Kitbashing a modern Trinity aluminum covered hopper
A number of these lightweight cars were built during the 1990’s/Eric Miller
MODEL PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR This HO model of a Trinity Industries 5,400 cubic-foot aluminum covered hopper was kitbashed by combining Atlas and Walthers parts. M
y proto-lanced Rock Island lay- out, set in the mid-1990’s in eastern Nebraska, requires
many covered hoppers for grain for oper- ations. One fascinating hopper style that had been missing from my fleet is the modern aluminum covered hopper, something that was produced for a short period beginning around 1994, just be- fore my era, and isn’t available commer- cially. These aluminum covered hoppers, similar to coal hoppers, weighed less and were able to carry more grain. I fig- ured this would be a natural fit for my Rock Island granger road, and some- thing that the railroad could spearhead for the railroad industry. There are two major manufacturers
of modern aluminum covered hoppers: Johnstown America and Trinity Indus- tries. The Burlington Northern was the main buyer of the Johnstown America Grainporter 2000, and Cargill bought most of the Trinity hoppers that were made. Trinity started out with a 5,380 cubic foot model (the Cargill style),
RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN
which was later upgraded to an even 5,400 (built for TILX leasing). The hop- per sides of the 5,380 and 5,400 look al-
RMC/Dremel Kitbashing Award........
most identical to Trinity RD4 coal hop- pers built at the time, so I thought that would be the easiest to kitbash and the 5,400 cubic-foot version would be a unique car that the Rock Island would advocate as the future of grain hauling. These cars soon fell out of favor with railroads and production stopped after these first orders were built. However, you can still see them on the mainline today (I see the Johnstown America version on the BNSF joint line south of Denver near where I live every now and then), so they can cover any era from the present to about 17 years in the past. They make a unique car that should be a conversation piece for oper- ation sessions or layout tours. I decided on five covered hoppers be-
A minimum of $100 and a Dremel Rotary Tool Kit with a variable-speed Multi-Pro rotary tool, flex shaft attach- ment and accessories are awarded to the monthly win- ners of the RMC/DREMEL KITBASHING AWARD. Entries must consist of at least two photos (5″×7″ or 8″×10″ prints or two color slides; more may be included) and a short text. Models must use at least 50% commercial components; unused entries may be held for BOOMER TRAIL.
cause I generally like odd numbers for fleets of hoppers, and this would fit my 1:100 ratio for brand-new hoppers on my layout. My fictional Rock Island or- dered a fleet of 500, so I would model five. However, this was soon reduced to four models since an attempt to model
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