Past Releases 2-Bay War Emergency Composite Hoppers

These cars were built during the Second World War with wood siding and slope sheets at the direction of the War Production Board in hopes of saving as much steel as possible for the war effort. This was especially the case with hoppers that were usually built with copper-bearing steel to resist corrosion. The car sides were built with the Pratt truss design using a combination of vertical and diagonal ribs. A majority were later rebuilt with steel replacing the wood components but some composite cars remained in service into the 1970s.

These ready-to-run cars feature: die cast slope sheet-hopper bay-center sill assembly; injection molded plastic sides, ends, and hopper doors; fully molded brake tank, valve and air lines; body mounted brake hose detail; load; body mounted magnetically operating knuckle couplers; close coupling; and metal wheels.

Chesapeake & Ohio’s fleet of 1,250 War Emergency Composite Hoppers was built by Pullman Standard’s plants in Butler, Pennsylvania and Michigan City, Indiana in 1943. C&O was so important to the movement of coal for the war effort that their mainline was targeted by German spies during the war. This run will be available in six road numbers.
63011 Chesapeake & Ohio single
63012 Chesapeake & Ohio 2-pack
63013 Chesapeake & Ohio 3-pack

Chicago Burlington & Quincy built their own fleet of 1,000 War Emergency Composite Hoppers in their Havelock, Nebraska shops in 1944. Much of the fleet received heavy service in 1959 and 1960 but retained their wooden sides. At this point they received this Chinese Red and black paint scheme. Many of these cars were still in service at the time of the Burlington Northern merger. This run will be available in six road numbers.
63021 Burlington Route Chinese Red single
63022 Burlington Route Chinese Red 2-pack
63023 Burlington Route Chinese Red 3-pack

Lehigh Valley received their 500 War Emergency Composite Hoppers from Bethlehem Steel in 1943. The group was split between two number series and differed from an earlier group of slightly shorter composite hoppers built by Bethlehem the previous year. This run will be available in six road numbers.
63031 Lehigh Valley single
63032 Lehigh Valley 2-pack
63033 Lehigh Valley 3-pack

Louisville & Nashville received this 1,000 car group of War Emergency Composite Hoppers from Pullman Standard in late 1943 and early 1944. The oversize “L&N” and road number were typical L&N practice for hoppers of the time. L&N loaded vast amounts of coal from eastern Kentucky as well as other pockets around the system. This run will be available in six road numbers.
63041 Louisville & Nashville single
63042 Louisville & Nashville 2-pack
63043 Louisville & Nashville 3-pack

Pennsylvania Railroad built 500 War Emergency Composite Hoppers in their Altoona Shops in 1942. They were slightly shorter than the AAR design but utilized the same Pratt truss system for the sides. They were designated class H31B. This run will be available in six road numbers.
63051 Pennsylvania Railroad single
63052 Pennsylvania Railroad 2-pack
63053 Pennsylvania Railroad 3-pack

Virginian Railway built this 1,000 car group of War Emergency Composite Hoppers in their Princeton, West Virginia shops in 1944. In 1925, Virginian bridged the Kanawha River which reversed the flow of many of their coal trains from all eastward to the port at Norfolk to westward to feed the countless factories in the Industrial Midwest. This run will be available in six road numbers.
63061 Virginian single
63062 Virginian 2-pack
63063 Virginian 3-pack

The Alton Railroad received their 750 War Emergency Composite Hoppers from American Car & Foundry in 1944. The 1,000 mile Alton system linked Chicago with St. Louis and Kansas City. The company was established in 1931 under the control of the B&O to take over the assets of the Chicago & Alton. B&O sold their stake in the Alton in 1945 to the Gulf Mobile & Ohio. The Alton Railroad was merged into the GM&O two years later. This run will be available in three road numbers.
63071 Alton Railroad single

63072 Alton Railroad 2-pack

Ann Arbor’s War Emergency Hoppers were built by Wabash Railroad in their Decatur, Illinois car shops in 1944. Wabash controlled the Ann Arbor at the time (as you may discern from the lettering style.) In 1963, Wabash sold their stake in Ann Arbor to DT&I. It was a deal arranged by the Pennsylvania Railroad who directly or indirectly controlled all three of them. This run will be available in three road numbers.
63081 Ann Arbor single
63082 Ann Arbor 2-pack

Gulf Mobile & Ohio received their 750 War Emergency Hoppers as a result of the 1947 merger with Alton Railroad. As Alton hoppers were shopped and repainted, they received new GM&O reporting marks. The original Alton car number was retained because the series did not conflict with any other GM&O number series. The merger turned GM&O into a serious player in the Great Lakes-to-the-Gulf corridor. This run will be available in three road numbers.
63091 Gulf Mobile & Ohio single
63092 Gulf Mobile & Ohio 2-pack

Illinois Terminal received their War Emergency Hoppers in 1944 from American Car & Foundry. ITC ran a 500 mile system linking central Illinois with St. Louis. Most of the line was electrified with interurban cars handling the passenger business while heavy freight was handled by a mix of electric locomotives and steam locomotives. Diesels began arriving in 1950 and six years later, electric operations were but a memory. ITC merged into N&W in 1982. This run will be available in three road numbers.
63101 Illinois Terminal single
63102 Illinois Terminal 2-pack

Some of the above pictures show the cars with track, scenery and even other cars for a bit of context. Obviously the cars in question don't include that stuff - but you knew that already.