GUys you may want to chek-out TSMs new UP hopper, these cars were used on the Rush Tower unit trains with Mopac. Coming on th Frisco at KC, through Springfield and on to Lindenwood. TYpically running with a Frisco caboose. http://tangentscalemodels.com/bethlehemquadhopperreplicas.aspx Of course, you'll only need to get the Scheme 1 brown cars. Nick
Nick mentions these cars and for anyone out there that is not yet familiar with Tangent and their models, they are probably without a doubt the finest HO frieght car models available today. Unless things have recently changed they are only available direct and for premimum money. They do offer a slight discount if one buys 6 or 12 cars. To date they have only made one Frisco model, the PS-2CD 4000 hopper of which the RR only owned 25 and only for a short time before selling them. As far as the quad hopper is concerned, they are producing 36 road #'s in the brown scheme that dates the coal train era so one could run a nice 36 car train for a mere $965.90!
Wow! That is almost as much as the last Hallmark Meteor passenger car consist sold for. Of course you would get 36 cars as oppossed to 6, so I guess it is a great buy. Terry
I bought some of the Tangent 3600 cu ft quad hoppers and they live up to the billing. The numbers start in the high 39000 series and break into the 40000 series. On my cars, the NEW dates range from Jan 1977 to Aug 77. Detail wise, they are absolutely perfect and roll perfectly. The cars include a plastic coal load that makes each car load look exactly the same but it is a good stand in until I get some live loads. I had one car with a truck that would not roll freely. A quick email to Tangent got a new truck in the mail. I should get it today or tomorrow. I can highly recommend these cars.
Great hear Rick! I'm glad to hear that Tangent were able to replace your bad truck. How many cars did you get, enough for a unit train? Just in case you don't know, the owner of Tangent used to work for UP and he has been meticuluos to replicate the shape of the coal loads, which involved many top down photos and knowing his subject first hand with operations. These flood loaded coal loads have a very specific contour to minimize loss of loads enroute (this was specific to Wyoming coal in that period). No other manufacturer has gone to such lengths to give you a prototype load. So, I would suggest to try and replicate the contours with your live load or use the coal inserts. Nick
Nick, To answer your question I got 24 which makes a decent looking unit train. They were financed with sales from other equipment and saving my lunch money. They were worth it.
