Atlas PS 2750 hoppers - two body heights?

[nkalanaga]

Last year I ordered four Atlas PS-2750 hoppers, undec, to repaint for GN.  Having finally received the decals, I lettered two of them yesterday.  When I put them on the track, with one of the original Atlas GN models, I was very surprised that they did NOT sit at the same height.  The middle car is obviously lower.

All four cam in identical boxes, labeled
Item#50 001 657
N PS 2750 Triple Hopper
Undecorated
Road #

I noticed that they weren't the same when I was painting them. as two had separate pieces to model the end peaks, and holes in the top of the ends for those peaks.  Not neding the peaks, I ignored them.  The holes aren't big enough to matter, and by the BN era I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the GN prototypes had a few holes themselves.  But I assumed the bodies themselves were otherwise identical.

But the bodies are not the same.  I tried turning them upside down, on a flat surface, and the sides of the cars with peaked ends are about 1/32 inch lower, so it's not the way I put the cars together, or the trucks.

The difference isn't enough to formally complain about, and probably won't be noticed in service, since I run hoppers in mixed cuts anyway, but it is curious.  Did someone just put these in the wrong boxes, or does Atlas sell two styles of PS 2750 hoppers under the same number?

I have two more to paint, and you guessed it, they're one of each.




For the curious, these are lettered with Tichy custom decals.  The red car is Scalecoat CB&Q Chinese Red, which is too bright for true GN Vermillion, but it will be weathered.  The Atlas GN car has already been lightly weathered.  And, yes, the two I painted also have different trucks, from Atlas, which I didn't notice until I looked at the picture.  The black car now has the proper Atlas 70-ton RB trucks.

[Missaberoad]

Two distinct models the smaller one is the PS 2750 (70 ton) 1954-1960 and the larger car is the PS 2960 (80 ton) 1964-1971

[wcfn100]

The larger car should have been marked 50 001 658 PS-2960 Triple Hopper.


Jason

[Catt]

Your custom painted red car definitely sets lower If you compare the lower sills the difference is ovious.I think they are two different cars look at the stirrups they are completely different.

[nkalanaga]

Then the stock Atlas GN car is itself incorrect, as the GN prototype was a 2750, and the Atlas model was sold as a 2750.  Interesting.  Oh well, too late now.  I'll have to watch the numbers I use on the remaining two, though, as "my" GN/BN now has two sizes.  Looks like the 70000-70299 series will be 2960s, and the 70300-70399 the 2750s.

All of the GN 3-bay hoppers were 2750s, including the 70800s, which were built for the B&M in 1957.  GN leased them from USRE in 1965, thus the USRE map logo.