hey ya'll, i had kind of a dumb question. i was thinking about building a grain unit train to run w/ my kcs engines and was curious what all styles of cars are currently being used for this duty. i've got a few covered hoppers, but i wasn't sure if they were right or not. don't see many grain trains around here in daylight, most of them run after dark when i can't run down to the tracks. thanks for the info!
Depending on era, in the 80's/90's--PS-2 4750, 4740, 4700, 3-bay hoppers (Intermountain, Red Caboose,etc) ACF 4650, (Intermountain, Micro-Trains) among others. Trinity 5161's are common today, and BNSF runs solid unit trains of mineral red-painted 5161's.
I absolutely love all the cylindrical hoppers by Intermountain in all the Canadian roads. Plus they come with wheat images on them so ya can't go wrong using them for grain.
Here's few shots from my own fleet: Intermountain ACF 4650: Bowser Cylindrical 6-bay hoppers: Micro-Trains ACF hopper: Intermountain PS-2 4750:
Beast, I hope this helps. This is a Northbound KCS grain train just north of Pittsburg, KS. About to cross the BN interlocker at milepost 114 (KCS milepost). on Feb. 19, 1996. and a oldie but a goodie. (you can even have your favorite road behind those KCS engines!) [ 24. May 2004, 17:49: Message edited by: Don Rickle ]
THOSE ARE SOME GREAT SHOTS!!!! That's not too terribly far from where my folks live, so I may have to sneak out there (or to Asbury, MO, which is a little closer) and wait!!! Thanks again!!
Okay...... Mr. Rickle.... In your third picture there are those silver aluminum hoppers. Do you happen to know what company makes those hoppers..... Every month at least, on the Iowa Chicago and Eastern Corn lines there is a unit train of 100+ of silver an blue ended hoppers.... If you do happen to know the hoppers make, it would be helpful to know the schematics.... I think i might try to kitbash a set of those hoppers.... Thanks.... SD40
I have seen those hoppers on several videos and to me they look quite similiar to a 3 bay 4750cu ft hopper with replacement sides. I've actually thought of getting an Intermountain kit and doing the bash. Does anyone know if someone produces Cargill decals?? Alex
Sorry guys, I don't know anything about these Cargill hoppers. Beast, I guess it would be ok to throw some 4-bay hoppers in the train. Also, after checking my notes this train is just north of Mullberry, MO. I forgot the KCS swings to the east, north of Pittsburg and runs mainly through MO to KC.
Alex, that conversion sounds quite a reasonable way of getting something to look pretty close. If you do that kitbash let us know how you get on, as these are pretty distinctive looking cars.
I thought it was a rogue coal gon in the manifest as I saw it in Cheyenne, but it turned out to be too interesting not to shoot! There are a few out there, but I don't think BN had any more than about 50-100 or so cars of this type. I dunno a thing about them, either. When were they built? How many were built, and for who? This looks like an Intermountain project....
Don, on the location, you could have fooled me. Looks like the tracks are right next to an old coal strip pit, which there are a ton of them not too far from Asbury or Pittsburg. On a non-train note, Big Brutus is there at West Mineral and is a fun fishing diversion.
You are correct, that is a strip mine pit, in fact I'm standing on the man made hill as a result of it's excavation. There are several in the vicinity of that interlocker. It's in a remote location, I had to drive down an old dirt road to get there. If you get a chance check it out! The pits all run in a straight line, they look like several "streets" of water. I remember seeing Big Brutus on a post card but don't recall if I ever when to see her. I used to live in Pittsburg, I started my RR career there on the KCS and worked there for one year. [ 09. June 2004, 19:12: Message edited by: Don Rickle ]
