Bluford Shops 70 Ton Hopper Test Shots

[Chulvis]

Crowd? I think you guys could all fit in the same booth at a typical diner.

Maybe two booths if they are all "Chulvis-Size"  ;D ;D ;D

Hahaha..I kill me!

I'll be here all week...

[Mark5]

Crowd? I think you guys could all fit in the same booth at a typical diner.

Maybe two booths if they are all "Chulvis-Size"  ;D ;D ;D

Hahaha..I kill me!

I'll be here all week...

Here? At the diner? ;D

[lock4244]

Craig, seems to me that the majority of these hoppers wear brown or black paint... how about painted with no lettering or painted and data only?

[Bluford Craig]

Craig, seems to me that the majority of these hoppers wear brown or black paint... how about painted with no lettering or painted and data only?

Yeah, these are definitely the kind of cars that would benefit from a dimi data run. Definitely in black but brown would be a possibility too (but which brown?). For that matter, we could do the Undecs assembled and painted black. About 2/3 of the prototype schemes for each body are black and third are brown.

Craig
www.bluford-shops.com

[Ian MacMillan]

Demi black would be nice! Thanks!

[Chris333]

Demi Moore would be better... 

[wcfn100]

So when the first runs come out in early Spring, have a look at one. Then you and the rest of the non-RTR booth can vote for whether the Undecs will be factory assembled or have the details on sprues under the cradle. We're happy to do them either (sorry, but not both) way.

I vote niether.


I need only the car body and it's details (as long as the brake wheel is either Ajax or Equipco  ).


What I don't need:

Couplers - I'd probably go with Z scale or maybe McHenry.

Wheels -  I'd go with metal, or anything with a better profile than what it comes with.

Trucks - Unless those are ACF A3s.  Plus cars that made it to the 70's (some made it to the 90s) could have roller bearing trucks.*

Loads - I need these cars for iron ore.


And as for demi only cars.  Which style do you pick?  Which weight, capacity or year built?  What about shop names and dates ?  Or have I completely missed that everyone happens to models the years these were new cars?

I could see, due to the nature of the car, that painted (black in my case) and assembled as something I could go for even if not ideal.


Jason



*The cars that I'm interested in were built in the late 50's by ACF.  How closely they match these cars, I'm not sure yet.  I'm just using the off-set taper as being "more correct" than the CC and Roundhouse cars for a small series of hopppers the CGW had.  

[bbussey]

Jason,

Unfortunately, as Craig indicated, such a demand as what you've outlined above is in the extreme minority and it just isn't feasible on a mass-market scale to consider it a viable option. 

As a modeler, I've always looked at from the standpoint that I'm happy the commercial model is available at all, as it saves 80% or more of the work needed to achieve the unique model I desire.  Regarding this model, I can now create a better Boston & Albany model (if I get it done before Bluford does it) than the kitbash I currently have.  Prior to this I started with a decorated MDC model, added MTL stirrups and brake hardware, lowered the car and body-mounted MTL couplers.  I wasn't waiting for MDC to offer the exact raw components to make the model I wanted.

The positives in the current scenario is that the new model will be available in a few months, which still will allow you to kitbash the model you want with relative ease.

Regarding the demi-only cars - the fact that they would be available would be close enough for a majority of modelers, and that is the primary factor.  For the minority of modelers who would want it to be 100% accurate to their desired model, they have the option of modifying the lettering.

[Sokramiketes]

So when the first runs come out in early Spring, have a look at one. Then you and the rest of the non-RTR booth can vote for whether the Undecs will be factory assembled or have the details on sprues under the cradle. We're happy to do them either (sorry, but not both) way.

I vote niether.


I need only the car body and it's details (as long as the brake wheel is either Ajax or Equipco  ).


What I don't need:

Couplers - I'd probably go with Z scale or maybe McHenry.

Wheels -  I'd go with metal, or anything with a better profile than what it comes with.

Trucks - Unless those are ACF A3s.  Plus cars that made it to the 70's (some made it to the 90s) could have roller bearing trucks.*

Loads - I need these cars for iron ore.


And as for demi only cars.  Which style do you pick?  Which weight, capacity or year built?  What about shop names and dates ?  Or have I completely missed that everyone happens to models the years these were new cars?

I could see, due to the nature of the car, that painted (black in my case) and assembled as something I could go for even if not ideal.


Jason



*The cars that I'm interested in were built in the late 50's by ACF.  How closely they match these cars, I'm not sure yet.  I'm just using the off-set taper as being "more correct" than the CC and Roundhouse cars for a small series of hopppers the CGW had.  

Forgive me for being ignorant... but why don't you or I just send Bluford (if they don't have it on hand already) photos and number series info for the CGW cars we need?  Do we really need to paint and decal ourselves if they're willing to do a CGW release?

[Bluford Craig]

CGW 6000-6099. ACF Feb of '57. The shot I have is a pretty plain scheme with little more than reporting marks and dimi data. Did these ever have CHICAGO GREAT WESTERN on the sides? Even a Lucky Strike would be nice although I don't think I've ever seen a shot of a CGW open hopper with that logo. Anyone? Bueller?...

Craig
www.bluford-shops.com

[Sokramiketes]

CGW 6000-6099. ACF Feb of '57. The shot I have is a pretty plain scheme with little more than reporting marks and dimi data. Did these ever have CHICAGO GREAT WESTERN on the sides? Even a Lucky Strike would be nice although I don't think I've ever seen a shot of a CGW open hopper with that logo. Anyone? Bueller?...

Craig
www.bluford-shops.com

Negatory on the Lucky Strike.  Don't know on the CHICAGO GREAT WESTERN for the '57 batch.  The '37 and '44 70 ton hoppers were delivered that way with aluminum lettering, but '57 feels kinda late to spell it out. 

[Tom L]

Well, plain or not I would also take some CGW.  I will be only too happy to retire my old Roundhouse hoppers.

Anyway,  these probably wouldn't work for the Minneapolis and St Louis 66XXX series in the  Red and White scheme of 1957, would they?  If I remember correctly those had something like 10 ribs.  Too bad, as it was a pretty fancy paint job for a hopper.

Jason, didn't the M&StL also have some black offset side hoppers with white reporting marks and Minneapolis and St Louis spelled out?

Tom L.

[wcfn100]

Well, plain or not I would also take some CGW.  I will be only too happy to retire my old Roundhouse hoppers.

Anyway,  these probably wouldn't work for the Minneapolis and St Louis 66XXX series in the  Red and White scheme of 1957, would they?  If I remember correctly those had something like 10 ribs.  Too bad, as it was a pretty fancy paint job for a hopper.

Jason, didn't the M&StL also have some black offset side hoppers with white reporting marks and Minneapolis and St Louis spelled out?

Tom L.

Tom ,you may not want to retire those hoppers as they represent two different cars in two different number series which by the mid-60's appear to show up in equal numbers (at least on the DM and KS districts).  The key identifier between the cars being the taper for the off-set side.

And yes, the M&StL had similar cars to the Bluford ones with "Minneapolis and St. Louis" spelled out right of center. I have no idea how close of a match they are besides the taper being correct,  but I know I could find out from the Yahoo group.


Jason

[wcfn100]

Well I didn't get much from the MSTL group. But What I did get was this, which I think comes from the actual requisition sheets:

1947 buy-new.....250..hopper cars.........66001.to.66499  .............................AAR '34 70 ton design similar.........P-S...1987

These would be odd-numbers only.

From the 1967 ORER:

40' 8" inside length
10' 4" inside width
2773 cf
154000 lb

And in 1967 there were still 221 listed in MSTL markings.  The 1987 from above is supposed to be the year of the "last one", whatever that means.

And I will put in a request for a 70 ton 9 panel car the Atlas HO one.



Jason

[wcfn100]

Just as a follow up I got this from today from Clark Propst who is a very avid MSTL modeler.

They were painted in the 'standard' hopper scheme. Black with white
stenciling....250 cars bought new in 1947. Odd numbers only. They were AAR 1934 design 70
ton three bay hoppers from Pullman Standard. 248 of these cars remained in
service in 1959.


Jason