How prototypical is this car?

[RockGp40]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/150884145480?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

I bought this car on a whim because I want to start experimenting with some decals DKS made up for me this summer. I was taken back when this car came to the house for one reason. It has six discharges on the bottom. How prototypical is that? If it is indeed correct, what kind of loose, obviously not dense commodity would be carried in it? I was thinking about cutting the bottom out and reinstalling four of the discharges back on as that is the most I have ever seen on a covered hopper in real life.

Thoughts?

Brian

[daniel_leavitt2000]

This is a US spec ACF car and they had 3, 6 or even more bays. I'm pretty sure CSX had some three bay cars, but they are getting rare.

[EspeeGoldenState]

Seems like to me, according to Bowser's website and looking at the pictures, that only N&W and BN had 6.

http://www.bowserorders.com/.sc/ms/cat/N%20Bowser%20Cars--Cylinderical%20Hopper

Unfortunately I can't read card numbers so I'm not quite sure what to even google to try to find out for sure.

Chris

[nkalanaga]

The GN had these, numbers 71580 through 71618.  According to Four Ways West's "GN Equipment Color Pictorial, Vol 2", the had six hoppers, but only three compartments, and five round hatches.  I couldn't find any from the NP or CB&Q, but also don't have as good a record of their cars, so the BN may have had others as well

[highway70]

Sacramento Northern had ten AC&F covered hoppers simular in appearance to the BN hopper (product 1-37293) on the Bowser website.  They were purchsed in 1961 and numbered 5501-5510.  They were later renumbered WP 11526-11535 (according to Sacramento Northern On-Line).   There is a photo of one of them on page 212 of the Western Pacific Pictorial by John Ryczkowsk, however it has WP 11747 painted on a fresh paint patch.  It looks like it has 8 discharges.  (definitely more than 6).

I do not know what it carried.

[wes_sutton]

Are they still pumping these out

[fredmoehrle]

There where scads of these things going back & forth on the AA & TSBY sand trains in the '90s, lettered for CR, PRR & EL.
I'd have to look at my pictures to see if they were all 3 bays.

A couple years ago I picked up a beat up BN silver one at the Port Huron show.  Repaired the bolster, body mounted some MT couplers, and put on a pair of BLMA 100 ton trucks.  Looks good, except when I looked at it last week, a piece of the styrene I used to fix the end bracing had fallen out again.

[Atlas Paul]

We have done the following in HO & O, all based on photos.  There may be more:

SP, MP, MP with UP shield, C&O, C&O Chessie, Frisco, BN, GN, NW

[bbussey]

The N&W cars were acquired in the Wabash acquisition.  ESM issued the Wabash scheme when we were using DVFC plastic for our ACF Cylindrical series in the 1990s.



Chessie had six-bay cars also, because at the time is was under consideration for us to do.  But I don't remember the origins.

[kalbert]

So you're the one who got that!  I was eyeing it for fertilizer service but the 6 things scared me away.... looks like maybe they aren't as scary as I thought!