3-BAY CENTERFLOW HOPPER R&N

O PREMIER 3-BAY CENTERFLOW HOPPER READING & NORTHERN 9963, 9966 (GREEN/GRAY/YELLOW) - 3RL

Features
Intricately Detailed Durable ABS Body
Metal Wheels and Axles
Die-Cast 4-Wheel Trucks
Operating Die-Cast Metal Couplers
Colorful, Attractive Paint Schemes
Fast-Angle Wheel Sets
Needle-Point Axles
1:48 Scale Dimensions
Unit Measures:13 7/8” x 2 11/16” x 3 7/8”
Operates On O-31 Curves (3-Rail)
Prototype Info
Although covered hoppers had achieved widespread use by the 1950s, it wasn’t until the following decade that they began to carry North America’s grain harvest. Prior to the 1960s, U.S. and Canadian farmers sent their wheat and other grains to market in 40’ box cars. The crop was packed in sacks or in cars with disposable grain doors that covered most of the door opening and turned the car into a rolling grain bin. Either way, loading and unloading was labor-intensive and time-consuming.

All that changed with American Car and Foundry’s (ACF’s) introduction of the Centerflow covered hopper in 1961, followed the next year by Pullman-Standard’s competitive PS-2CD covered hopper. Prior to the Centerflow, the typical covered hopper was little more than a coal hopper with a roof. Dry products such as salt were loaded through roof hatches and unloaded by gravity through doors in the floor. Like most freight cars of their era, these cars had a center sill. This support beam ran down the middle of the car between the left and right sets of unloading doors, and that led to problems in emptying the car. Typically some of the load would cake or “bridge” on the center sill, and the car would have to be vibrated to loosen the mess and achieve full unloading. Of course the vibration tended to shorten the life of the car.

The Centerflow’s key innovation was the elimination of the center sill by relocating the car’s main support beams to the bottom edge of each side. This enabled the discharge hopper doors to be located along the centerline of the car, allowing for easier, more complete unloading and banishing the problem of caking on the center sill. In addition, the car sides were curved to allow for more complete filling of the car. Stub center sills at each end provided a place to mount the trucks. The Centerflow was the first larger-capacity covered hopper designed for grain and products of similar density.

By the 1980s, ACF’s Centerflow, along with covered grain hoppers from other builders, had spelled the end of the 40’ box car in grain service. In addition to grain, Centerflows found work hauling a variety of other light to medium-density dry commodities, including salt, clay, chemicals, phosphates and other minerals.

About Atlas O Premier Rolling Stock
Atlas O Premier Rolling Stock is prototypically accurate and includes a wide array of car types, from box cars, to passenger cars to cabooses. In addition to being intricately detailed, Atlas O Premier Rolling Stock features crisp painting and lettering, perfectly recreating the colorful paint schemes found on their real-world counterparts. Atlas O Premier Rolling Stock is ready to run right out of the box, so you can go straight from the hobby store to using the model in your fleet.

About Atlas Model Railroad Company
The primary mission of Atlas is to produce and offer to the public, multiple scale lines of high quality, model railroad products based on prototype information. Atlas’ philosophy is based on a dedicated commitment to prototype research, design and construction. The desired and demanded goal is to create, market and distribute durable operational scale models utilizing the full range of exacting detail which accurately depicts life-sized objects, while providing exceptional service to our customers. In 1999, Atlas O was founded so that the hallmark of Atlas products in HO & N could be offered to O scale modelers. Since then, the product line has expanded to include a vast library of track pieces, accessories, as well as rolling stock and locomotives.

By keeping up the high standards set by Steve Schaffan those many years ago, Atlas will remain a leader in innovation and technology in the model railroading industry for years to come. Although many things have changed since our incorporation in 1949, we follow the tradition and values of our founders. As we have for the last 50 years, we will continue to produce quality, precision products for the model railroad enthusiast.