Trucklover
BNSF SD70MAC's
Hello everyone, been a little while since I was last one here. Got back into modeling a little bit lately and started some work on my Tire Plant Facility. had bought some of the Rail Shops Carbon Black Covered Hopper kits but hit a "snag".
1) They are kits that I thought I would enjoy building. I apparently was wrong and got 3/4 of the way building the first one and realized, i dont want to continue. I just dont have the patience, specifically drilling and mounting all the tiny grab irons... LOL Ive realized real quick that paying 2-3 times more for a fully factory detailed freight car is well worth it in my opinion. Ill stick to building structures and detailing scenery lol
2) The Rail Shops kits are of models that are dated and too old for my taste. Im building a "modern" era Tire Plant with modern era rolling stock, trucks and equipment. Im sure that some of these older 1940's and 1950's cars are still around somewhere being used in the real world, but I am thinking that I would like to have the modern Carbon Black Hoppers for my models.
Did a bit more research, and from what I can gather, the 90's and early 00's Carbon Black Hoppers were mostly built by Thrall in the range of around 4727 Cu.Ft. Found this one that is pretty fresh and must have recently had a re-paint
http://www.railcarphotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=82501
Looking at more recent pictures it appears that they are now using a version based on a CenterFlow Covered Hopper with the typical Carbon Black bottom gates that have been used throughout the past 50+ years. Ive seen quite a few pictures of Carbon Black hoppers with ARI CenterFlow logo (American Railcar industries) who I guess build several specialty variations of CenterFlow Hoppers. Ive also seen Carbon Black Hopper pictures with ACF CenterFlow, which im guessing started out as regular CenterFlow Hoppers and were at some point converted to Carbon Black Hoppers. This is what im looking to do with my hoppers for my models... Here are several pictures of modern ACF and ARI Carbon Black Hoppers
CCX Reporting Marks:
http://www.railcarphotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=77985
http://www.railcarphotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=33998
http://www.railcarphotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=77658
FURX Reporting Marks:
http://www.railcarphotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=79306
MBKX Reporting Marks:
http://www.railcarphotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=77273
SRCX Reporting Marks:
http://www.railcarphotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=77273
http://www.railcarphotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=34446
http://www.railcarphotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=21959
http://www.railcarphotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=57960
http://www.railcarphotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=51887
Atlas is releasing some new Master Series ACF 4650 Cu.Ft. CenterFlow Hoppers with the SRCX (Sid Richardson Carbon) that do have the ARI CenterFlow markings on them but im disappointed to see that from the artwork (no photos yet) they are using the regular CenterFlow Hopper bottom gates and not the correct Carbon Black Hopper bottom gates. Why release a model that is supposed to be used for Carbon Black service and not make it correct? It does appear that they will have several round hatches on the roof, but not nearly enough. Im hoping that the model will actually have the correct bottom gates and more hatches on top, but im not holding my breath... Here is the link to the Wathers Site for these hoppers, due out in March of 2016 (click the pic on their site to see a large pic) SRCX Carbon Black Hopper
Assuming that Atlas is NOT going to have the correct bottom gates on these new hoppers, what would you guys suggest for replacing bottom gates with? Carbon Black Covered Hoppers use a pretty basic looking gate, but im thinking that the entire bottom discharge bays are going to need to be replaced? Maybe not? Maybe I can just cut the gate part off and replace it with a round piece of styrene and add a brass rod to resemble the ratchet assembly arm?
And what about the top Hatches, does anyone make round hatches that can be added in between the factory hatches on the roof? Atlas's model shows 6, the pictures ive seen have 7+ and the majority appear to have 11 roof hatches
Thoughts, suggestions, opinions greatly appreciated
1) They are kits that I thought I would enjoy building. I apparently was wrong and got 3/4 of the way building the first one and realized, i dont want to continue. I just dont have the patience, specifically drilling and mounting all the tiny grab irons... LOL Ive realized real quick that paying 2-3 times more for a fully factory detailed freight car is well worth it in my opinion. Ill stick to building structures and detailing scenery lol
2) The Rail Shops kits are of models that are dated and too old for my taste. Im building a "modern" era Tire Plant with modern era rolling stock, trucks and equipment. Im sure that some of these older 1940's and 1950's cars are still around somewhere being used in the real world, but I am thinking that I would like to have the modern Carbon Black Hoppers for my models.
Did a bit more research, and from what I can gather, the 90's and early 00's Carbon Black Hoppers were mostly built by Thrall in the range of around 4727 Cu.Ft. Found this one that is pretty fresh and must have recently had a re-paint
http://www.railcarphotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=82501
Looking at more recent pictures it appears that they are now using a version based on a CenterFlow Covered Hopper with the typical Carbon Black bottom gates that have been used throughout the past 50+ years. Ive seen quite a few pictures of Carbon Black hoppers with ARI CenterFlow logo (American Railcar industries) who I guess build several specialty variations of CenterFlow Hoppers. Ive also seen Carbon Black Hopper pictures with ACF CenterFlow, which im guessing started out as regular CenterFlow Hoppers and were at some point converted to Carbon Black Hoppers. This is what im looking to do with my hoppers for my models... Here are several pictures of modern ACF and ARI Carbon Black Hoppers
CCX Reporting Marks:
http://www.railcarphotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=77985
http://www.railcarphotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=33998
http://www.railcarphotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=77658
FURX Reporting Marks:
http://www.railcarphotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=79306
MBKX Reporting Marks:
http://www.railcarphotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=77273
SRCX Reporting Marks:
http://www.railcarphotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=77273
http://www.railcarphotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=34446
http://www.railcarphotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=21959
http://www.railcarphotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=57960
http://www.railcarphotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=51887
Atlas is releasing some new Master Series ACF 4650 Cu.Ft. CenterFlow Hoppers with the SRCX (Sid Richardson Carbon) that do have the ARI CenterFlow markings on them but im disappointed to see that from the artwork (no photos yet) they are using the regular CenterFlow Hopper bottom gates and not the correct Carbon Black Hopper bottom gates. Why release a model that is supposed to be used for Carbon Black service and not make it correct? It does appear that they will have several round hatches on the roof, but not nearly enough. Im hoping that the model will actually have the correct bottom gates and more hatches on top, but im not holding my breath... Here is the link to the Wathers Site for these hoppers, due out in March of 2016 (click the pic on their site to see a large pic) SRCX Carbon Black Hopper
Assuming that Atlas is NOT going to have the correct bottom gates on these new hoppers, what would you guys suggest for replacing bottom gates with? Carbon Black Covered Hoppers use a pretty basic looking gate, but im thinking that the entire bottom discharge bays are going to need to be replaced? Maybe not? Maybe I can just cut the gate part off and replace it with a round piece of styrene and add a brass rod to resemble the ratchet assembly arm?
And what about the top Hatches, does anyone make round hatches that can be added in between the factory hatches on the roof? Atlas's model shows 6, the pictures ive seen have 7+ and the majority appear to have 11 roof hatches
Thoughts, suggestions, opinions greatly appreciated