Burlington Northern's Boppers

Mr. Trainiac Jan 1, 2022

  1. Mr. Trainiac

    Mr. Trainiac TrainBoard Member

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    If you're like me, you probably have no idea what the title of this post means. While the name 'Bopper' may be a bit strange to most, the car's concept has been tried before. The Bopper is a Boxcar/Hopper, hence the name. It has a trough hatch on the roof, a chute on the floor, and a 10' boxcar door. The concept of a boxcar with roof hatches is not unique to this car, I know of a few other cars in specialized service, such a grain or potash loading, but the Bopper was a thoroughly modern design, with aluminum construction and a hydraulic movable floor to assist in hopper unloading.

    Surprisingly, three of the eight cars constructed survive at the Lake Superior Railroad Museum in Duluth. For such a rare class, this is a pretty respectable preservation ratio.

    Bopper quarter view.jpg

    This photo gives a good overview of the car's features, such as the angled ends, roofwalk, and power supply for the powered floor and unloading equipment to the left of the plug door.

    Here is my progress on the model so far. The roof still needs hatches and roofwalk supports, and the underframe has not been started either. There are still a lot of smaller details to make, but the car is starting to take shape. I don't have a lot of information on the underframe, although I do know where the outlet chutes are, so unfortunately, this may turn out to be a 'good enough' frame.

    Bopper Model.JPG

    This model was requested by a customer on Shapeways, so it will eventually be listed there for others to purchase as well.

    I will attempt to fit a Plano etched roofwalk on it, and I'll leave the ladders and some other smaller details off until after printing. Nothing's worse than having to shave off grab irons and ladders to add your own.
     
    Last edited: Jan 1, 2022
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  2. Ike the BN Freak

    Ike the BN Freak TrainBoard Member

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    Curious, but what scale will you have these available for when you finish?
     
  3. Mr. Trainiac

    Mr. Trainiac TrainBoard Member

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    I'm starting off in HO, but I could modify it for N scale. At that point, I'd probably print it with molded-in grab irons and roofwalk, so it may take some time to make those changes.
     
  4. SLSF Freak

    SLSF Freak Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    That's really cool and I had never seen one of these before! Those rare pieces definitely are a challenge to model for lack of detail pics out there. From my own projects over the years I've probably spent hundreds of hours analyzing photos trying to extract as much "data" as I can from a single fuzzy picture. One quick observation here (if you haven't already made the adjustment) on your rendering. On the model it looks like the ribs on the car ends increase in depth from top to bottom to follow the angle of the sides. However when you zoom in on the prototype pic there are some hints that the top four ribs are the same depth. The longer mounting bracket in the mid-section of the ladder caught my attention in that regard. (attaching pic)

    If you do these in N let us know - I might just "need" to have one. (y) Keep us posted!

    Cheers -Mike
     

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  5. r_i_straw

    r_i_straw Mostly N Scale Staff Member

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    My one and only shot of those cars. From July of 2004 in Duluth.
    [​IMG]
     
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  6. Mr. Trainiac

    Mr. Trainiac TrainBoard Member

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    Good catch. I have some overall dimensions, but without good detail drawings, I’m basically working off of photos, and bad lighting or grainy details can throw me off.
     
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  7. Ike the BN Freak

    Ike the BN Freak TrainBoard Member

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    Honestly as an N scaler, if you do scale it down, I'd rather use free standing grabs and a plano roofwalk.
     
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  8. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    I had not heard any reference to these cars in ages. That much time has flown by...
     
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  9. Mr. Trainiac

    Mr. Trainiac TrainBoard Member

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    The HO Boppers just went live on Shapeways. There is a one-piece shell version, and a flat kit too. I'm not sure how well the flat kit will print, I suspect it will warp in the curing process that Shapeways uses, but for the modeler looking to save a few bucks, I make them available.

    Here are a few photos of the model as it stands. I left off a lot of the separate details like ladders and roofwalk. I figured that Tichy and Plano parts would give better results than a print. The brake system is a bit of an enigma to me as well. The reservoir is visible in some photos, but I basically left it up to the modeler to figure out. There are no mounting points or anything like that.
    Bopper Model.JPG
    Underbody.JPG
     
  10. gjslsffan

    gjslsffan Staff Member

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    Mr T,
    Another one of your "I gotta have" series of projects. I am so glad that you are applying some of your knowledge into this hobby realm. You certainly have quite the talent. Your recent efforts fall under the "wish I had that talent".
    PLZ carry on Sir.
     
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  11. r_i_straw

    r_i_straw Mostly N Scale Staff Member

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    I stumbled on this video. It is a few years old but has some good information if you wade through it. If you fast forward to 1:10 the Bopper stuff starts.
     
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  12. Mr. Trainiac

    Mr. Trainiac TrainBoard Member

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    I used that video for part of the underframe. It was the only good view I could find that showed a photo under the car.

    That brown boxcar he is standing in front of around 2:30 into the video is actually the Bopper power car. You can see ventilation grates near the side ladder of the car. It had a generator to produce hydraulic pressure for the Bopper's floor. I heard that the museum uses it for HEP for their excursion runs. BNSF donated it with the other Boppers in 2002.
     
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  13. southernnscale

    southernnscale TrainBoard Supporter

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    I had design a few of this for my Z scale trains not as detail as the one above but was able to get the design good enough for my bopper!
     

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