Ballast Hopper Kitbash

P

puddlejumper

Member
Dec 7, 2007
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Southern Maryland
Thanks to Loren for posting the pics over in The Real Thing - USA forum http://forum.zealot.com/t153477/
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It took me a couple of hours to put together this drawing. It is loosely based on the cars that Loren posted photos of. I know there are some differences but I think it is a good representation and with the photos being so far away I am very satisfied that I will get a nice result. I have already ordered parts and will post photos of progress.

Thoughts, opinions, and criticism welcome.

Dave
 
Thanks Loren. I couldn't help but be inspired when I saw the photos you posted. One question though, are these hoppers covered? One would think not, if they are ballast hoppers, however while attempting to research these cars (unsuccessfully I might add) I found a pic of a covered ballast hopper over on railcarphotos.com. They almost appear to be covered, I will have to reconsider part of my plan if so.

Thanks.

Dave
 
Nomad said:
Puddlejumper, I went by there today and I cannot tell If they are covered.

Loren
Click to expand...

That's alright, thanks anyway. I'm not looking to build an exact replica anyway, it's just something neat to add to my roster and I'll call it a ballast hopper because that is what it resembles. I am so curious, though, on why the A end was cut off and replaced with a platform of sorts. And the door in the side of the hopper, wonder what is behind there?

Loren, would it be okay with you for me to link your photos to the railcar forum to see if I can get any insight from those railcar guys over there?

Dave
 
Puddlejumper, go right ahead and post. Thanks for asking. Please let us know if you find out anything. I am curious about the rebuild on the cars. Especially the covered platform, why it is there and why it is covered.

Loren
 
I wonder if the platform was added because the halfway point between hoppers was just about where the truck mount would come, and they needed a bit of floor for the draft-gear box. that's assuming that they were 4-bay hoppers to start with.
 
the roof over the platform is also curious. There seems to be a ladder, so maybe the roof is made to be accessed for some reason. You know, they could be old ballast cars that were converted to some other kind of specailty use.

Kevin
 
To me they seem too long to be half of a 4 bay hopper. I am going to study the pics some more and see what I can see, but I plan on using a 2 bay hopper as my starting point and like NKP said, "Whacking one end off":thumb:

Dave
 
To me, the prototypes look like 3-bay hoppers that have had one of the end bays removed, along with the one slopesheet end. Notice that there are three internal stiffener ribs between the exterior gusset plates on the unmodified end, but only two between the centre gusset plate and the one to the left of the door. I can't imagine what would be the purpose of the door. It's odd that the cars have sidesheet extensions, though, as a regular hopper of this size would've normally been loaded only about 2/3 full with a dense commodity like ballast. My guess is that the platforms are either for a workman to observe and assist in the loading process, and/or to do the same as the ballast is spread: you wouldn't want the car overloaded and, when spreading ballast, you'd want to assure that the hopper gates on the next car would be opened at the proper time when the previous car is almost empty.

It would be interesting to know the real story behind the creation of these cars.

Wayne
 
Ahh yes, I agree, these are definitely shortened 3-bay hoppers. Dr. Wayne your post makes complete sense. I am still not posistive these are open ballast hoppers. This car would only be good for about 70 tons, probably more like 55 or so. The extended sides are curious to me. They remind me of the old covered hopper conversions for open top hoppers.

Dave
 
puddlejumper said:
Ahh yes, I agree, these are definitely shortened 3-bay hoppers. Dr. Wayne your post makes complete sense. I am still not posistive these are open ballast hoppers. This car would only be good for about 70 tons, probably more like 55 or so. The extended sides are curious to me. They remind me of the old covered hopper conversions for open top hoppers.

Dave
Click to expand...

I think that most 3-bay hoppers of this style were 70 ton cars, so the shortened car is most likely still good for the same. However, 70 tons of coal would fill the 3-bay version, while 70 tons of rock ballast in the same car wouldn't even be visible from ground level. I can't see that the capacity of the car, weight-wise, would change just because the car has been shortened. Freight car capacity (tonnage) is usually governed by the bearing size, but even if the car is a 70 ton car, I doubt that 70 tons of stone needs those side extensions. The CNR, in the mid-'70s, ran old 40' boxcars that had had their roofs removed and doors welded shut, along with side extensions that looked as if they were old gondola sides - they were used to carry wood chips.
I agree that the extensions look like those old "Hopper-Toppers", although most of them were used on ribbed-sided cars, I think.
I just had another look at the pictures in Post #10 - if you enlarge the second photo, you can clearly see a roof-top type grab iron on the slope-sheet end of the second car from the right, which would indicate that the cars may indeed have roofs. This would explain the presence of the door, but still leaves the mystery of what the cars were used for.

Wayne
 
I bet the platform is to serve as the front porch for a hobo...and the door leads to a secret layer. The ladder is for the hobo to clean leaves out of the gutter :-P
 
Got a package from the mailman today...
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One Athearn junk box offset twin hopper, Detail Associates Dreadnaught ends, 2 pairs of Eastern Car Works Friction Bearing Roller Bearing conversion trucks. My ballast hopper doors were backordered. I have come to the conclusion that the prototype was likely converted from 3 bay hoppers but I am going to go the 2 bay route because that is what I have on hand. I researched and found that the available 3 bay offset hoppers (HO scale) have the wrong panel count for this conversion anyway so I will be just as accurate with the 2 bay car. I am not doing an exact build anyway. Also I think that the cars or either covered or have a partial roof due to the roof grab irons visible in 2 of the pics. My plans will be modified accordingly.

Will post pics when I get started.

Dave
 
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