Bluford Shops is announcing a new group of runs on our N scale USRA 30’6” 2-Bay Hopper. 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; coal load; lever-style hand brake; body mounted magnetically operating knuckle couplers; close coupling; and metal
wheels.
All road names will be available in multiple road numbers. Pre-orders are now open on this group until at least July
7. Delivery is expected in early 2027. MSRP is $36.95 per car. Retailers, please place your pre-orders directly through Bluford
Shops, at Craig@bluford-shops.com. Standard retailer rates apply.
Bessemer & Lake Erie was known for loading iron ore from boats on Lake Erie for steel mills in southwestern Pennsylvania. They
would then re-load the same hoppers from nearby coal mines and deliver them back to Lake Erie. However, B&LE used much larger
hoppers for this work. These little 50-ton cars were loaded with coal for delivery to retail dealers and small and medium sized industries
across the region. This is because these customers often had lightly built coal-dump trestles that would not withstand a 70 or 90
ton hopper. These are coming in 6 road numbers:
60540 Bessemer & Lake Erie #B&LE 43620
60541 Bessemer & Lake Erie #B&LE 43535
60544 Bessemer & Lake Erie #B&LE 43712
60545 Bessemer & Lake Erie #B&LE 43667
60547 Bessemer & Lake Erie #B&LE 43598
60548 Bessemer & Lake Erie #B&LE 43749
Chicago & Eastern Illinois had acquired these hoppers from a secondhand dealer in 1940 (they were previously owned by New Jersey
Public Service.) This is the second C&EI paint scheme applied to this batch. Notice the tiny reporting marks which fly in the
face of AAR recommendations but were common on the C&EI. These cars will be available in 6 road numbers:
60560 Chicago & Eastern Illinois v.2 #C&EI 97066
60561 Chicago & Eastern Illinois v.2 #C&EI 97248
60564 Chicago & Eastern Illinois v.2 #C&EI 97180
60565 Chicago & Eastern Illinois v.2 #C&EI 97031
60567 Chicago & Eastern Illinois v.2 #C&EI 97172
60568 Chicago & Eastern Illinois v.2 #C&EI 97009
This group of Baltimore & Ohio USRA hoppers wears the early 13 Great States paint scheme which uses the full BALTIMORE & OHIO
name in place of B&O for the reporting marks. B&O applied this scheme for a few years beginning in the closing months of WWII.
This paint scheme will be availble in 6 road numbers:
60550 Baltimore & Ohio early 13 Great States #324109
60551 Baltimore & Ohio early 13 Great States #324125
60554 Baltimore & Ohio early 13 Great States #324214
60555 Baltimore & Ohio early 13 Great States #324068
60557 Baltimore & Ohio early 13 Great States #324070
60558 Baltimore & Ohio early 13 Great States #324243
These cars were ordered by USRA but not delivered to Chesapeake & Ohio until 10 months after the end of the war. The scattershot
application of dimensional data was common during this period. The C.T. suffix to the road number is likely an equipment trust designation
and was used on USRA hoppers of other railroads as well. These cars are coming in 6 road numbers:
60570 Chesapeake & Ohio as delivered #C&O 63538
60571 Chesapeake & Ohio as delivered #C&O 63472
60574 Chesapeake & Ohio as delivered #C&O 63606
60575 Chesapeake & Ohio as delivered #C&O 63445
60577 Chesapeake & Ohio as delivered#C&O 63610
60578 Chesapeake & Ohio as delivered #C&O 63599
Colorado & Southern, a large subsidiary of Burlington Route, had the longest lived fleet of USRA hoppers. By the mid-60s, many
of these cars were assigned to sugar beet service. For this run, we present the fleet with “beet loading only” stencils and a beet
load. These cars also have a later version of the Everywhere West stencil than that seen on our first C&S run. These will be available
in 6 road numbers:
60580 Colorado & Southern Beet Loading #C&S 18032
60581 Colorado & Southern Beet Loading #C&S 18275
60584 Colorado & Southern Beet Loading #C&S 18108
60585 Colorado & Southern Beet Loading #C&S 18291
60587 Colorado & Southern Beet Loading #C&S 18069
60588 Colorado & Southern Beet Loading #C&S 18140
The Clinchfield Railroad appeared when the Louisville & Nashville and Atlantic Coast Line jointly leased the Carolina Clinchfield
& Ohio. Locomotives and rolling stock were included in the lease and retained their CC&O reporting marks for decades after
the lease while new acquisitions received CRR reporting marks. Sometime in the 50s, many CC&O hoppers received CRR reporting marks
with a small “CC&O” stencil near the top chord. This may have been done to reduce confusion amongst freight agents on other railroads.
These will be available in 6 road numbers:
60590 Clinchfield version 2 #CRR 43856
60591 Clinchfield version 2 #CRR 44789
60594 Clinchfield version 2 #CRR 45421
60595 Clinchfield version 2 #CRR 44204
60597 Clinchfield version 2 #CRR 45138
60598 Clinchfield version 2 #CRR 44370
Big Four (the Cleveland Cincinnati Chicago & St. Louis) was the largest of the New York Central subsidiaries. They took delivery
of one thousand of these USRA hoppers just as the war was coming to an end. These will be available in 6 road numbers:
60600 Big Four black #CCC&StL 79526
60601 Big Four black #CCC&StL 79870
60604 Big Four black #CCC&StL 79243
60605 Big Four black #CCC&StL 79109
60607 Big Four black #CCC&StL 79684
60608 Big Four black #CCC&StL 79952
Delaware Lackawanna & Western had 800 of these USRA hoppers. We present them in this run as they were repainted with the AAR recommended
placement of dimensional data. Lackawanna was a major player in the Pennsylvania anthracite business. These cars will be available
in 6 road numbers:
60610 Delaware Lackawanna & Western v.2 DL&W 81095
60611 Delaware Lackawanna & Western v.2 DL&W 81627
60614 Delaware Lackawanna & Western v.2 DL&W 81350
60615 Delaware Lackawanna & Western v.2 DL&W 81788
60617 Delaware Lackawanna & Western v.2 DL&W 81202
60618 Delaware Lackawanna & Western v.2 DL&W 81416
Frisco ordered these hoppers based on a USRA design a full decade after the USRA hopper standard was first adopted. Frisco generated
a surprising amount of coal from regions in eastern Kansas, Oklahoma, and western Arkansas as well as an important deposit in northern
Alabama. Much of this coal was interchanged to connecting lines for delivery to steel mills. These will be available in 6 road numbers:
60620 Frisco #SL-SF 88232
60621 Frisco #SL-SF 88164
60624 Frisco #SL-SF 88997
60625 Frisco #SL-SF 88451
60627 Frisco #SL-SF 88749
60628 Frisco #SL-SF 88683
Louisville & Nashville had more than 12,000 of these USRA hoppers. They used over-size reporting marks and road numbers and a
comically large list of appliances and features. This was the standard scheme for L&N's USRA hoppers for many years. This scheme
is available in 6 road numbers:
60630 Louisville & Nashville version 2 #L&N 27263
60631 Louisville & Nashville version 2 #L&N 28445
60634 Louisville & Nashville version 2 #L&N 27098
60635 Louisville & Nashville version 2 #L&N 27671
60637 Louisville & Nashville version 2 #L&N 28107
60638 Louisville & Nashville version 2 #L&N 27924
The Montour Railroad served 27 coal mines with just 50 miles of railroad in southwestern Pennsylvania. This required a fleet of 1,500
USRA 2-bay hoppers along with another 500 hoppers of other designs making them a common sight across the Industrial Midwest. Montour
was jointly owned by Pennsylvania Railroad and Pittsburgh & Lake Erie. These are available in 4 road numbers:
60640 Montour black #M 15420
60641 Montour black #M 15076
60644 Montour black #M 15339
60645 Montour black #M 15254
Northern Pacific bought a modest fleet of these hoppers from a secondhand dealer. Mines along the NP in Montana and the Dakotas produced
lignite, also known as sub-bituminous or brown coal. Much of the NP steam locomotive fleet was designed to burn this grade of coal.
For reasons lost to history, these cars received their “NORTHERN PACIFIC” lettering using stencils meant for NP’s flat cars rather
than those usually used on hoppers and gondolas. About half of NP’s USRA 2-bay hopper fleet was still in operation in the 1960s. This
run is available in 6 all new road numbers:
60650 Northern Pacific #NP 70047
60651 Northern Pacific #NP 70023
60654 Northern Pacific #NP 70036
60655 Northern Pacific #NP 70008
60657 Northern Pacific #NP 70015
60658 Northern Pacific #NP 70029
New York Central had 11,533 of these hoppers. This combination of freight car brown paint with the black background on the New York
Central System logo was applied to these hoppers during the Second World War. This classy paint scheme is available in 6 road numbers:
60660 New York Central freight car brown #NYC 837896
60661 New York Central freight car brown #NYC 838204
60664 New York Central freight car brown #NYC 837087
60665 New York Central freight car brown #NYC 838450
60667 New York Central freight car brown #NYC 837632
60668 New York Central freight car brown #NYC 837729
Philadelphia & Reading acquired 2,000 of these hoppers after the war under the USRA (note the C.T. suffix to the road number also
seen on the C&O cars.) The P&R was the railroad subsidiary of the Reading Company. But, when the Reading Company was re-organized,
it became a common carrier and there was no longer a need for a separate P&R subsidiary and the fleet was folded into the RDG.
These P&R cars are available in 4 different road numbers:
60670 Philadelphia & Reading P&R 73790
60671 Philadelphia & Reading P&R 73546
60674 Philadelphia & Reading P&R 73682
60675 Philadelphia & Reading P&R 73833
The 2,200 mile Pere Marquette blanketed Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, connecting it with Chicago, Toledo, and cutting across Ontario
to reach Buffalo, New York. They found themselves in a fine position to serve the growing automobile industry. Control of the PM was
acquired by the Van Sweringen brothers who also controlled C&O, Nickel Plate, Erie and Wheeling & Lake Erie. PM took delivery
of this 1,000 car fleet in 1920. This scheme is available in 4 road numbers:
60680 Pere Marquette as delivered #13529
60691 Pere Marquette as delivered #13474
60694 Pere Marquette as delivered #13602
60695 Pere Marquette as delivered #13512