to PA paper mills, probably the Scott plant in Chester. Pulp logs were also hauled out in PRR gondolas then. The pines on the Eastern Shore grow quick and are great for pulp.

[Mark5]

I half heartedly hope they'll do N&W on one of these runs:

http://spec.lib.vt.edu/imagebase/norfolksouthern/full/ns2578.jpeg

They really screwed up the last N&W coal hoppers they did, which is amazing considering the amount of correspondence involved.

Mark

[asarge]

The C&O had 60 70 ton hoppers converted to Woodchip Service in 1962 How likely is that they made it into Chessie colors? Probably pretty good as the C&O color guide has a picture of a C&O for Progress one being loaded in Doswell Va, in 1978 by conveyor from a woodchip trailer.